Environmental Analysis of New Restaurant Essays

Environmental Analysis of New Restaurant Essays Environmental Analysis of New Restaurant Paper Environmental Analysis of New Restaurant Paper Restaurant Industry Analysis With an increasing number of people working in office environments and growing amply households with two parents in the workforce, time to prepare food at home is limited. Consumers under time constraints are opting to eat outside in cafes and restaurants, with price-conscious consumers often turning to fast-food options such as mobile trucks and street stalls. Restaurant industry has four general segments according to the service customers receive: full service, quick service, eating and drinking place and retail host. Full service dining locations do not require any food preparation by customer as well as service of food. Fast-food chains that offer buffets and aka-out service represent quick service locations. Eating and drinking place sector includes caterers and refreshment stand vendors. And the retail host is located within the gas stations and retail-host restaurants. Fine dining restaurants are full-service restaurants with an upscale menu and extensive beverage offerings. The restaurants generally have a more sophisticated dcore and ambiance, the wait staff is usually highly trained and often wears more formal attire, and there is often a dress code for patrons. The most important factors that customers expect from the upscale dining establishment are food quality, service and VII treatment. The profit of fine dining establishments depends for the most part on business entertaining, and the volume of the business people that charge their dinners on expense accounts declined dramatically after the recession. As a result, the upscale dining segment is reconsidering their offerings very carefully in order to be able to compete in the market and attract customers. Since the consumers are still watching their spending a majority of upscale dining restaurants went in the direction of new pricing strategies and innovations as well as creating casual dining environments. Trends Of casual fine dining have led to the implementation Of two different concepts within one establishment: casual bar areas with small-plate offerings and formal dining spaces for the whole experience. Key trends that help the restaurant industry to keep the balance and improve the sales are mergers and acquisitions, driven by private equity firms with greater access to the capital markets; open credit markets with improved rates, terms and required equity contributions and the focus on the local sourcing, sustainability, and nutrition that top menu trends. The environment that a company operates in goes far ended the industry and even farther than the industry segment where company has business. That environment is defined as companys macro- environment and is composed of seven components that have the potential to affect the company and its competitive environment: trends of technology, demographics, economic conditions, political and regulatory factors, social forces and global factors. These entire factors can influence the company in different ways and to different degrees. External drivers of the upscale dining segment in the restaurant industry are per capita disposable income, employment status, healthy eating index, nonuser spending and consumer sentiment index. Per capita disposable income determines the ability of the population to spend money on goods and services. Wealthy populations will be influenced by the tax rate and rising prices on the high end and luxury goods that could slow down the real income growth in 2013-2017. Employment status is positively correlated with the dining out and choice fewer and how often. Rising national unemployment rate can negatively affect the restaurant traffic, the upscale segment specifically. Healthy eating index is the percentage of a recommended diet that an average American consumes. The overall trend towards eating vegetables drove up the vegetable prices as well as produce prices. Another trend is low carbohydrate and high protein diets that will increase meat consumption. Consumer spending is defined as amounts spent by the population on services and goods inside the country and abroad. A brighter outlook of the economic recovery and higher employment drive the increase in consumer spending rather than savings. Consumer sentiment index was affected by growing corporate profits in the last two years and ability of businesses to keep wage costs down. All of that stimulated the customer sentiment. In April 201 2 consumer sentiment index reaches its highest for the last year that will be reflected hopefully later in the increase Of restaurants visits. Technology Factors Going mobile and moving faster is the technology trend in the restaurant industry that shapes all the segments through different innovations. The use of a smart phone and ability to access restaurant booking system from mobile platforms decreased the number of phone calls for reservations as well as allowed the restaurant operators to gather data for marketing purposes. Another trend is check in services like Foursquare that presents context-aware type of advertising and attracts the customer with its sophistication. Mobile payment systems like GOOGLE wallet that stores your credit cards and loyalty cards as well as promotional offers will speed up the payment process and secure customer information. Demographic Factors In June 2011 persons aged from 24-35 were the most frequent visitor to the fine dining establishments. This age group represents 31 percent of the population visiting fine dining restaurants. In regards to household income, those who earn one hundred thousand dollars or more are the most frequent visitors to fine dining establishments. That is great insight for the marketing department of the fine dining segment to study the preferences and address them as well as it is a clear target for customer attraction. Economic Factors The economic situation should improve cautiously through 2014 with positive outcome for all the industries as well as fine dining sector of food service. The industry still shows low measures of consumer sentiment and cautiousness of firms about full-speed operations. There is also the presence of weak labor market conditions and slight gains in manufacturing production as well as elevated risk premiums. All these factors result in the slow process of economic upturn. Political Factors There are many policies and regulations that can affect the upscale segment of the restaurant industry, many of them related to the health and food issues, jobs and career as well as profitability of the business. If final regulations that are related to nutrition disclosure issues will be published in 201 2, when the law takes effect, restaurants with 20 or more locations will be required to provide caloric information on menus. There are two bills still pending in Congress to make the 1 5-year restaurant appreciation schedule permanent, which will allow restaurants to write off, or depreciate, the cost of improvements and new construction over 15 years, rather than 39 years. This uncertainty is holding many companies from capital expenditures since it reduces the cash flow by approximately four thousand a year. Business meal deduction from DID percent to 50 percent in 1992 decreased the profitability of restaurants and affected the upscale segment that is heavily relies on conference room business. A proposed 80 percent business meal deduction could Increase business meal sales by 7 billion dollars. Socio-cultural Factors Socio-cultural forces that include attitude of the society, families lifestyles and change in values impact the industry over time. Shift in preferences is obvious: people are looking for healthy and freshly prepared food, leaning towards premium products and value.

