One by One

by Ruth Ware

It gives me a strange feeling if I think about it too much—a kind of claustrophobia that’s at odds with the wide-open vistas from the chalet.

And then the music cuts out. I feel a weight lifted off my shoulders, like someone has stopped screaming in my ears.

“How are you?” she says to me. I can hardly prevent myself from rolling my eyes. It seems like everyone is asking that question, when what they really want to know is, What are you thinking.

But somehow I thought when I got to my real life it would be different. I thought that maybe I was just an ugly duckling.”