Anima's Ghost: The Summer Before (Song Line Echoes, book 2)

Chapter 7: The Beginning of SUmmer

"Good morning, everyone!" Daisy calls as she lets herself into Grandma Powell's house, just as Spyro and I are cleaning up after breakfast.

"Good morning, dear," Grandma Powell smiles as Daisy comes in and kisses her cheek. "I'm afraid you've missed breakfast."

"That's alright, I'm just here to pick up Anima."

"Pick up Anima?" Spyro echoes.

Daisy looks at him as if the reason is obvious. "To get ready before the party.

"Ah, of course," Spyro nods, but I hesitate. Daisy doesn't seem to notice, not in any real hurry to sweep me away to wherever it is she's planning on taking me, but Spyro does. You okay? He mouths. But I just nod, even though I'm not really sure. Anxiety's creeping up even though I'm not sure why and my knife is all the way upstairs and even though I know I don't really need it, having it so far away suddenly seems very bad.

"I have to get my shoes," I say, somehow managing to make my voice come out a lot more calm and steady than I feel. Leylina follows me up the stairs, and when we get into my room she jumps up onto the bed while I get my shoes from beside the dresser.

I've barely gotten the first boot on when Spyro appears in the doorway. "You can tell Daisy you don't want to go," he says, but I don't feel like I can. I just shrug though, not knowing what to say. "Do you want me to tell her you can't go? I can make up some excuse or something."

Yes. "No...it's okay."

Spyro doesn't look convinced. He crosses his arms over his chest, leaning one shoulder against the doorframe. "No rules, Anima," he reminds me. But old habits die hard. Especially when they were beaten into you. I don't want to say this to Spyro through. I just pull my other boot on, and then sit there for a few seconds staring at both my boots. Grandma Powell's old boots, I remind myself. Nothing I'm wearing is mine. Nothing in this room is mine, besides what little fits in my backpack and suitcase.

Spyro comes into the room, crouching down in front of me and looking up at me. "What are you thinking?" he asks.

I don't answer right away though, because I don't really know what I'm thinking. I don't know what's going on with me. What I've become. "I didn't used to be like this," I finally say, shaking my head a little bit. "I don't remember when I stopped."

"Stopped?"

"Being a country girl."

Spyro doesn't say anything, but even though I'm not looking him, I can feel him looking at me.

"Anima!" Daisy calls up the stairs. "Hurry up! The party starts in two hours!"

Two hours still seems like a long time to me, but I know Daisy's a normal girl – or at least closer to normal than I am – and normal girls require a lot more time to get ready for things like parties than I generally do.

Spyro stands up, backing up so that I can get up. He follows me out of the room and down the stairs, where Daisy's waiting for me. "Ready?" she asks. I nod, even though I don't think that I am. Still, I follow her out to her little white car, getting in the passenger seat while she gets behind the wheel. It's not until we're driving down the street away from Grandma Powell's house that I think to ask, "Where exactly are we going?"

"My house," she says as if it's obvious. Now that I think about it, maybe it is. "I made a dress for you to wear over your swimsuit."

"I don't have a swimsuit."

"Wait, really?" Daisy glances at me just long enough to see me nod. "Crap, we don't have time to go shopping. Oh well, there will be plenty of chances for you to swim this summer. The dress is what's really important anyway."