The Best Way to Use The Official SAT Study Guide

The Best Way to Use The Official SAT Study Guide SAT / ACT Prep Online Guides and Tips Are you studying for the SAT? Chances are you've heard of, or maybe even already purchased, The Official SAT Study Guide. It's the #1 best-selling test prep and study guide book on Amazon.com, and used by thousands of students around the country to prepare for the SAT. But before you dive into The Official SAT Study Guide, you need to make sure you're using it correctly. Read our guide to getting the most out of the nation's most popular SAT study guide. What is The Official Guide? The Official SAT Study Guide is an SAT prep book written by College Board, the makers of the SAT. Since the book is made by the people who make the test, it contains some of the best quality practice problems and practice tests you can find. The Official Guide also contains an overview of each of the three sections of the SAT (Critical Reading, Math, and Writing), including practice problems. It also contains 10 full SAT practice tests. That is a ton of practice! In short, The Official SAT Study Guide can be an excellent resource, if you use it wisely. But if you run through the tests quickly without decent studying or analysis of your performance, you’ll waste them. And if you skip content review entirely in favor of practice, you'll miss out on your highest score. Here’s the best way to use both sections of the guide. Part 1 of The Official SAT Study Guide: Section Guides The Official SAT Study Guide provides overviews and practice problems for the Critical Reading, Math, and Writing sections. These sections provide a detailed overview of topics covered on the SAT, strategies to approach the questions, and relevant practice questions. We recommend reading through each section guide so you know exactly what you are going to be tested on, even if you think you already know. That said, you’re not going to get super deep, conceptual learning of concepts like plane geometry or English grammar rules from The Official Guide. For example, in the Math review section, The Official Guide says the SAT covers three types of factoring: difference of squares, finding common factors, and factoring quadratics. If you already know how to factor, this is helpful because it shows exactly what you need to know. However, if you're fuzzy on your Algebra and can't remember how to go about factoring a quadratic, this guide won't help you learn how. So if there is a subject you are really struggling with, you should also seek out resources (including other prep books) that give more in-depth coverage. For example, you can get prep books that focus on just one SAT section, including Erica Meltzer's guide to Critical Reading and Steve Warner's 28 SAT Math Lessons. We also have an article about the best prep books for SAT math. You can also read our detailed guides on SAT Math, SAT Reading, and SAT Writing. Part 2 of The Official Guide: 10 Full-Length SAT Practice Tests The 10 practice tests are the meat of The Official SAT Study Guide. Written by College Board themselves, these tests are an excellent way to practice not only your content knowledge, but your timing and test-taking strategy. They’re the best way to practice for the SAT before you sit down and take it for real on test day. Some students get The Official SAT Study Guide just for the 10 practice tests, and get their content review and strategy guides elsewhere. However, as we recommend above, it’s best to at least read over College Board’s review of the main subjects, as you can get insight into what they are testing and helpful tips to break down the problems. The Best Way To Use The Official SAT Study Guide The key to getting the most out of The Official Guide is, paradoxically, to not just rely on the practice tests. Or to be more precise, don’t just take all 10 practice tests without properly analyzing your mistakes and working to correct them in between practice tests. You wouldn't run 10 races in a row without training in between. Similarly, don't run through all 10 SAT practice tests without taking time to analyze your mistakes and practice. First, take one practice test to see where you stand. How you take advantage of The Official SAT Study Guide varies based on how much you need to improve and which sections of the test you struggle on. We will walk through two example students based on their practice test scores to show what we mean. Student A, Practice Score 2100 (CR = 750, M = 600, W = 750) This is a high achieving student, who even on a practice test is already getting a strong composite. That said, this student is likely going for an even higher score. If they score 2300 or higher they will have a good SAT score for the Ivy League. To accomplish that, they need to do the most work in math, filling some content gaps as well as improving test-taking strategy. After the first practice test, they should analyze their mistakes, particularly on the math section. To keep track of what they did wrong, they should log those mistakes in a notebook. For example, if they missed a math problem because they misunderstood how exponents work, they should note that. If they missed a problem because they went to fast and botched the arithmetic, they would write that down too. Once they have completed the analysis of their mistakes, they should gather resources to fix them. This should include reading through The Official Guide's content guide chapters. While they might move pretty quickly through the Critical Reading and Writing chapters, they should read the Math chapters closely and do all of the related Math practice problems. They could also consider buying a guide specifically for SAT Math, checking out SAT math prep sites like Erik the Red, or other online SAT resources. After they have taken between two or three weeks to study content and do practice problems, they should attempt another full practice test. After this practice test, again, they should carefully log their mistakes in their notebook, this time noting where they have improved and where they are still faltering. For example, if they still aren’t getting exponent questions right, they should use a resource like Khan Academy or even ask a teacher or friend to make sure they conceptually understand exponents. Next, they should continue to drill SAT math practice problems. After another two to three weeks, they can try another practice test, and repeat this process as necessary. They could also consider just doing the math sections of a few of the practice tests, though keep in mind if you start breaking up the practice tests by section, you can't use them for full run-throughs. As you get closer to your test date and are making fewer mistakes, you can lessen the time between practice tests. We recommend taking at least three practice tests before the real thing. Student B, Practice Score 1500 (M = 450, CR = 550, W = 500) This student should start the same way as Student A – that is, they should analyze their mistakes on the practice test. By carefully correcting the test and logging their mistakes, they can create a study guide to help them prepare. Don't underestimate the importance of this simple study tool. This student’s practice score puts them at an average (50th percentile) SAT score. If they can hit 1800, that would put them in the 80th percentile. If they get to 2000 they would be above the 90th! To accomplish that, they need to fill content gaps in all areas, particularly math. They should start by going through each of The Official Guide’s content-review chapters and doing all of the practice problems. If they find a particular concept they struggle with or a section that still seems difficult, they should use an additional resource before hitting the practice tests. For example, say they’re struggling with sentence-completion questions on CR. While The Official SAT Study Guide gives strategies for answering these questions, it doesn’t provide a vocab list or ways to study vocabulary. The student should find outside SAT vocabulary resources to help them with sentence completion (for example our list of the Best SAT Vocab lists on the web). Once they feel more confident about the SAT content, they can move onto practice tests. If timing is an issue, they can start by giving themselves time and a half for the first practice tests and then working their way up to strict timing. After each practice test, they should log all of their mistakes in a notebook and study for an additional two to three weeks, focusing on drilling their weak spots. FAQs About The Official SAT Study Guide Is it important for me to do all 10 tests? That depends on your goals. If you get a 1900 on your practice test and your goal is to break a 2000 composite, you probably won’t need to take all 10 practice tests to make that 100-point improvement. However, if you start with a 1900 but your goal is to score 2300 or higher, you have many more improvements to make and likely will take more practice tests. We recommend studying for at least two weeks in between practice tests, and continuing the process of studying and taking a practice test until you feel confident you’ll reach your target score. The larger a point improvement you need to take, the more likely it is you’ll need all of the tests. However, finishing all 10 tests is certainly not a requirement or necessity to do well. Try to focus in on your weak spots and carefully monitor your studying progress, rather than just going through all 10 tests quickly. Taking 5 tests but analyzing your mistakes and studying carefully in between is more effective than just taking 10 practice tests in a row. How many tests should I do before the real test? We recommend taking at least three practice tests before the real SAT. Take the first before you begin studying to gauge your strengths and weaknesses, take one after you’ve studied for two or three weeks to measure your progress, and take one close to test day to continue to build your stamina and accuracy. But again, how many tests you take depends on how much you need your score to improve by. For some students, three could be plenty. For others, they may need closer to eight or nine under their belt. It all depends on what your target score is and whether you're hitting it in practice or not. What resources should I use to drill subject skills? Your first stop will probably be a more specific prep book. This will give you access to more targeted practice questions in skills you are still building. There are also tons of online resources. Here at PrepScholar, we have articles for everything from how to read SAT reading passages to how to stop running out of time on SAT math. See a complete collection of our posts here. You can also check out good SAT studying websites and online SAT vocab lists. Finally, you can consider PrepScholar’s online test-prep program. We provide targeted practice questions based on your weaknesses to help you drill subject skills. Where do I find answer explanations? Unfortunately, The Official Guide tests do not come with answer explanations. However, if you own The Official Guide, you will be able to use the College Board’s Book Owner Area. It includes a feature that allows you to enter your practice test answers online, and then College Board analyzes your results, giving you a score estimate and saying which areas you still need to improve in. It also provides sample essays for each of the essay questions in the practice tests. Where can I get more practice tests? Just keep bubbling, just keep bubbling... If you’re still looking to improve after taking the 10 practice tests, check out our links to free, official SAT practice tests online. Many prep books also contain their own practice tests, though be aware since they’re not made by College Board, they’re not as high-quality as the tests in The Official Guide. Should I work through the practice tests with a timer, or give myself as much time as I need? Once again, this depends on your needs. If you find yourself running out of time on the practice tests, you might experiment with giving yourself time-and-half, time-and-a-quarter, and then strict timing on practice tests, to build up your speed. If you don’t run out of time often, then use strict timing for all practice tests. In any case, every time you take the SAT you should time it carefully, even if you’re giving yourself extra time. A huge part of the challenge of the SAT is pacing. It won't matter if you're capable of getting most of the questions right if you can't answer half of them on test day. We recommend wearing a watch when you practice so you can get used to timing yourself and even check how long you’re spending on each question. (You won't be able to bring your cell phone with you to the SAT.) The Bottom Line The Official SAT Study Guide is a great resource because of the high quality of the practice tests. But taking those tests alone won't magically improve your score. Make sure your time reviewing practice tests is meaningful – don’t just rush through scoring and ignore what you did wrong. Log your mistakes, drill your weaknesses, and keep practicing until you're confident you will get your target score on test day. What’s Next? Wondering how to make the most of your time reviewing practice problems? Read our guide to an SAT 1600 by our full-scorer. Even if you’re not going for a 1600, Allen lays out how to best analyze and correct your weaknesses. Getting sick of prep books? Check out the best SAT prep websites around! So how exactly do you know what your SAT target score is? Learn how to calculate it based on your dream schools. Also read more in-depth about how the SAT is scored. Want to improve your SAT score by 160 points? Check out our best-in-class online SAT prep program. We guarantee your money back if you don't improve your SAT score by 160 points or more. Our program is entirely online, and it customizes your prep program to your strengths and weaknesses. We also feature thousands of practice questions, 10 official SAT practice tests, and personal feedback on your essays from an expert instructor. Check out our 5-day free trial:

Levi Strauss & Company Case Study Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 3750 words

Levi Strauss & Company - Case Study Example This approach is not static by nature and its frameworks usually comprise of feedback loop so as to evaluate or monitor performance. In this particular study different strategic frameworks shall be included and applied on Levi Strauss & Company. This brand is known to be number one amongst cloth manufacturing company. The company was founded by Levi Strauss in 1853. Over the years, Levi Strauss & Company has brought forth certain changes as per changing market trends. It markets and manufactures non-work and casual work sportswear and jeans. Their products have been able to achieve high levels of customer satisfaction and are presently known for greater degree of comfort. In earlier years Levi’s jeans was considered to be a staple product for every teenager. The company in the present scenario has lost its close connection with customer’s hidden demand. There has been continuous struggle from company’s perspective in context of achieving right combination of stra tegies. Current mission statement of the firm will be analyzed along with some proposed recommendations. There are certain theoretical frameworks included in this study like CPM, EFE, IFE, Space Matrix, Grand Strategy Matrix and QSPM. All these models will be evaluated with respect to widespread operations performed by Levi Strauss Company. The company is externally surrounded by many competitors who have retained their brand image from past many years. In this case the major strategic challenge for the firm is to reformulate their brand image and sustain it for many years. It is indeed a challenge to keep blue jeans within their famous jeans sector. There would be four major aspects of the firm which shall be monitored like marketing, production, financial position and company culture. In overall context the firm has to adopt market oriented approach so as to remain competitive in the market place. Levi Strauss & Company was initially founded in 1853 and later in 1860 the famous Levi’s

Back to The Future 1 Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1500 words

Back to The Future 1 - Essay Example Marty and George in 80s represented a different type of relations in the unhappy family. Relations of Marty and George after his trip to 50s became friendlier and their family turned into a successful one. This research paper is focused on relations between a father and a son. The most interesting thing is that a son changes a life of his father and not a father changes a life of his son, as it usually happens. It is appropriate for Robert Zemeckis to project his relations with his father on his films (Thomson 2002, p. 958). A great director was oppressed by his father, because the latter did not believe in his creative potential. Therefore, a model of relations between Marty and George reflects commonly the relations of Zemeckis and his father. Zemeckis grew up in the suburbs of Chicago and was lacking of art. Robert wanted to take his parents' 8 mm home movie camera and delve in the fascinating world of cinema. His desire to go to a film school was intensified after Robert watched the â€Å"Bonnie and Clyde† film. Cinema was an enchanting world for a young boy, who wanted to change his daily routine into a fairy tale. Characters of the film From the very beginning of the film the audience is intrigued by a character of Doc Brown, who is introduced through the number of newspaper articles about his bankruptcy, which are aired on the radio and discussed in TV news. There are also many other trifles, which introduce Doc Brown’s character. This man is supposedly a scientist or an amateur inventor. It is evident that inventions of the scientists were not appreciated by the society. Plutonium was stolen by Doc Brown in order to power his time machine. So, there is so much about this scientist, but who is he and which role does he play in the film? Actually, a young boy entering the house of Doc Brown is Marty and his father’s name is George. Doc Brown is a prototype of Marty’s father, a kind of an ideal person, to which this boy feels a great affection and is attracted by his interesting life. It is possible to suppose that Robert Zemeckis expressed his desire for art in his childhood and a character of Doc in this film embodies desirable features of his father. Moreover, Doc is inspired with technology and Robert in his childhood was enchanted by television. Marty came to Doc to have a rest from his blue-collar environment, and Robert Zemeckis looked for such place of aesthetic pleasure while watching films. Marty is lacking of attention of his father and wants to find an opportunity to penetrate into the depths of George’s ideas. Doc gives him a chance to get acquainted with the past of his father and mother. When a magnificent time machine starts working, Marty has an opportunity to go back to 1955 to help his father to live a better life and not the one he has. It should be noted that Robert Zemeckis develops not only an interesting plot of relations between Marty and George, but also paints a pathetic p icture of psychological development of Marty. In his juvenile age in 50s he became his father’s rival and wanted to fight for his mother’s heart. There is no even a hint of Oedipus complex, relations between Marty and George happen at different level. Relations between a father and a son are developed as compensating ones: Marty gave an opportunity for his father to overcome his fears in the past and

