Wish You Were Dead

EGMONT
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First published by Egmont USA, 2009
443 Park Avenue South, Suite 806
New York, NY 10016

Copyright © Todd Strasser, 2009
All rights reserved

www.egmontusa.com
www.toddstrasser.com

Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data

Strasser, Todd.
Wish you were dead / Todd Strasser.
p. cm.
Summary: Madison, a senior at a suburban New York high school, tries to uncover who is responsible for the disappearance of her friends, popular students mentioned in the posts of an anonymous blogger, while she, herself is being stalked online and in-person.
eISBN: 978-1-60684-248-5 [1. Missing persons — Fiction. 2. Kidnapping — Fiction. 3. High schools — Fiction. 4. Schools — Fiction. 5. Stalking—Fiction. 6. Blogs — Fiction. 7. New York (State) — Fiction.] I. Title.
PZ7.S899Wj 2009

[Fic]—dc22
2009014641

All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted, in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, or otherwise, without the prior permission of the publisher and copyright owner.

v3.1

To the folks at Egmont,
who I hope will all live
long and joyous lives.

Contents

Cover

Title Page

Copyright

Dedication

Blog

Chapter 1

Chapter 2

Chapter 3

Chapter 4

Chapter 5

Chapter 6

Chapter 7

Chapter 8

Chapter 9

Chapter 10

Chapter 11

Chapter 12

Chapter 13

Chapter 14

Chapter 15

Chapter 16

Chapter 17

Chapter 18

Chapter 19

Chapter 20

Chapter 21

Chapter 22

Except to Blood on My Hands

Str-S-d #1

Today at school Lucy Cunningham looked at me like I was something the cat coughed up. I don’t have to explain who Lucy is. You already know, because there’s only one kind of girl who would look at anyone that way. I’m going to be completely honest here because this is my new blog, so what’s the point of pretending? So here goes. It really hurts when Lucy looks at me that way. But here’s what hurts even more. Sometimes when people look at me that way, I feel like maybe they’re right
.

0 Comments

Str-S-d #2

I hate myself. I know I’m not supposed to say that. I’m supposed to say that deep down I know I’m a really good person and only shallow people care about appearances. Well, I guess deep down I’m really shallow because I would give anything not to look like me. Why couldn’t I have been born pretty? Or really smart and clever? Or talented? Anything
.

2 Comments

ApRilzDay said …
Hello? WOW, I just read your blog. Hey, I don’t know you, but I really wish you felt better about yourself. I mean, don’t YOU believe everyone has something good about themselves? And you ARE talented. That line about deep down you’re really shallow is FUNNY.

Str-S-d said …
It is? I didn’t mean it that way. But thanks anyway, I guess.

Str-S-d #3

This girl once asked me why I didn’t at least wear nicer clothes. That’s what she said: “at least.” As if it bothered her that I didn’t even try. Not that my mom has the money. But that’s not the real answer. The real answer is: Do you know what would happen if I tried to wear nicer clothes to school? They’d say, “Oh, look at her. She’s trying to fix herself up. How hopeless is that?” Why do they have to be so mean and catty?

3 Comments

Realgurl4013 said …
Cause theyre totally inseeecure and neeed 2 find someone 2 dump on so people wont dump on them.

ApRilzDay said …
It really isn’t about what THEY think. It’s about what YOU think. Wearing nice new things makes ME feel good. I mean, I guess I do care what other people think. But it’s really for ME. Maybe you could TRY it once and see what happens? You might be surprised.

Str-S-d said …
I guess I could try.

Str-S-d #4

I want to die. I would kill myself right now if I had the guts. Today I did something nice with my hair and wore this cute top my aunt got me for my birthday and … God, I can’t believe I did this … a padded bra? And they laughed. You know how they bunch up in the hall and stare at you, then turn to each other and laugh and keep glancing at you to make sure you know it’s you they’re laughing at? I just wanted to die, vanish, evaporate, cease to exist. And the worst thing was I was stuck there. At least until lunch. Then I went home and changed. I didn’t know how I could go back to school, but then I remembered my mom had this medicine for when she gets really upset. It’s not like it gets you high or anything. So I figured, just this once. It helped a little
.

4 comments