The heavy lump in my stomach doubled in size as I plodded to the front door of my house. Lan was on her way to do her driver's license test, and I had no place to go but home.
I pulled out the form my counselor, Mrs. McMillan, gave me after my appointment. She told me I had enough credits to graduate early if I wanted, but I would need to complete two semesters of online English classes. Since I couldn't double up on English classes with a full load right now, I would have to sign up and pay an outside institution for classes. All I needed was Courtney's signature and a credit card. A cautious electricity sparked inside of me as I considered Courtney's reaction.
Hours passed as I waited for her to get home. I snacked on an apple and turned on the television, but I wasn't watching it when I heard the vibration of the garage door opening. There was no way of knowing from day to day what mood she would be in, so I waited skeptically on the couch for her to make herself known.
She called my name in a sweet-as-syrup tone as the door shut behind her. Her eyes fell on me. She froze for a moment, followed by a look of confusion. "What did you do to-" I scooted back on the couch as she came to sit next to me. She didn't seem angry like she was when I had colored my hair the night before. Instead she had a slight smile. She reached to comb her fingers through the top of my scalp and I flinched as I thought she was going to smack me, but she was gentle.
I stiffened. "I had to fix it," I explained. "There were stray hairs everywhere."
She folded her hands in her lap. "Did Kim fix it for you?"
My heart jumped. It always jumped before I lied. If she had known where I went—well, I didn't want to find out how mad she would be. "Yes."
Her eyebrows pulled up with anxiousness. "Did you tell her about..." she couldn't bring herself to say the words but I knew she wanted to know if I had told Kim how my hair had been cut.
"No," I reassured her.
Her eyes closed as she drew in a breath. She laid her hand on mine. "You know, I think I was a bit too harsh last night." She leaned in and kissed my forehead as I sat still. "I want to make it up to you."
My eyes moistened. Her admission to being wrong was surprisingly gratifying, but her apology didn't change how angry I was with her for what she had done. I was expected to forgive and move on. I quickly blotted my eyes with my sleeve, and got mad at myself for crying again. "It's fine," I bluffed.
She smiled wider and wrapped me in a hug. "I want to take you to dinner, and then we'll go shopping."
Shopping. Shopping like we did all the time. Shopping like it was a magic cure. It made her believe everything was okay in our relationship.
She insisted I pick the restaurant, and before I knew it, we were having Italian sodas and raviolis at the Old Spaghetti Factory downtown.
"You know," she said, thoughtfully, "you were a beautiful little baby. You had chubby legs and cheeks. Now look at you—you have no meat on your bones."
I smiled. Every time I tried to find out about my childhood, who my father was, where I was born, she would change the subject, but she had opened the door to the conversation so I went in. "What hospital was I born in?"
Her eyes twinkled under the lights of the crystal chandelier. It took her awhile before she answered, "At the hospital where I worked at the time—Littleton." She took a drink.
This was more than she had ever shared before. "What was pregnancy like?"
"Well, you've heard about pregnancy cravings—pickles with ice cream and peanut butter. That was my go-to snack."
YOU ARE READING
Courtney's Secrets (The Clandestine Series)
Mistero / ThrillerFrom actual events. Names have been changed to protect the innocent. This is Mystery #1 in the Clandestine Series. The books do not need to be read in order. Sixteen year old Deja dreams of the day she can get away from her abusive and overbearing m...