ICT and society portfolio section Essay Example for Free

ICT and society portfolio section Essay Microsoft word Microsoft Word is a word processor program from Microsoft. It was originally written by Richard Brodie for IBM PC computers running DOS in 1983. Later versions were created for the Apple Macintosh (1984), SCO UNIN, and Microsoft Windows (1989). It became part of the Microsoft Office. Microsoft word is a software package which can be used for school work, course work, home work or personal work such as making posters or fliers. So it is extremely useful, especially if you have untidy handwriting because Microsoft word can improve your presentation not only by improving your writing but also can improve presentation by adding pictures, this can be done using a feature called clipart which allows me too insert pictures to my work. Another good point about this is that it has a feature called spell check, which is handy if you are bad at spelling because if you spelt a word wrong then it will either automatically correct it or show you a list of words to help you. The only bad point about spell check is that it doesnt recognise every word and that sometimes it uses the American spelling of words. Other god points include the fact that if you are doing something such as an essay or coursework which requires a lot of writing because you can easily change your words if you make a mistake whereas if you were writing it out by hand then you would have to rewrite everything from the beginning. Microsoft Excel Excel 2003 enables you to turn data into information with powerful tools to analyze, communicate, and share results. Excel 2003 can help you work better in teams, and help protect and control access to your work. In addition, you can work with industry-standard Extensible Mark-up Language (NML) data to make it easier to connect to business processes. Just like Microsoft word, excel is a software package which can be used for school work, course work, home work or personal work. Mostly excel is used in business in order to keep track of financial status and to record data required to run a business. The good points about Microsoft excel is that you can use features such as auto sum which allows you to quickly and easily count up numbers, another feature is the graph function which allows you to create graphs easily, the graphs make the figures easier to understand and improves presentation. Microsoft access Microsoft Access is a relational database management system from Microsoft, packaged with Microsoft Office Professional. Microsoft Access can use data stored in Access/Jet, Microsoft SQL Server, Oracle, or any ODBC-compliant data container. Skilled software developers and data architects use it to develop powerful, complen application software. Relatively unskilled programmers and non-programmer power users can use it to build simple applications without having to deal with features they dont understand. Microsoft Access was also the name of a communications program from Microsoft, meant to compete with ProComm and other programs. This Microsoft Access proved a failure and was dropped. Years later Microsoft reused the name for its database software. Microsoft access is normally used in areas such as hospitals in order to keep a record of all the patients. Another area where databases are used is in buissness in order to keep track of financial staus and contacts. Microsoft PowerPoint Microsoft publisher Microsoft Publisher is a desktop publishing application from Microsoft. This program helps you easily create, customize, and publish materials such as newsletters, brochures, flyers, catalogs, and Web sites. It is very neat and tidy and improves presentation. People who work in the advertising industry might find publisher very useful because it is very quick and easy to use.

Energy Crisis Of The United States Essay -- Energy Oil Gas USA Petroli

Energy Crisis Of The United States Content May be Outdated At the beginning of the year the President of the United States announced that the United States was in the middle of a nation wide energy crisis. The President gave many solutions including using more solar and wind energy, nuclear power, and drilling in the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge (ANWR). The President told the American people that they would have to watch their energy use and conserve as much as possible. Gas prices reached $2 per gallon in the Midwest for the second straight summer, and California continued to be hit by unprecedented power woes that forced rolling blackouts. The price of crude oil rose sharply, from around $10 a barrel to a peak of $37. The current rate has settled at about $26 per barrel. The cost of home heating oil rose as well. ?Many energy analysts, while willing to apply the term 'energy crisis' to California, say the nation, as a whole is not in the throes of a crisis. They note that oil imports continue unabated and say the current price pr oblems come from shortcomings in the transmission of energy to companies and consumers.'(Energy Conservation News, 2000) At the moment, our biggest problems, in the oil market, are that the United States is in the clinches of the mighty oil countries that decide how much oil to pump and sell to the United States. When an oil producing country is angry at the United States withholding oil until demands are met seems to be a popular solution. Leaving the United States to seek alternative oil sources to pump so as not to be at the mercy of these smaller oil producing countries and their blackmail attempts. The top three producers of oil are; Saudi Arabia with 8.10 billion barrels, United States with 3.24 billion barrels, and Russia with 2.56 billion barrels in a year. The top three consumers of oil are; United States with 7.06 billion barrels, Japan with 1.18 billion barrels, and China with 0.50 billion barrels in a year. The United States would have to almost triple its producing efforts to equal the consumption rate. Early last year, environmentalist and United States oil company executives found thems elves sharing the same concern: low oil prices. As the year began, the average cost of crude oil continued to fall despite high demands during a cold winter, limited reserve capacity among members of OPEC and the con... ...e 1). Waste Treatment Technology News. 10. Ebersole, R. (2001, November 14). ?Nuclear Reactions.? Current Science. 6. Fineman, H. & Isikoff, M. (2001, May 14). ?Big Energy At The Table.? Newsweek. 18-22. ?Fuel Cell Energy Expands.? (2000, June 1). Fuel Cell Technology News. 9. Holdren, J. (2001, July 1). ?Energy Policy.? Science and Technology. 5. Kluger, J. (2001, April 9). ?A Climate of Despair.? Time. 30-36. Lemonick, M. (2001, April 9). ?Life In the Greenhouse.? Time. 24-29. McCarthy, T. (2001, July 16). ?High Noon In The West.? Time. 18-32. Piore, A. (2001, July 30). ?A Nuke Train Gets Ready to Roll.? Newsweek. 26-28. ?Progress in Reducing Energy Intensity.? (2000, June 1). Energy Conservation New. 11. Reynolds, P. (1998, October 5). ?Solar Power Players Moves And Mergers In The Oil Industry Cast New Light On The Fast-Growing Solar Energy Market.? Time International. 55. Sloan, A. (2001, May 14). ?Profiting From The Darkness.? Newsweek. 23. ?Squeezing Liquid Fuel From Natural Gas.? (2000, June 1). Industries in Transition. 2. ?Ultra capacitor module delivers 150 kJ of storage.? (1998, October 12). Electronic Buyer News. 41.

