Starting Now (Blossom Street #9)(48)

Chapter 18

“Stop eating so much. You’re getting fat.”

“Yes, Grandma.” Ava hung her head, not wanting to look her grandmother in the face.

“Did you do the list of chores I left you?”

Keeping her eyes downcast, Ava nodded. Her grandmother had been in a bad mood all day. She left the table and took the dirty dishes with her. Jackson carried his own plate to the sink and sent her a sympathetic look. Their grandmother wasn’t normally home on Sunday afternoons. She was usually with her friends at the VFW club or the local tavern. Most of the time she left mid-afternoon and didn’t return until just before dinnertime. Ava wished her grandmother was still with her friends instead of being out of sorts and snapping at her and Jackson.

That morning Jackson had gone to church with Peter from next door. Jackson said it would be all right if she wanted to go, too, but Ava didn’t feel well. She didn’t most days. She’d known something was wrong nearly all summer, but until her lunch with Libby she hadn’t known what it was.

There was a baby inside of her.

A baby. Ava didn’t know what she was going to do. If her grandmother found out, she’d be a whole lot more than cranky. According to their grandmother, Ava’s mother had been a problem child. She wanted to be sure that Jackson and Ava were good students and grew up to be decent individuals. Ava didn’t know what was required to be a decent individual, but she had a fairly good idea that it didn’t mean having a baby when she was only thirteen.

While Ava washed the dishes, her grandmother lit a cigarette and sat in front of the television set and watched a Mariners baseball game. Ava wiped down the countertop and put the leftover food away.

Jackson was outside playing basketball with Peter, who had a hoop in his driveway. She watched them through the kitchen window for a while and when she finished cleaning up she went into her bedroom. It was quiet there. She didn’t really care about watching the Mariners.

Ava needed to think. She didn’t know what she was going to do about the baby. Her grandma thought she was eating too much. Ava had seen pregnant women, and some of them got really big up front. She didn’t know what would happen if the baby grew that big inside of her.

Lifting the edge of her mattress, Ava reached for the piece of paper Libby Morgan had given her with her phone number written on it. She pulled out the folded slip and stared at it for several minutes. Libby had told Ava she could phone her anytime. Maybe Libby would know what to do. Maybe she could help her.

Her grandmother’s voice echoed down the hallway. “Stupid Mariners.”

The local team was losing and her grandmother’s mood would turn even worse if they did. Ava decided it would be best to stay in her bedroom. Sitting on top of her bed, she raised her knees and buried her face there. The baby in her stomach was probably the reason her ankles had been swollen most of the summer.

“I’m going out for a while,” her grandmother called.

Ava relaxed. If her grandmother went to the VFW, then she wouldn’t be upset about the Mariners. She’d probably be gone until it was dark or even later.

About ten seconds later the front door closed.

Ava waited a few minutes more and then crept into the kitchen where the phone was. It was an old-fashioned one that was attached to the wall. After looking at Libby’s phone number for so long she’d memorized it, she returned the sheet to its original hiding place.

It took her several minutes to gather up the courage to phone Libby. Finally she punched in the phone number, closed her eyes, and waited.

“Hello.”

Just the sound of Libby’s voice panicked her and Ava slammed down the receiver. Her grandmother had something on her phone that canceled their phone number on caller ID, so Ava didn’t need to worry that Libby would try calling her back.

Her heart raced and she broke out in a cold sweat. Ava really did feel sick to her stomach. Her grandma said she was getting lazy and Jackson said she wasn’t any fun because all she did was stay in her room. He would, too, if he felt the way she did.

She knew pregnant women went to see a doctor, but Ava didn’t have the money for a doctor’s visit. Even if she did, there was always the chance her grandmother would find out. She couldn’t risk her grandmother learning about the baby inside of her.

Having a baby was dangerous. She might even die. She pressed her hand over her stomach and bit into her lip. Another thirty minutes passed before she found the courage to dial Libby’s phone number a second time.

“Hello.”

Ava didn’t speak. She couldn’t. Her throat had closed up on her and when she tried to talk nothing came out but a squeaking noise that sounded like a baby bird or something else small and helpless.

After a moment Ava replaced the receiver. She liked Libby. Libby had taken her to a sit-down restaurant. It had been Ava’s first time ever in a restaurant where you didn’t order off a menu on the wall and the waitress came right to the table. Only she hadn’t told Libby that.

Returning to her bedroom, Ava laid down on the top of her bed, with her arms wrapped around her stomach. She wanted to close her eyes, but if she went to sleep now she’d wake up in the middle of the night and she hated that. It was at nighttime that she missed her mother the most.

Ava’s mother had been a lot like her grandmother, only younger. What Ava really missed was the apartment where they’d lived before the car accident. She’d had friends and neighbors she knew and trusted. Since moving in with her grandmother, Ava had begun attending a new school. The only friend she had was Casey.