You'd Be Home Now (39)

Then Monday at school, she avoided me all day. She finally came up to me as we were getting ready to leave our classroom, everyone hustling into jackets and zipping backpacks.

“I’m not allowed to be your friend anymore,” she said. Her mouth trembled a little. “Your mom said so. She came over to the house and told me. Said it wasn’t safe. Said she was calling a social worker. I said if she didn’t, that I’d stay away from you. I can fix my parents. I don’t need you.”

Then my friend walked away, her back straight and proud.

I started to cry. It felt like my body was breaking in half.

It never really fit itself back together. My mother enrolled me in dance classes at Step To It! five days a week. Said piano made me too “interior” and that I needed to develop more social skills. She said Maddie still had her old dance things and I could use those. I think she thought she could make me Maddie 2.0 if she just gave me the right clothes, the right lessons.

    And soon after that, Liza’s parents left and never came back.

She lasted two whole weeks, taking care of herself and her brothers, before a neighbor called the police, and after that, her grandmother moved in to take care of them.



* * *



—

Mr. Stanley leads us through the cow, the coyote, the Up, the Down, mouth exercises, and then has us all sit down. I keep sneaking looks at Liza. I wonder what happened in Patterson’s office.

After we weren’t friends anymore, I felt like my heart was broken and I felt guilty, because my mom had made trouble for her.

I really miss Liza. If I had Liza now, I’d have someone to talk to about Joey, about Gage. Things.

I can feel myself tearing up, so I pinch the inside of my wrist until it stops.

“Now, let’s talk,” Simon announces, pulling me back to the auditorium. “I have thoughts! About our fall show. For those of you who are new, we usually do a little variety show in the fall and a play or musical in the spring. Everyone gets to do something. We’re all in this together, so we all take part. Shy birds are encouraged to leave the nest and perform in the fall show, get your feet wet for the spring. Extroverts are encouraged to hang back a tad, especially if you’ve done this before, as you might have more advanced roles in the spring. But I need all of you. Sets, costumes, direction, running lines, lights, design, all of it. We all have a part to play.”

    “What if you aren’t good at anything?” someone asks. It’s a short girl with red hair, the one whose dad owns Kaminski’s Hardware. He used to keep a bowl of lemon drops by the register. You didn’t even have to be with a parent to go in and have one. You just could. Liza and I would do that on the way to the library.

“Everyone is good at something,” Simon answers.

“Not me,” she says.

“Maybe you just haven’t discovered it yet. People are like onions. Many layers.”

“Onions stink,” someone says, laughing.

“So do some people,” Simon says, wagging a finger. “But we add onions to our food all the time and it really makes a dish, in my opinion.” He hands out sheets of paper to everyone.

“Now we’re going to choose partners and do a little dialogue practice,” he tells us.

Liza immediately chooses Jeremy. Someone chooses the red-haired girl. Everyone is moving around like it’s a game of tag. Finally, it’s just me and a tall, pretty blond girl. She’s usually sitting at the same table as Gage during lunch. I realize she was the one who had her hand on his arm that first day in the cafeteria.

“I’m Priscilla. Have you done this before?” she asks me, smiling. “It’s fun.”

“No, I’m new. Emory.” I feel awkward and short next to her. I think she’s on the volleyball team.

She regards me thoughtfully. “Are you Maddie Ward’s sister? I went to your house once. She had a swim party. God, your house is nice. Don’t you have like six fireplaces or something? That house is like something out of an old movie.”

    “No,” I say. “Just three. Only one works.”

“Ha!” Priscilla says. “I don’t even have one fireplace. Your sister is beautiful.” She sighs, waving her fingers.

“Yes,” I say. “I know. I live with her.”

“Gage Galt lives next door to you.”

“What?” I look up from the dialogue sheet Simon gave us.

“Gage Galt lives next to you, right? You guys friends?”

My heartbeat picks up. “I’ve known him forever, but we don’t, uh, hang out,” I say. I have to stick to the rules Gage set up, that no one can know. Our secret. I try to keep my face and voice neutral.

“Well,” she says, arching an eyebrow. “If you have any inside info, let me know. I’m thinking of asking him to Fall Festival and I need all the help I can get. He’s a tough one to crack. Most guys, easy as pie, but not him.” She laughs.

My heart spikes again. It’s one thing to read the comments from girls on his Instagram, or see them touching his arm in the cafeteria, but to have someone actually say they’re interested in him, to my face, is another matter. Especially someone so…perfect-looking.

He wouldn’t…say yes to her, would he? He said he didn’t want anything complicated, or public. But what if he changes his mind?