Prom Nights from Hell Chapter One

Hell on Earth Stephenie Meyer Gabe stared across the dance floor and frowned. He wasn't sure why he'd asked Celeste to the prom, and it was another mystery why she'd said yes. Even more mysterious now, watching her grip Heath McKenzie around the neck so tightly that Heath was probably having trouble breathing. Their bodies flattened into an indivisible mass as they swayed against the beat, ignoring the rhythm of the song thudding through the room. Heath's hands roamed over Celeste's glistening white dress in an intimate way. â€Å"Tough luck, Gabe.† Gabe looked away from the spectacle his date was making to his approaching friend. â€Å"Hey, Bry. Having a nice night?† â€Å"Better than you, man, better than you,† Bryan answered, grinning. He lifted his cup of bilious green punch as if for a toast. Gabe touched his bottled water to Bryan's cup and sighed. â€Å"I had no idea Celeste had a thing for Heath. What is he, her ex or something?† Bryan took a gulp of the sinister-looking drink, made a face, and shook his head. â€Å"Not that I know of. I've never seen them even speak to each other before tonight.† Both of them stared at Celeste, who had apparently lost something she needed deep inside Heath's mouth. â€Å"Huh,† Gabe said. â€Å"It's probably just the punch,† Bryan said in an attempt to be encouraging. â€Å"I don't know how many people spiked it, but ouch. She might not even know that's not you out there.† Bryan took another swig and made another face. â€Å"Why are you drinking that?† Gabe wondered aloud. Bryan shrugged. â€Å"I don't know. Maybe the music will start to sound a little less pathetic after I force a glass of this down.† Gabe nodded. â€Å"My ears may never forgive me. I should have brought my iPod.† â€Å"I wonder where Clara is. Is there some kind of girl-law that demands they spend a certain percentage of every event in the bathroom together?† â€Å"Yes. Stiff penalties for girls who don't meet the quota.† Bryan laughed once, but then his smile faded and he fiddled with his bow tie for a moment. â€Å"About Clara†¦Ã¢â‚¬  he began. â€Å"You don't have to say anything,† Gabe assured him. â€Å"She's an amazing girl. And you two are perfect for each other. I would've had to be blind not to see that.† â€Å"You really don't mind?† â€Å"I told you to ask her to the prom, didn't I?† â€Å"Yeah, you did. Sir Galahad makes another match. Seriously, man, do you ever think about yourself?† â€Å"Sure, every hour on the hour. And hey, speaking of Clara†¦ she better have a great time tonight or I'm going to break your nose.† Gabe grinned a wide grin. â€Å"She and I are still good friends-don't think I won't call her to check.† Bryan rolled his eyes, but suddenly found it a little difficult to swallow. If Gabe Christensen wanted to break his nose, he wouldn't have much of a problem doing it-Gabe didn't mind getting his knuckles bruised or his permanent record blemished if it meant righting something that was wrong in his eyes. â€Å"I'll take care of Clara,† Bryan said, wishing that the words didn't sound so much like a vow. There was something about Gabe and his piercing blue eyes that made you feel that way-like doing the best you could at any given task. It got irritating sometimes. With a grimace, Bryan dumped the rest of his punch into the dead moss at the base of a fake ficus tree. â€Å"If she ever leaves the bathroom.† â€Å"Good man,† Gabe said approvingly, but his smile twisted down on one side. Celeste and Heath had disappeared into the crowd. Gabe wasn't sure what the protocol was when you got dumped at the prom. How was he supposed to make sure she got home safe? Was that Heath's job now? Gabe wondered again why he'd asked Celeste to this dance. She was a very pretty girl-pageant pretty. Perfect blond hair-so full it was fluffy-wide-spaced brown eyes, and curvy lips always painted a flattering shade of pink. Her lips weren't the only things that were curvy. She'd all but shut his brain down with the thin, clingy dress she'd worn tonight. Her looks weren't the reason he'd noticed her, though. That reason was something else entirely. It was stupid and embarrassing, really. Gabe would never, ever tell anyone else about this, but every now and then, he got this weird sense that someone needed help. Needed him. He'd gotten that inexplicable pull from Celeste, as if the shapely blonde was hiding a damsel in distress somewhere behind her flawless makeup. Very stupid. And obviously wrong. Celeste didn't seem interested in any help from Gabe right now. He scanned the dance floor again but couldn't pick her golden hair out of the crowd. He sighed. â€Å"Hey, Bry, did you miss me?† Clara, her dark curly hair full of glitter, bounced free from a herd of females and joined them against the wall. The rest of the herd dispersed. â€Å"Hey, Gabe. Where's Celeste?† Bryan put his arm around her shoulders. â€Å"I thought you left. Guess I'll have to cancel the hot plans I just made with-â€Å" Clara's elbow caught Bryan in the solar plexus. â€Å"Mrs. Finkle,† Bryan continued, gasping the words and nodding toward the vice principal glaring from the corner of the room farthest away from the speakers. â€Å"We were going to sort failure notices by candlelight.† â€Å"Well, I wouldn't want you to miss that! I think I saw Coach Lauder by the cookies. Maybe I could talk him into some extra-credit pull-ups.† â€Å"Or maybe we could just dance,† Bryan suggested. â€Å"Sure, I can settle for that.† Laughing, they pressed their way toward the dance floor, Bryan's hands winding around Clara's waist. Gabe was glad Clara hadn't waited for an answer to her question. It was a little embarrassing that he didn't have one. â€Å"Hey, Gabe, where's Celeste?† Gabe grimaced and turned to the sound of Logan's voice. Logan was also solo for the moment. Perhaps it was his date's turn to exhibit girl-herding behavior. â€Å"I couldn't say,† Gabe admitted. â€Å"Have you seen her?† Logan pursed his full lips for a minute, as if debating whether or not to say something. He ran a hand nervously across his springy black hair. â€Å"Well, I thought I did. I'm not exactly sure, though†¦ She's wearing a white dress, right?† â€Å"Yeah-where is she?† â€Å"I think I saw her in the lobby. Can't be positive. Her face was sort of hard to see†¦ David Alvarado's face was all over it†¦Ã¢â‚¬  â€Å"David Alvarado?† Gabe repeated in surprise. â€Å"Not Heath McKenzie?† â€Å"Heath? Naw. It was definitely David.† Heath was a linebacker, blond and fair. David barely cleared five feet; his coloring was olive and his hair was black. No way to confuse the two. Logan shook his head sadly. â€Å"Sorry, Gabe. That sucks.† â€Å"Don't worry about it.† â€Å"At least you're not in the stag boat alone,† Logan said forlornly. â€Å"Really? What happened to your date?† Logan shrugged. â€Å"She's around here somewhere, glowering at everyone. She doesn't want to dance, she doesn't want to talk, she doesn't want punch, she doesn't want to take pictures, and she doesn't want my company.† He ticked each negative off on his fingers. â€Å"I don't know why she asked me in the first place. Probably just wanted to show off her dress-it is hot, I'll give her that. But she doesn't seem to care about showing anything now†¦ Wish I'd asked someone else.† Logan's eyes lingered wistfully on a group of girls fast dancing in a male-free circle. Gabe thought he saw Logan focus on one girl in particular. â€Å"Why didn't you ask Libby?† Logan sighed. â€Å"I don't know. I think†¦ I think she would have liked it if I'd asked her, though. Oh well.† â€Å"Who's your date?† â€Å"That new girl, Sheba. She's a little intense but really gorgeous, kinda exotic. I was too shocked to say anything but yes when she asked me to go with her. I thought that she, well, that she might be†¦ fun†¦Ã¢â‚¬  Logan finished lamely. What he'd really thought when Sheba had all but commanded him to take her to prom didn't seem entirely appropriate to be spoken aloud, especially to Gabe; lots of things seemed inappropriate around Gabe. It was just the opposite with Sheba. When he'd gotten a look at her mind-blowing red leather dress, his head had been full of ideas that somehow didn't feel in the least bit inappropriate while her deep, dark eyes had been focused on him. â€Å"I don't think I've met her,† Gabe said, interrupting Logan's brief fantasy. â€Å"You'd remember if you had.† Although Sheba had forgotten Logan quickly enough once they were in the door, hadn't she? â€Å"Hey, do you think maybe Libby came alone? I didn't hear about anyone asking her†¦Ã¢â‚¬  â€Å"Er, she came with Dylan.† â€Å"Oh,† Logan said, crestfallen. Then he half-smiled. â€Å"Night's bad enough without getting tortured on top of everything else-weren't they supposed to have a band? This DJ†¦Ã¢â‚¬  â€Å"I know. It's as if we're being punished for our sins,† Gabe said with a laugh. â€Å"Sins? Like you have any, Galahad the Pure.† Prom Nights from Hell Chapter One Kiss and Tell Michele Jaffe Chapter One â€Å"Sorry this wasn't more of a storybook ending,† the man with his hands around her throat said, smiling, holding her eyes with his own as he choked her. â€Å"If you're going to kill me, can't you just get on with it? This is kind of uncomfortable.† â€Å"What, my hands? Or the feeling that you're a failure-â€Å" â€Å"I'm not a failure.† † – again.† She spit in his face. â€Å"Still got some fire. I really admire that about you. I think you and I could have gotten along nicely. Unfortunately, there just isn't time.† She gave one last fight, clawing at his hands around her throat, his forearms, anything, but he didn't even flinch. Her fists fell hopelessly to her sides. He leaned in so close to her face that she could feel him exhale. â€Å"Any last words?† â€Å"Three: Listerine breath strips. You really need them.† He laughed and tightened the hands around her neck until they overlapped. â€Å"Good-bye.† For a second, his eyes burned into hers. Then she heard a sharp crack and felt herself fall to the floor as everything went black. Prom Nights from Hell Chapter One The Corsage Lauren Myracle Readers, beware! The following story was inspired by â€Å"The Monkey's Paw,† first published in 1902 by W. W. Jacobs, which scared the dickens out of me when I was a teenager. Be careful what you wish for, indeed! – LAUREN MYRACLE Outside, the wind whipped around Madame Zanzibar's house, making a loose rain-pipe thump against the siding. The sky was dark, though it was only four o'clock. But within the garishly decorated waiting room, three table lamps shone brightly, each draped with a jewel-toned scarf. Ruby hues lit Yun Sun's round face, while bluish-purple hues gave Will the mottled look of someone freshly dead. â€Å"You look like you've risen from the grave,† I told him. â€Å"Frankie,† Yun Sun scolded. She did a head jerk toward Madame Z's closed office, worried, I suppose, that she might hear and be offended. A red plastic monkey hung from the office doorknob, indicating that Madame Z was with a client. We were up next. Will made his eyes go vacant. â€Å"I am a pod person,† he moaned. He stretched his arms out toward us. â€Å"Please to give me all your hearts and livers.† â€Å"Oh no! The pod person has taken over our beloved Will!† I clutched Yun Sun's arm. â€Å"Quick, give him your hearts and livers, so he'll leave mine alone!† Yun Sun shook free. â€Å"Not amused,† she said in a tone both singsongy and threatening. â€Å"And if you're not nice to me, I will leave.† â€Å"Stop being such a pooter,† I said. â€Å"I will take my thunder thighs and I will march right out of here. Just watch.† Yun Sun was on a my-legs-are-too-fat kick, just because her superslinky prom dress needed a little letting out. At least she had a prom dress. And a for-sure chance to wear it. â€Å"Bleh,† I said. Her grouchiness was endangering our plan, which was the whole reason we were here. The night of the prom was getting dangerously close, and I was not going to be the sad shell of a girl who sat home alone while everyone else went crazy with glitter dust and danced ironically in spectacular three-inch heels. I refused, especially since I knew in my heart of hearts that Will wanted to ask me. He just needed a little encouragement. I lowered my voice, all the while smiling at Will like la la la, just girl talk, nothing important! â€Å"It was both of our idea to do this, Yun Sun. Remember?† â€Å"No, Frankie, it was your idea,† she said. And she did not keep her voice down. â€Å"I've already got my date, even though he's going to be squished to death by my thighs. You're the one hoping for a last-minute miracle.† â€Å"Yun Sun!† I glanced at Will, who turned red. Bad Yun Sun, throwing it out in the open like that. Bad, bad, naughty girl! â€Å"Ow!† she yelped. Because I'd whacked her. â€Å"I am very mad at you,† I said. â€Å"Enough with the coyness. You do want him to ask you, don't you?† â€Å"Ow!† â€Å"Um, you guys?† Will said. He was doing that adorable thing he did when he was nervous, when his Adam's apple bobbed up and down. Although, huh. That was kind of an icky image. It made me think of bobbing for apples, which was only one step away from bobbing for Adam's apples. But. Will was indeed possessed of an Adam's apple, and when it moved up and down in his throat, it was indeed adorable. It made him look so vulnerable. â€Å"She hit me,† Yun Sun tattled. â€Å"She deserved it,† I countered. But I didn't want it to go further, this line of conversation that was already too revealing. So I patted Yun Sun's totally unfat leg and said, â€Å"However, I forgive you. Now shut up.