Lock-In
()
About this ebook
The Fresh Start Lock-In was supposed to bring the students of Bridgewater closer together. Jackie didn't think it would work, but she didn't think she'd have to fight for her life, either. A group of outsider kids who like to play werewolf might not be playing anymore. Will Jackie and her brother escape Bridgewater High before morning? Or will a pack of crazed students take them down?
Read more from Jonathan Mary Todd
Related to Lock-In
Related ebooks
Farewell to Earth Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Cottonmouth Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratings2084: Clash of Cults Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsShards Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsSplinters Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsThe Misadventures of George and the Talking Butt: The Beginning Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsKill Happy Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5Dragon Mage: Uprising: Dragon Sea Chronicles, #2 Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsFire Starter Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsNew Order: Night Runner III Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsHidden End of the Line Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsThe Thirteenth Unicorn Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsHelicopter Man Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Truth Sister Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsSlivers Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsSkud Rating: 2 out of 5 stars2/5The Bounty - The Cost (Book 1) Dystopian Romance: Dystopian Romance Series Rating: 3 out of 5 stars3/5The Zombie Driven Life Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsEarning My Spots Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsEighth Grade vs. the Machines Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Hole in the Sky Rating: 3 out of 5 stars3/5Bulletproof: Origins Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsSam and His Brother Len Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5Face the Dragon Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Goodnight, Boy Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Undertakers: Queen of the Dead Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5The Undertakers: Rise of the Corpses Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5Silhouetted by the Blue Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Eyeball Collector Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratings
YA Horror For You
Sabriel Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Me (Moth): (National Book Award Finalist) Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Hollow City: The Second Novel of Miss Peregrine's Peculiar Children Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5They Both Die at the End Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Gallant Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Hate U Give: A Printz Honor Winner Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5Miss Peregrine's Home for Peculiar Children Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Sleeper and the Spindle Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Library of Souls: The Third Novel of Miss Peregrine's Peculiar Children Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Delicious Monsters Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Warm Bodies: A Novel Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Wicked Deep Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Allegedly Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Damsel Rating: 3 out of 5 stars3/5Shadow Me Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5Reveal Me Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The New Girl Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Three Dark Crowns Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Clown in a Cornfield Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The House Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Cellar Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Truly Devious: A Mystery Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Dread Nation Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Anna Dressed in Blood Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Girl from the Well Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The First Horror Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Grimmer Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsThe Gates: A Samuel Johnson Tale Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5White Smoke Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5When Stars Come Out Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5
Reviews for Lock-In
0 ratings0 reviews
Book preview
Lock-In - Jonathan Mary-Todd
disasters
1
I shouldn’t have been surprised when my friend Francis hit the Internet. As early as sixth grade, he told me he was going to make a splash. He said it the same way he said almost everything, like he was half-kidding and with a grin that showed he knew just how he sounded. But basically I believed him.
About one thousand years later, as a junior, I watched the clip on YouTube for the first time. It started with a reporter from WBNE, our local TV station, talking to a local farmer. Callie Murdock owned land on the edge of Bridgewater. For weeks, she complained, kids had been stealing her chickens.
Not even to eat,
Callie said. Just killing ’em sometimes! I found some still on my land. Dead as doornails.
She tapped a shovel on the ground for emphasis.
I know who it is, too,
she went on. Those. . . wolf kids! I’ve seen ’em around. Just lurkin’ near the farm.
The clip cut to the same reporter talking straight to the camera: "For most citizens of Bridgewater, Halloween season ended months ago. But a new trend in the halls of Bridgewater High School finds some teens wearing their best werewolf gear each day of the week. Connor Tailors, Mike Sizemore, Gwen O’Gara, and Francis Masterson are at the front of the pack. These Bridgewater High eleventh-graders say it’s simple self-expression."
The camera cut to four teens in black jeans and black T-shirts. Gwen faced away from the camera. A fake-fur tail hung from her belt in back.
The camera zoomed in on Connor, the tallest of the group. The close-up revealed his deep-red colored contacts. We don’t think anybody’s just, like, human,
he said. We’re just letting out the animal parts of ourselves.
For most of the clip, Francis just fiddled with one of the many bracelets on his wrists. But he perked up when the reporter asked about the lost chickens. When I heard about that, I was as worried as anyone else,
he said, totally straight-faced. It’s getting so you can’t even cross the road here anymore.
The clip cut to Principal Weston in his office. Well, there’s nothing about tails in the dress code,
he chuckled. As long as they’re in their seats and learning, I don’t see a problem. These things come and go.
Last time I checked, something like a hundred thousand people had watched the footage. I was shocked at the reaction, and then shocked that I was so shocked. Because again, Francis getting semi-famous? Totally plausible. He was good at putting himself out there. And I guess the wolf thing wasn’t something most people saw every day. Worth a click. I think the whole situation was just much dumber than I’d expected.
Nowadays, it’s easy to say that I should have taken Connor’s words more seriously. Everyone in Bridgewater should have. But back then, I just didn’t know. Nobody did.
2
I don’t know if the wolf kids were out for attention. Other than Francis, anyway. But after that video blew up on the YouTubes, they got it. Lots of it.
The clip maybe wasn’t great for peer relations at Bridgewater High. Before the wolf kids went viral, things had been tense between them and the lacrosse team. Some name-calling in the hallway. At worst, a pushing match that didn’t lead anywhere. All of it seemed . . . not fun, but pretty normal. And I guess pack behavior is what you can expect from kids who’ve decided they’re actually, you know, wild animals. Still—things seemed uglier after the clip got so many views.
I tried talking about it with Francis once or twice. He and I had been best friends from age five ’til sometime around the start of high school. No real reason why we drifted apart—I think we both just felt like ninth grade meant we were supposed to go looking for something else. For Francis, it had been drama club, movie club, and then pretending to be half-canine. Anyway, we were still friendly.
Fwwwwancissss!
That was Blake Golding, attacker for Bridgewater High Lacrosse.
"You know, Blake, lots of fascinating people were named Francis, Francis replied.
Francis Scott Key wrote our national anthem! How ’bout that?"