Tip Toes

Chapter Three

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I think about the boy in the hallway all day.

I'm quiet in class.

I'm quiet on the way home from school.

I'm quiet at dinner.

I remember his expression when I yelled at him.

Sad and lonely.

I feel so dead inside, like he boy took my heart and ripped it into a million pieces. Then he stole a piece.

He put the piece in his heart, and locked it up.

Will I ever get it back?

I think I'm in love.

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"How was school Stella?" Aunt Irwice asks me.

I stare at her for a moment.

"What's wrong honey? Did I burn the meatloaf? Did I add too much ketchup? Did I.."

"No, Aunt Irwice," I interrupt. "Just thinking."

"Ah," Great Grandma says. "To think is to open a world of possibilities."

I smile at Great Grandma. She's so amazing and inspiring to me.

"Yes," Grandpa says. "Thinking is delicate. It gives you knowledge. It gives you..."

"A heart," I finish. Grandpa would tell me this every night on the phone when I was little. From age 3-9, I would call him before bed for him to tell me a story and his quote. I miss that.

Grandpa smiles at me.

"What're you thinking about, Pumpkin Pie?" Mom asks.

She looks curious and concerned.

"Mariam," I lie. "She told me a secret today. It's making me think about her."

Mom shakes her head to swallow the burning, tasteless meatloaf.

She airs her mouth out.

She wasn't paying attention.

Good.

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I sit by my bed and quietly him to myself my favorite song.

{Mommy, Daddy, O and O, Stella, the star in the sky. We are a family, forever and ever, no one will stop up from flying.}

My mom made it up when I was 8. The twins had just been born 2 years ago, and I missed being #1.

The song always made me feel better.

Tonight, I felt better than ever.