† What Yun Sun failed to get-or more likely, what she totally got and yet failed to appreciate-was that not all things needed to be said aloud. Yes, I wanted Will to ask me to prom, and I wanted him to do it soon, because â€Å"Springtime Is for Lovers† was only two weeks away. And fine, the name of the dance was dorky, but springtime was for lovers. It was an indisputable truth. Just as it was an indisputable truth that Will was my forever boy, if only he could get past his enduring bashfulness and make a frickin' move. Enough chummy shoulder slugs and giggling, snorting tickle wars! Enough clutching each other and shrieking, blaming it on our Netflix copies of The Body Snatchers or They Come from the Hills! Couldn't Will see that I was his for the taking? He'd almost popped the question last weekend, I was ninety-nine-point-five percent sure. We'd been watching Pretty Woman, an overblown romance which never failed to amuse. Yun Sun had disappeared into the kitchen for snacks, leaving the two of us alone. â€Å"Um, Frankie?† Will had said. His foot tap-tap-tapped against the floor, and his fingers flexed on his jeans. â€Å"Can I ask you something?† Any fool would have known what was coming, because if he'd just wanted me to turn up the volume, he'd simply have said, â€Å"Hey, Franks, turn up the volume.† Casual. Straightforward. No need for any preparatory remarks. But since there were preparatory remarks†¦ well, what could he possibly have wanted to ask me besides â€Å"Will you go to prom?† Eternal delight was right there, only seconds away. And then I'd blown it. His palpable nervousness triggered a spaz-out of my own, and instead of letting the moment play out, I'd skittishly changed the subject. BECAUSE I WAS A FREAK. â€Å"Now see, that's the way it's done!† I said, pointing at the TV. Richard Gere was galloping on his white steed, which was really a limo, to Julia Roberts's castle, which was really a crappy third-story apartment. As we watched, Richard Gere climbed out of the sun roof and scaled the fire escape, all to win the affections of his beloved. â€Å"None of this namby-pamby ‘I think you're kinda cute' baloney,† I went on. I was blathering, and I knew it. â€Å"We're talking action, baby. We're talking grand gesture of love.† Will gulped. And said, â€Å"Oh.† And blinked at Richard Gere in a startled-teddy-bear way, thinking, I'm sure, that he could never, ever compare. I stared at the TV, knowing I'd sabotaged my prom night happiness through my own stupidity. I didn't care about â€Å"grand gestures of love†; I just cared about Will. But brilliant me, I'd gone and scared him off. Because in actual real reality, I was an even bigger wimp than he was. But no more-which was why we were here at Madame Zanzibar's. She would tell us our futures, and unless she was a total hack, she would state the obvious as an impartial observer: Will and I were meant for each other. Hearing it spoken so plainly would give Will the guts to try again. He'd ask me to prom, and this time I'd let him, even if it killed me. The plastic monkey twitched on the office doorknob. â€Å"Look, it's moving,† I whispered. â€Å"Oooo,† Will said. A black man with snow-white hair shuffled out of the office. He had no teeth, which made the lower half of his face look puckered, like a prune. â€Å"Children,† he said, tipping his hat. Will stood up and opened the front door, because that's the kind of guy he was. A gust of wind nearly toppled the old man, and Will steadied him. â€Å"Whoa,† Will said. â€Å"Thank you, son,† the old man replied. His words came out mushy, because of the no-teeth thing. â€Å"Reckon I best skedaddle before the storm blows in.† â€Å"I think it already has,† Will said. Past the driveway, tree branches thrashed and creaked. â€Å"This weensy old wind?† the old man said. â€Å"Aw, now, this is just a baby waking up and wanting to be fed. It'll be worse before the night is over, mark my words.† He peered at us. â€Å"In fact, shouldn't you children be home, safe and sound?† It was hard to take offense when a toothless old-timer called you â€Å"children.† But come on, this was the second time in twenty seconds. â€Å"We're juniors in high school,† I said. â€Å"We can take care of ourselves.† His laugh made me think of dead leaves. â€Å"All right, then,† he said. â€Å"I'm sure you know best.† He small-stepped onto the porch, and Will gave a half wave and shut the door. â€Å"Crazy coot,† came a voice from behind us. We turned to see Madame Zanzibar in the office doorway. She wore hot pink Juicy Couture sweatpants with a matching hot pink top, unzipped to her clavicle. Her breasts were round and firm and amazingly perky, given that she didn't seem to be wearing a bra. Her lipstick was bright orange, to match her nails, and so was the end of the cigarette she held between two fingers. â€Å"So, are we coming in or are we staying out here?† she asked the three of us. â€Å"Unveiling life's mysteries or leaving well enough alone?† I rose from my chair and pulled Yun Sun with me. Will followed. Madame Z ushered us into her office, and the three of us scrunched together in an overstuffed armchair. Will realized it was never going to work and lowered himself to the floor. I wiggled to make Yun Sun give me more room. â€Å"See? They're sausages,† she said, referring to her thighs. â€Å"Scooch,† I commanded. â€Å"Now,† Madame Z said, crossing in front of us and sitting behind a table. She puffed on her cigarette. â€Å"What's your business?† I bit my lip. How to put it? â€Å"Well, you're a psychic, right?† Madame Z exhaled a cloud of smoke. â€Å"Gee, Sherlock, the ad in the Yellow Pages tip you off?† I blushed, while at the same time bristling. My question had been a conversation opener. Did she have a problem with conversation openers? Anyway, if she really was a psychic, shouldn't she already know why I was here? â€Å"Uh†¦ okay. Sure, whatever. So I guess I was wondering†¦Ã¢â‚¬  â€Å"Yeah? Out with it.† I gathered my courage. â€Å"Well†¦ I was wondering if a certain special person was going to ask me a certain special question.† I purposefully didn't look at Will, but I heard his spurt of surprise. He hadn't seen this coming. Madame Z pressed two fingers to her forehead and let her eyes go blank. â€Å"Ahem,† she said. â€Å"Hmm, hmm. What I'm getting here is muzzy. There is passion, yes†- Yun Sun giggled; Will swallowed audibly-â€Å"but there are also†¦ how do I say? Complicating factors.† Prom Nights from Hell Chapter One Madison Avery and the Dim Reaper Kim Harrison Chapter One If British general, a damsel in a dress, and a pirate walk into a gym, I thought as I gazed over the bodies moving in a mind-numbing chaos of pent-up, inexperienced, teenage lust. Leave it to Covington High to turn prom into a joke. Not to mention my seventeenth birthday. What was I doing here? Prom was supposed to be real dresses with a live band, not rented costumes with canned music and streamers. And my birthday was supposed to be†¦ anything but this. â€Å"You sure you don't want to dance?† Josh yelled in my ear, sending his sugary breath over me. I tried not to grimace, keeping my gaze fixed on the clock beside the gym's Scoreboard and wondering if an hour was long enough to stay and not get the third degree from my dad. The music was dull-the same rhythmic thump over, and over, and over. Nothing new in the last forty minutes. And the bass was way too loud. â€Å"Yep,† I said, edging away in time with the music when his hand tried to creep to my waist. â€Å"Still don't want to dance.† â€Å"Something to drink?† he tried again, and I cocked my hip, crossing my arms to hide my cleavage. I was still waiting for the boob fairy to show up, but the dress's corset shoved everything up and together to make it look like I had more than I did, making me self-conscious. â€Å"No, thanks,† I said with a sigh. He probably didn't hear me, but he got the gist, seeing as he looked away, watching everyone move. Long ballroom gowns and skimpy barmaid costumes mixed with swashbuckling pirates and sailors. That was the theme of the prom. Pirates. God! I had worked for two months on the prom committee at my old school. It was going to have been freaking fantastic, with a moonlit barge and a real band, but no-o-o-o. Mom had said Dad needed to spend time with me. That he was going through a midlife crisis and had to reconnect with something from his past that didn't involve arguing. I think she just got scared when she caught me sneaking out for a late cappuccino and shipped me back to Dad and Dullsville USA knowing I listened to him more than her. Okay, so it had been after midnight. And I might have been after more than caffeine. And yeah, I'd already been grounded from staying out too late the previous weekend, but that's why I had to sneak out. Running the stiff lace of my colonial dress between my fingers, I wondered if any of these people had a clue what a real party looked like. Maybe they didn't care. Josh was standing a little in front of me, bobbing his head in time with the music and clearly wanting to dance. Nearby at the food table was the guy who had skulked in after us. He was looking my way, and I gave him a stare, wondering if he was after me or Josh. Seeing my attention on him, the guy turned away. My gaze fell back on Josh, who had begun to almost dance halfway between me and the moving people. Actually, I mused as he shifted and bobbed his head to the music, his costume made his thin, awkward height work for him-a traditional British general's red and white, complete with fake sword and epaulets. His father's idea, probably, since he was the VIP of VIPs at the research facility that had kept everyone employed when the military base moved to Arizona, but it did go with the overdone lace-and-corset thing I had on. â€Å"Come on. Everyone else is dancing,† he coaxed when he saw me look at him, and I shook my head, almost feeling sorry for him. He reminded me of the guys in the photography club pretending the darkroom door had locked to try to get a little action. It just wasn't fair. I had spent three years learning how to fit in with the cool chicks, and now I was right back with the nice but unpopular guys, mowing down cupcakes in the gym. And on my birthday, too. â€Å"No,† I said flatly. Translation: Sorry, I'm not interested. You may as well give up. Even thick-headed, awkward, broken-glasses Josh got that one, and he stopped his almost-dancing to fix his blue eyes on me. â€Å"Jesus, you're a bitch, you know that? I only asked you out because my dad made me. If you want to dance, I'll be over there.† My breath caught, and I gaped at him as if he had punched me in the gut. He cockily raised his eyebrows and walked away with his hands in his pockets and his chin raised. Two girls parted so he could walk between them, and they hunched into each other in his wake, gossiping as they glanced at me. Oh my God. I'm a pity date. Blinking fast, I held my breath as I fought to keep the room from going blurry. Crap, not only was I the new girl, but I was a freaking pity date! My dad had made nice to his boss, and he made his son ask me out. â€Å"Son of a dead puppy,† I whispered, wondering if everyone was looking at me or if it was just my imagination. I tucked my short blond hair behind my ear and backed to the wall. Leaning against it with my arms crossed, I tried to pretend Josh had gone to get some pop. Inside, I was dying. I had been dumped. No, I had been dumped by a geek. â€Å"Way to go, Madison,† I said sourly, just imagining the gossip on Monday. I spotted Josh at the food table, pretending to ignore me without being obvious about it. The guy in the sailor outfit who had followed us in was talking to him. I still didn't think he was one of Josh's friends, even though he was jostling his elbow and pointing at the girls dancing in dresses cut too low for the gyrating they were doing. That I didn't recognize him wasn't surprising since I'd been avoiding everyone for the simple reason I wasn't happy being here and I didn't mind anyone knowing it. I wasn't a jock or a nerd-though I had belonged to the photography club back home. Despite my efforts, I apparently didn't fit with the Barbie dolls. And I wasn't a goth, brain, druggie, or one of the kids who wanted to play scientist like their mommies or daddies at the research facility. I didn't fit anywhere. Correction, I thought as Josh and the sailor laughed. I fit with the bitches. The guy followed Josh's attention to another group of girls, who were now giggling at something Josh had said. His brown hair was frizzed out under his sailor's cap, and his crisp white outfit made him look like all the other guys who'd chosen sailor over pirate. He was tall, and there was a smooth grace to his movements that said he'd quit growing. He looked older than me, but he couldn't be too much older. It was the prom. And I don't have to be here, I thought suddenly, shoving myself away from the wall with my elbows. Josh was my ride home, but my dad would pick me up if I called. My motion to weave through the crowd to the double doors slowed in worry. He'd ask why Josh wasn't bringing me home. It would all come out. The lecture to be nice and fit in I could deal with, but the embarrassment†¦ Josh was watching me when I glanced up. The guy with him was trying to get his attention, but Josh's eyes were on mine. Mocking me. That did it. No way was I going to call my dad. And I wasn't getting into a car with Josh, either. I'd walk it. All five miles. In heels. And a long cotton dress. On a damp April night. With my boobs scrunched together. What was the worst that could happen? A runaway cow incident? Crap, I really missed my car. â€Å"Way to go, girl,† I muttered, gathering my resolution along with my dress, head down as my shoulders bumped into dancers on my way to the door. I was so out of here. People were talking, but I didn't care. I didn't need friends. Friends were overrated. The music melted into something fast, and I brought my attention up when the crowd seemed to shift, awkwardly changing rhythm. I jerked to a stop when I realized I was a step away from running into someone. â€Å"Sorry!