I turned around and saw her walking up the driveway. Alive. And very much in the flesh. That’s right.
Dana Fox was back.
Dana beamed at Jackson as though the past months had never happened, as though her being at Jackson’s house was the most normal thing in the world.
She walked over and embraced Jackson with a big hug, which stunned the hell out of him and me for that matter.
“Miss me?” She flashed a coy smile, as if no time had passed since she had disappeared without a word to Jackson or anyone else.
At that moment I spotted Oliver running down the block toward Jackson’s house. He witnessed the whole soap-opera reunion. He rushed over, heaving and panting, and could see by my shocked expression that I was devastated. It felt like everything was suddenly crashing down around me.
Jackson looked at me and I looked at him. There was nothing he could say. There was nothing I could say. I could barely breathe. Oliver instinctively came to my side, knowing I must be flipping out. I managed to hold it together. I’d been getting a lot of experience doing that lately.
All I said was “Hi, I’m Nica. You must be Dana. I’ve heard so much about you.”
Dana in turn greeted me with a bright, warm smile.
“Pleasure to meet you too, Nica. Any friend of Jackson’s is a friend of mine.” She couldn’t have been more gracious and friendly.
I smiled back at her even as an involuntary chill ran up my spine. My head was flooded with suspicion and doubt. Dana had supposedly fled town to get away from clingy, possessive Jackson. And now here she was nestled back in his arms. As if nothing had ever happened. I felt sick to my stomach, and I was pretty certain it wasn’t just the green-eyed jealousy monster rearing its ugly head. Something else was causing my queasiness. Something else was setting off my alarms.
Was Dana’s miraculous reappearance in Barrington the morning after all hell had broken loose just a bizarre coincidence? Was her reappearance just one of those fairy-tale endings? All my senses warned me that her return most definitely was not a coincidence. Though I hadn’t a clue exactly what or who had brought Dana back to town, or what it was she wanted by showing up at Jackson’s house. I suspected that whatever was going on in Barrington was far from over for any of us. In fact, the war had only just begun. . . .
MARK H. KRUGER is a screenwriter and television writer. He lives in Los Angeles, California. This is his first novel.
Simon & Schuster
New York
WATCH VIDEOS, GET EXTRAS, AND READ EXCLUSIVES AT
TEEN.SIMONANDSCHUSTER.COM
An imprint of Simon & Schuster Children’s Publishing Division
1230 Avenue of the Americas, New York, New York 10020
www.SimonandSchuster.com
This book is a work of fiction. Any references to historical events, real people, or real places are used fictitiously. Other names, characters, places, and events are products of the author’s imagination, and any resemblance to actual events or places or persons, living or dead, is entirely coincidental.
Copyright © 2013 by Mark H. Kruger
All rights reserved, including the right of reproduction in whole or in part in any form.
is a trademark of Simon & Schuster, Inc.
The Simon & Schuster Speakers Bureau can bring authors to your live event.
For more information or to book an event, contact the Simon & Schuster Speakers Bureau at 1-866-248-3049 or visit our website at www.simonspeakers.com.
Book design by Hilary Zarycky
Jacket design by Chloë Foglia
Jacket illustration copyright © 2013 by Kareem Iliya
The text for this book is set in Janson Text.
Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
Kruger, Mark H.
Overpowered / Mark H. Kruger. —1st edition.
p. cm
Summary: Sixteen-year-old Nica Ashley moves to sleepy Barrington, Colorado, to live with her father and discovers a mysterious pulse of energy has given her and her friends superhero–like powers.
ISBN 978-1-4424-3128-7 (hardcover)
ISBN 978-1-4424-3130-0 (eBook)
[1. Science fiction. 2. Conspiracies—Fiction.] I. Title.
PZ7.K9414Ov 2013
[Fic]—dc23
2012043190
Overpowered Page 31