† I shouted over the music, then froze, staring. Holy crap, Mr. Sexy Pirate Captain. Where had he been the last three weeks, and were there more where he came from? I'd never seen him before. Not in the entire time I'd been stuck in this town. I would have remembered. Maybe exerted myself a little more. Flushing, I dropped my skirt to move my hand to cover my cleavage. God, I felt like a British tart with everything shoved up like that. The guy was dressed in a clingy black pirate costume, a pendant of gray stone lying on his chest. I could see it where the collar parted. A Zorro-style mask hid his upper face. The wide silk tails of it trailed down his back to mix with his luscious wavy black hair. He stood taller than me by about five inches, and as I ran my gaze over his tight figure, I wondered where he'd been keeping himself. Certainly not the band room or Mrs. Fairel's U.S. Government class, I thought as the spinning lights played over him. â€Å"My apologies,† he said, taking my hand, and my breath caught, not because he was touching me, but because his accent wasn't Midwestern. Sort of a slow, soft exhalation laced with a crisp preciseness that told of taste and sophistication. I could almost hear the clink of crystal and soft laughter in it, the comforting sounds that more often than not had lulled me to sleep as the waves pushed on the beach. â€Å"You aren't from around here,† I blurted as I leaned to hear him better. A smile grew, his dusky skin and dark hair almost a balm, so familiar amid the pale faces and light hair of the Midwestern prison I was in. â€Å"I'm here temporarily,† he said. â€Å"An exchange student, in a manner of speaking. Same as you.† He glanced disdainfully at the people moving around us with little rhythm and even less originality. â€Å"There are too many cows here, don't you think?† I laughed, praying I didn't sound like a brainless flake. â€Å"Yes!† I almost shouted, pulling him down to talk into his ear over the noise. â€Å"But I'm not an exchange student. I moved here from Florida. My mom lives out there on the inner coastal, but now I'm stuck here with my dad. I agree. You're right, it's awful. At least you get to go home.† And where is home, Mr. Sexy Pirate? A hint of low tide and canal water drifted to me, rising from him like a memory. And though some might find it unpleasant, tears pricked at my eyes. I missed my old school. I missed my car. I missed my friends. Why had Mom gone so ballistic? â€Å"Home, yes,† he said, and an intoxicating smile showed a hint of tongue when he licked his lips and straightened. â€Å"We should leave the floor. We're in the way of their†¦ dancing.† My heart pounded harder. I didn't want to move. He might go away, or worse, someone might slip their arm into his, claiming him. â€Å"Do you want to dance?† I said, nervous. â€Å"It's not what I'm used to, but it has a good beat.† His smile widened, and relief sent my pulse faster. Oh God. I think he likes me. Letting go of my hand, he nodded, and then dropped back a step and started to move. For a moment, I forgot to follow and just watched him. He wasn't flamboyant. No, he went the other way-his slow movements making far more of an impact than if he had cleared the floor by spinning me around it. Seeing me watching, he smiled from behind his mysterious mask and blue-gray eyes as he held out a hand for me to join him. I took a breath, my fingers slipping into his warm ones, and let him pull me into motion. The music was the framework he moved within, and I lost myself trying to match the pattern of it. Almost swaying, we shifted at every second beat. I let myself relax and just dance, finding it easier if I didn't think about it. I could feel every shift of my hips and roll of my shoulders-and a thrill of something began to grow inside me. While everyone around us continued with sharp, fast motions, we danced slow, the space between us narrowing, our gazes fixing more and more on each other as I became increasingly sure of myself. I let him guide me as the music pulsed and my heart pounded with it. â€Å"Most everyone here calls me Seth,† he said, almost ruining the moment, but then his hand curved lightly about my waist, and I leaned into him. Oh yeah. This was better. â€Å"Madison,† I said, liking how I felt, dancing slower than everyone else. But the music was fast, thumping to make my blood race. The two extremes made it seem all the more daring. â€Å"I haven't seen you around. Are you a senior?† Seth's fingers tightened on the light cotton of my dress, or perhaps he was just drawing me closer. â€Å"I'm top of my class,† he said, leaning so he wouldn't have to shout. The colored lights played upon him, and I felt airy. Josh could suck an egg for all I cared. This was what my prom should be. â€Å"That would explain it,† I said, tilting my head to see his eyes and try to place him. â€Å"I'm a junior.† He smiled with his lips closed, and I felt small and protected. My own smile grew. I could feel people starting to watch us, their dancing slowing as they turned. I hoped Josh was getting a good look. Call me a bitch, would he? I lifted my chin, daring to reach out and pull Seth near, our bodies touching, then moving apart. My heart hammered at what I was doing, but I wanted to hurt Josh. I wanted the gossip tomorrow to be what an idiot he had been to walk away from me. I wanted†¦ something. Seth's hands slid smoothly at my waist, neither imprisoning nor demanding, freeing me to dance as I wanted, and I let myself go, motions turning more sultry than these backwoods bumpkins had seen anywhere but on their TV. My lips twitched when I saw Josh and that sailor kid he'd been talking with all this time. Josh's face was white with anger, and I simpered back. â€Å"You want him to know you aren't with him?† Seth said wistfully, and my gaze jerked to his. â€Å"He hurt you,† Seth said, and his dark hand left tingles where it touched my chin. â€Å"You should show him what he lost.† The moment balanced, and though I knew it was spiteful, I found myself nodding. Seth eased to a halt, pulling me into him with a smooth, unbroken gesture. He was going to kiss me. I knew it. It was in every motion he made. My pulse hammered, and I tilted my head up to meet his lips with my own, feeling my knees lock. Around us, people slowed to watch, some laughing, some envious. My eyes closed, and I shifted my weight so that we were still dancing as we kissed. It was everything I wanted. Heat washed into me where we touched, spilling down through me like layers, each flaring up as his touch grew closer. Never had I been kissed like this, and I couldn't breathe, afraid I'd ruin it. My hands were at his waist, and they held him tighter as he cupped my jaw, holding me as if I might break. He tasted like wood smoke. I wanted more-but boy, did I know better. A low sound lifted from him, softer than distant thunder. His hands tightened, and adrenaline spiked through me. The kiss had shifted. Alarmed, I jerked back, breathless but feeling bright-eyed and exhilarated. Seth's moody eyes were fixed on mine with a light amusement that I had pulled away. â€Å"It's only a game,† he said. â€Å"He's wiser, now. So are you. He's not worth pain.† I blinked as the lights spun madly and the music continued, loud and untouched by our kiss. Everything was different, but only I had changed. I tore my gaze from Seth, my hand still on his waist for balance. There were spots of color on Josh's cheeks, and he looked angry. I raised my eyebrows at him. â€Å"Let's go,† I said, linking my arm with Seth's. I didn't think anyone would show up to challenge my position. Not after that kiss. Confident, I stepped forward with Seth beside me. A path opened, and I felt like a queen. Though the music thumped and blared, everyone watched us make our way unimpeded to the double doors with their brown-paper wrappings decorated to look like the oak doors of a castle. Plebeians, I thought when Seth pushed open the door and the cooler air of the hallway hit me. The door closed behind us, and the music dulled. I slowed to a stop, low heels scuffing on the tile. There was a paper-cloth-covered table against the wall with a tired-looking woman checking tickets. Farther down the hall three kids loitered at the main door. The memory of our kiss rose back through me, making me suddenly nervous. This guy was gorgeous. Why was he with me? â€Å"Thank you,† I mumbled, glancing up and away, then warmed as I wondered if he might think I was talking about the kiss. â€Å"I mean, for getting me out of there with my pride intact,† I added, flushing deeper. â€Å"I saw what he did.† Seth rocked us into motion down the hallway away from everyone and to the parking lot. â€Å"It was either that or you dumping punch on his clothes. And you†¦Ã¢â‚¬  He hesitated until I looked at him. â€Å"You want your revenge more subtle than that.† A sloppy grin came over me, but I couldn't help it. â€Å"You think?† He inclined his head, acting far older than he should. â€Å"Do you have a ride home?† I jerked to a stop, and he continued a step before turning, his blue-gray eyes wide in alarm. It was cool out here, and I told myself that was why I had a sudden chill. â€Å"I'm†¦ sorry,† he said, blinking and holding himself still. â€Å"I didn't mean†¦ I'll stay with you while you arrange for someone to come. You don't know me from Adam.† â€Å"No, it's not that,† I rushed, embarrassed for my sudden mistrust. I glanced back at the woman by the gym door who was watching us with an idle interest. â€Å"I should call my dad, is all. Let him know what's going on.† Seth smiled, his white teeth showing strongly. â€Å"Of course.† I fumbled for the purse that this dress had come with. He moved away a few feet as I dug out my phone and fidgeted, trying to remember the house's number. There was no answer, and we both turned at the noise of the gym door opening. Josh came out, and my jaw tightened. The answering machine picked up, and in a rush, I blurted, â€Å"Hi, Dad. It's Madison.† Duh. â€Å"I'm getting a ride home with Seth†¦Ã¢â‚¬  I looked at him in question for a last name. â€Å"Adamson,† he said softly, his eyes behind his mask fixed on Josh. Damn, he had beautiful eyes. And long, luscious eyelashes. â€Å"Seth Adamson,† I said. â€Å"Josh turned out to be a jerk. I'll be home in a few minutes, okay?† But since no one was really there, there wasn't much my dad could say. I waited as if listening for a moment, then added, â€Å"I'm fi-i-i-ine. He was a jerk, is all. I'll see you in a minute.† Satisfied, I closed the phone and tucked it away, linking my arm through Seth's and turning us to the back doors as Josh caught up, his dress shoes clacking on the tile. â€Å"Madison†¦Ã¢â‚¬  He was annoyed, and my satisfaction grew. â€Å"Hi, Josh!† I said brightly, my tension rising as he fell into step on my other side. I didn't look at him, and I felt myself go hot. â€Å"I got a ride home. Thanks.† For nothing, I added in my thoughts, still mad at him. Or my dad, maybe, for setting this up. â€Å"Madison, wait.† He caught my elbow, and I spun to a halt. Josh froze, pulling back and letting go. â€Å"You're a jerk,† I said, eyeing his costume and thinking it looked lame now. â€Å"And I'm no one's pity date. You can just†¦ flip off,† I adlibbed, not wanting Seth to think I swore like a sailor. Reaching, Josh grabbed my wrist and yanked me away. â€Å"Listen to me,† he said, and the fear in his eyes stopped my protest. â€Å"I've never seen this guy before. Don't be stupid. Let me take you home. You can tell your friends whatever you want. I'll go along with it.† I tried to take an insulted breath, but the corset wouldn't let me, so I lifted my chin instead. He knew I didn't have any friends. â€Å"I called my dad. I'll be fine,† I said, glancing over his shoulder to the tall kid in that sailor outfit who had followed Josh out. Still Josh wouldn't let go. Ticked, I twisted my arm, and when I reached to grab his wrist in a self-defense hold, he let go as if knowing it. Eyes wide, he backed up a step. â€Å"I'm going to follow you home then,† he said, eyes flicking to Seth. â€Å"Whatever,† I said as I tossed my hair, secretly glad and wondering if maybe Josh wasn't so bad after all. â€Å"Seth, are you in the back lot?† Seth came forward, a softly moving figure of grace and refinement next to Josh's commonality. â€Å"This way, Madison.† I thought I saw a hint of victory in his eyes as his arm slipped through mine. No wonder. He'd obviously come to the prom by himself, and now Josh would be the one leaving alone. I made sure my heels snapped smartly in a show of confident femininity as we went down the hall to the far set of doors. The dress made me feel elegant, and Seth looked fantastic. Josh and his silent buddy trailed behind like extras in a Hollywood film. Seth held the door open for me, leaving the two guys to handle the swinging door by themselves. The air was chilly, and I wished I'd begged for an extra fifty from my dad to get the matching shawl for this outfit. I wondered if Seth would offer me his coat if I complained. The moon was a hazy smear behind the clouds, and as Seth escorted me down the stairs, I could hear Josh behind me, talking softly to his friend in a low, derisive tone. My jaw clenched, and I followed Seth to a sleek black car parked illegally at the curb. It was a convertible, its top open to the cloudy skies, and I couldn't help but smile even wider. Maybe we could go for a drive before he took me home. Cold or not, I wanted to be seen in this car, sitting next to Seth, the wind in my hair and the music cranked. I bet he had great taste in music. â€Å"Madison†¦Ã¢â‚¬  Seth said in invitation, opening the door for me. Feeling awkward and special all at the same time, I eased into the low front seat, my dress sliding on smooth leather. Seth waited while I got the rest of the skirt inside before gently shutting the door. I put on my belt as he crossed behind the car. The black paint glistened in the low glow of the security lights, and I ran my fingers over the smoothness, smug when I saw Josh jogging to his car. Seth startled me when he slid in behind the wheel; I hadn't even heard the door open. He cranked the engine, and I liked the solid rumble of it. The stereo came on with something aggressive. The vocals weren't English, but that only added to it all. Josh's car's lights flashed on, and we pulled forward, Seth driving with one hand. My pulse quickened as I looked at him across the dull light. The cool air felt thick against my skin, and as we picked up speed, the wind worked its way through my hair. â€Å"I live to the south,† I said when we reached the main road, and he turned the proper way. Josh's headlamps swung in behind us, and I settled myself in the seat, wishing Seth had offered me his coat. But he hadn't said a word or looked at me since I'd gotten in the car. Earlier, he'd been all sly confidence. Now it was†¦ anticipation? And though I didn't know why, a slow feeling of alarm took root. As if sensing it, Seth turned, driving the black road without looking. â€Å"Too late,† he said softly, and I felt my face blank. â€Å"Easy. I told them it would be easy when you were young and stupid. Almost not worth the effort. Certainly not any enjoyment.† My mouth went dry. â€Å"Excuse me?† Seth glanced at the road and back at me. The car started to go faster, and I gripped the door handle, pressing away from him. â€Å"Nothing personal, Madison. You're a name on a list. Or should I say, a soul to be culled. An important name, but a name nonetheless. They said it couldn't be done, and now, you'll be my admission to a higher court, you and your little life that will now not happen.† What the hell? â€Å"Josh,† I said, turning to the lights going distant as Seth picked up speed. â€Å"He's following. My dad knows where I am.† Seth smiled, and I shivered at the moonlight glinting on his teeth. Everything else was lost in hazy moon shadow and the shriek of the wind. â€Å"Like that will make a difference?† Oh my God. I was deep in it. My gut tightened. â€Å"Stop the car,† I said forcefully, one hand on the door, the other holding my whipping hair out of my eyes. â€Å"Stop the car and let me out. You can't do this. People know where I am! Stop the car!† â€Å"Stop the car?† he said, smirking. â€Å"I'll stop the car.† Seth shifted his leg, stomping on the brake and turning the wheel. I screamed, grabbing anything. The world spun. My breath left me in a shriek as the odd feeling of too much noise mixed with the cessation of jostling. We had left the road. Gravity pulled from the wrong way. Panic struck when I realized the car was flipping over. Shit. I was in a convertible. I ducked, hands clasped over the back of my neck, praying. A hard thump shook me and everything went black. My breath was crushed from me by the force of the hit. I think I was upside down. Then I was yanked another way. The sky brightened to gray, and I sucked in the air when the car flipped once more as it rolled down the embankment. Again, the sky went black and the top of the car hit the ground. â€Å"No!† I shrieked, helpless, then groaned when the car slammed to a stop, upright. I was flung against the seat belt, agony stabbing through my back as I was thrown forward. It was quiet. Breathing hurt. Oh God, I hurt all over, and I stared at the shattered windshield as I panted. The new edges of the window glinted dully in the moonlight, and I followed the broken line down the dash to find Seth gone. My insides hurt. I didn't see blood, but I think I broke something inside. I was alive? â€Å"Madison!† came distant over my rasping breath. â€Å"Madison!† It was Josh, and I forced my eyes up to the twin balls of light at the top of the embankment. A shadowy figure was sliding down. Josh. I took a breath to call to him, groaning when someone took my head and turned me away. â€Å"Seth?† I whispered. He looked untouched, standing outside the ruined car at my door in his costume of black pirate silk. The moon caught his eyes and pendant, giving them both a gray sheen. â€Å"Still alive,† he said flatly, and tears started to slip from me. I couldn't move, but everything was a massive ache so I didn't think I was paralyzed. Damn it, this was a sucky birthday. Dad was going to kill me. â€Å"I hurt,† I said, my voice small, then thought, What a stupid thing to say. â€Å"I don't have time for this,† Seth said, clearly bothered. My eyes widened, but I didn't move when he pulled from the folds of his costume a short blade. I tried to cry out, but my breath left me when he pulled his arm back as if to strike me. Moonlight glinted on the blade, red with someone else's blood. Fantabulous. He's a psycho. I left the prom with a knife-wielding psycho. Can I pick 'em, or what? â€Å"No!† I shrieked, managing to get my arms up, but the blade was a whisper of ice passing through me, leaving me unhurt. I stared at my middle, not believing I was uncut. My dress wasn't torn and blood wasn't flowing, but I knew that blade had gone through me. It had gone through me and the car both. Not understanding, I gaped up at Seth, now standing with the blade at rest and watching me. â€Å"What†¦Ã¢â‚¬  I tried to say when I realized nothing hurt anymore. But my voice was utterly absent. He arched his eyebrows in a show of scorn. My expression left me when I felt the first brush of utter nothing, both new and familiar, like a memory long lost. The terrifying absence of everything crept through me, stilling each thought it rolled over. Soft and muzzy, a blanket of nothing started at the edges of my world and moved inward, taking first the moon, then the night, then my body, and finally the car. Josh's cries were swallowed up in a low hush of a thrum, leaving only Seth's silver eyes. And then Seth turned and walked away. â€Å"Madison!† I heard faintly, followed by the briefest touch on my cheek. Then even that melted and there was nothing. Prom Nights from Hell Chapter One The Exterminator's Daughter Meg Cabot Mary The music is pounding in time to my heartbeat. I can feel the bass in my chest-badoom, badoom. It's hard to see across the room of writhing bodies, especially with the fog from the dry ice, and the flickering light show coming down from the club's industrial ceiling overhead. But I know he's here. I can feel him. Which is why I'm grateful for the bodies grinding against one another all around me. They're keeping me hidden from his view-and from his senses. Otherwise he'd have smelled me coming by now. They can detect the scent of fear from yards away. Not that I'm scared. Because I'm not. Well. Maybe a little. But I have my Excalibur Vixen crossbow 285 FPS with me, with a twenty-inch-long Easton XX75 (the tip, formerly gold, now replaced with hand-carved ash) already cocked and ready to be released at the merest pressure from my finger. He'll never know what hit him. And, hopefully, neither will she. The important thing is to get a clean shot-which won't be easy in this crowd-and to make it count. I'll probably only get one chance to shoot. Either I'll hit the target†¦ or he'll hit me. â€Å"Always aim for the chest,† Mom used to say. â€Å"It's the largest part of the body, and the spot you're least likely to miss. Of course, you're more likely to kill than wound if you aim for the chest rather than the thigh or arm†¦ but what do you want to wound for, anyway? The point is to take 'em down.† Which is what I'm here to do tonight. Take ‘im down. Lila will hate me, of course, if she figures out what really happened†¦ and that it was me who did it. But what does she expect? She can't think that I'm just going to sit idly by and watch her throw her life away. â€Å"I met this guy,† she'd gushed at lunch today, while we were standing in line for the salad bar. â€Å"Oh my God, Mary, you wouldn't believe how cute he is. His name's Sebastian. He's got the bluest eyes you've ever seen.† The thing about Lila that a lot of people don't get is that beneath that-let's face it-slutty exterior beats the heart of a truly loyal friend. Unlike the rest of the girls at Saint Eligius, Lila's never pulled an attitude with me about the fact that my dad's not a CEO or plastic surgeon. And yeah, okay, I have to tune out about three-fourths of what she says because most of it is stuff that I have no interest in-like how much she paid for her Prada tote at the end-of-season clearance sale at Saks, and what kind of tramp stamp she's thinking about getting next time she's in Cancn. But this caught my attention. â€Å"Lila,† I said. â€Å"What about Ted?† Because Ted's all Lila has talked about for the past year, ever since he finally got up the guts to ask her out. Well, I mean, all she's talked about besides the Prada sales and back tattoos. â€Å"Oh, that's over,† Lila said, reaching for the lettuce tongs. â€Å"Sebastian's taking me clubbing tonight-at Swig. He says he can get us in-he's on the VIP list.† It wasn't the fact that this guy, whoever he was, claimed to be on the VIP list of the newest and most exclusive club in downtown Manhattan that caused the hairs on the back of my neck to rise. Don't get me wrong-Lila's beautiful. If anyone is going to be approached by a random stranger who happens to be on the most sought-after VIP list in town, it would be Lila. It was the thing about Ted that got to me. Because Lila adores Ted. They're the quintessentially perfect high school couple. She's gorgeous, he's a star athlete†¦ it's a match made in teen heaven. Which is why what she was telling me did not compute. â€Å"Lila, how can you say it's over between you and Ted?† I demanded. â€Å"You two have been going out forever†-or at least since I arrived at Saint Eligius Prep in September, where Lila was the first (and, to date, pretty much the only) girl in any of my classes to actually speak to me-â€Å"and it's the prom this weekend.† â€Å"I know,† Lila said, with a happy sigh. â€Å"Sebastian's taking me.† â€Å"Seb-â€Å" That's when I knew. I mean, really knew. â€Å"Lila,† I said. â€Å"Look at me.† Lila looked down at me-I'm small. But, as Mom used to say, I'm fast-and I saw it at once. What I should have seen from the beginning, that ever-so-slightly glazed expression-the dull eyes†¦ the soft lips-that I've come to know so well over the years. I couldn't believe it. He'd gotten to my best friend. My only friend. Well. What was I supposed to do? Sit back and let him take her? Not this time. You'd think seeing a girl with a crossbow on the dance floor of Manhattan's hottest new club would maybe generate a comment or two. But it is Manhattan, after all. Besides, everyone is having too good a time to notice me. Even- Oh God. It's him. I can't believe I'm finally seeing him in the flesh†¦ Well, his son, anyway. He's more handsome than I ever imagined. Golden-haired and blue-eyed, with movie star-perfect lips and shoulders a mile wide. He's tall, too-although most guys are tall-compared with me. Still, if he is anything like his father, well, then, I get it. I finally get it. I guess. I still don't- Oh God. He's sensed my gaze. He's turning this way- It's now or never. I raise my bow: Good-bye, Sebastian Drake. Good-bye forever. But just as I have the bright white triangle of his shirt front in my scope, something unbelievable happens: A bright bloom of cherry red appears exactly where I've been aiming. Except I haven't pulled the trigger. And his kind doesn't bleed. â€Å"What's that, Sebastian?† Lila shimmies up to him to ask. â€Å"Dammit! Somebody†-and I see Sebastian raise his stunned cerulean gaze from the scarlet stain on his shirt to Lila's face-â€Å"shot me.† It's true. Someone has shot him. Only it wasn't me. And that's not all that doesn't make sense. He's bleeding. Except that's not possible. Not knowing what else to do, I duck behind a nearby pillar, pressing the Vixen to my chest. I need to regroup, figure out my next move. Because none of this can really be happening. I couldn't have been wrong about him. I did the research. It all makes sense†¦ the fact that he's here in Manhattan†¦ the fact that he went after my best friend, of all people†¦ Lila's dazed expression†¦ everything. Everything except what just happened. And I had just stood there, staring. I had had a perfect shot, and I'd blown it. Or had I? If he's bleeding, then that must mean he's human. Doesn't it? Except if he's human, and he's just been shot in the chest, why is he still standing? Oh God. The worst of it is†¦ he saw me. I'm almost sure I felt that reptilian gaze pass over me. What will he do now? Will he come after me? If he does, it's all my own fault. Mom told me never to do this. She always said a hunter never goes out alone. Why didn't I listen? What was I thinking? That's the problem, of course. I hadn't been thinking at all. I'd let my emotions get the better of me. I couldn't let what happened to Mom happen to Lila. And now I'm going to pay for it. Just like Mom. Crouching in agony, I try not to imagine what Dad's going to do when the New York City police ring our doorbell at four in the morning and ask him to come to the morgue to ID his only daughter's body. My throat will be gouged open, and who knows what other atrocities will be done to my broken body. All because I didn't stay home tonight to work on my paper for Mrs. Gregory's fourth-period U.S. History class (topic: the temperance movement in antebellum Civil War America, two thousand words, double-spaced, due Monday), like I was supposed to. The music changes. I hear Lila squeal, â€Å"Where are you going?† Oh God. He's coming.

Brooklyn Cop by Norman MacCaig Essay

â€Å"Brooklyn Cop† written by Scottish poet Norman McCaig, is a poem that conveys a police officer in Brooklyn to be an aggressive yet affectionate man. Throughout the poem McCaig uses word choice and imagery techniques to express the dual sided nature of the cop. We see that the way he behaves on the streets of Brooklyn contrasts with how he is at home with his wife. The dual sided nature of the cop is shown through the physical description that McCaig uses to convey him. McCaig does this with the use of imagery and word choice. In the poem the line ‘Built like a gorilla’ shows through the use of simile, the tough exterior of the cop and gives the reader a clear view on what his physical appearance is like. The comparison of the cop to a gorilla is effective as it shows the cop’s top heavy, muscular build and strength, meaning he could be potentially dangerous and violent like a gorilla. McCaig also shows in the metaphor ‘with two hieroglyphs on his face that mean trouble’ that his eyes are dark and fierce, causing the reader to believe that he is naturally a violent person. This is also conveyed in the line ‘Thick fleshed, steak coloured’ in which the use of metaphor conveys the physical appearance of the cop as ‘thick fleshed’ which shows that the cop is tough and can take a lot of abuse, along with ‘Steak coloured’ which shows the colour of skin associating it with the colour red to suggest he is red with fury and anger naturally. This highlights on his personality and the environment he works in where it is appropriate to be tough and brutal in order to cope. The dangerous environment in which the cop works shows how he has to be a violent person in order to cope in these rough areas and the people he will encounter. In the line ‘He walks the sidewalk and the thin tissue over violence’ the metaphor is affective as it shows the potential of criminal acts that could take part on the streets of Brooklyn and the threat that violence could erupt at any moment causing him to be an aggressive, tough man in order to deal with the trouble he faces to keep the streets of Brooklyn a safe environment for others. The use of alliteration in the ‘T’ makes a harsh sound which resembles the area and the lingering violence. The cop’s victims are shown to be treated violently and McCaig conveys this through the use of rhetorical question and word choice. This shows the aggressive, violent nature of the cop and his behaviour on the job. In the last two lines of the poem ‘And who would have to be his victims,’ McCaig uses a rhetorical question which is effective as it shows how savage the cop is when met with violence and crime. The word ‘have’ shows that he will not back down while dealing with criminals and that they are most likely to be hurt or violently treated when met with the cop, making it clear that no one wants to be involved with him on the streets and including the reader and their thoughts on being in the same place as a criminal. McCaig uses repetition and word choice to convey the cop’s dual sided personality from how he treats criminals on the tough streets as opposed to the way he treats his wife at home. This is conveyed in the line ‘This morning, when he said ‘See you babe to his wife, he hoped it, he truly hoped it.’ This is effective as the use of affectionate language in â€Å"babe† conveys his soft side as opposed to his tough nature while on the streets of Brooklyn, which is not expected as he is a violent savage. The use of repetition in ‘he hoped it, he truly hoped it’ Is effective as it shows the strong hope to return home safe and the genuine want to see his wife after an unpredictable day at work. This shows that he may seem fearless but in the inside he has a violent yet caring nature. In conclusion ‘Brooklyn Cop’ by Norman McCaig focuses on the dual sided nature of an aggressive police officer who works on the touch streets of Brooklyn. McCaig conveys the cop as savage and violent man while in the run down environment of ‘Brooklyn’ as opposed to his softer side where he shows love and affection towards his wife at home.

Free Essays on Violence On Tv

Ever since the invention of television, our society debates the effects of media violence. Many think that it has a negative impact, other believe that it has a great educational and entertainment value. Those who think negatively can say that it develops aggression in children, disturbs people’s minds and spreads violence around the world. However, those statements are incorrect. Violence on television is insignificant to the negative behavior of our society because it is a tool to educate our children, as well as it helps us understand the world around us, but in any ways it can be avoided if you choose to. Television is being blamed for children becoming violent in later life because it is an easy scapegoat. In many families, television has become an electronic baby-sitter; a replacement for quality time with parents. Parents should not let the television raise their children. They should take control of their child’s life and entertainment. Perhaps the most important way to prevent children from being affected by violence on TV is to stop it where it starts. The parents should step in and explain the difference between reality and fiction because the exposure to violence in childhood will not harm. Ghetto children see violence unknown to other children, but it does not influence them because it is so hateful for them. If can teach your child that violence is bad then he would never do anything similar to it, and televised violence will be just one of your tool to accomplish that. Violence on television not only teaches children but the entire world as well. It is harmless to our society because it is the most credible and believable source of information on the reality of the world. Many people will disagree since they only look at the negative aspects. But violence is an important fact of our lives, it is part of the human condition. It also teaches that the world is a cruel and unworthy place and we are the ... Free Essays on Violence On Tv Free Essays on Violence On Tv Ever since the invention of television, our society debates the effects of media violence. Many think that it has a negative impact, other believe that it has a great educational and entertainment value. Those who think negatively can say that it develops aggression in children, disturbs people’s minds and spreads violence around the world. However, those statements are incorrect. Violence on television is insignificant to the negative behavior of our society because it is a tool to educate our children, as well as it helps us understand the world around us, but in any ways it can be avoided if you choose to. Television is being blamed for children becoming violent in later life because it is an easy scapegoat. In many families, television has become an electronic baby-sitter; a replacement for quality time with parents. Parents should not let the television raise their children. They should take control of their child’s life and entertainment. Perhaps the most important way to prevent children from being affected by violence on TV is to stop it where it starts. The parents should step in and explain the difference between reality and fiction because the exposure to violence in childhood will not harm. Ghetto children see violence unknown to other children, but it does not influence them because it is so hateful for them. If can teach your child that violence is bad then he would never do anything similar to it, and televised violence will be just one of your tool to accomplish that. Violence on television not only teaches children but the entire world as well. It is harmless to our society because it is the most credible and believable source of information on the reality of the world. Many people will disagree since they only look at the negative aspects. But violence is an important fact of our lives, it is part of the human condition. It also teaches that the world is a cruel and unworthy place and we are the ...