Change Places with Me(11)

“Did you invite Kim Garcia?” Rose asked.

“Her? You know that her father drives a tow truck,” Astrid said. “He shows up whenever a hydro-bus breaks down.”

“And the stuff she wears . . .” Selena left it at that.

It hadn’t occurred to Rose that Selena and Astrid wouldn’t start warming up to Kim. But Rose could do something about that, help bring them together; this party was a good first step. “I want Kim to come,” she said.

“Fine,” Selena said under her breath.

The food arrived. Rose wrapped her long fingers around the chopsticks, got the hang of them after a while, and imagined the three of them coming back here with Kim, and they’d do other stuff outside of school too, go to a movie, listen to music, or just hang out—a new group of best friends.

Selena and Astrid forgot to treat Rose but at least paid for themselves. Mostly.

After school it was time to get Mr. Slocum to talk to her. Rose had a friendly conversation planned in her head. “Mr. Slocum—” she began.

“Not now.” He spoke from behind his wraparound computer screen.

“When?”

He pointed to a pile of work on one of the student desks. Rose had to grade a surprise quiz from a morning class and do some filing.

Patiently, Rose waited. She graded the quizzes. She filed. Two hours went by and still Mr. Slocum said nothing. But why? Mrs. Moore had loved the attention, couldn’t get enough of it.

“I guess I’ll see you tomorrow,” Rose said at the end of the afternoon, trying not to sound disappointed.

“That’s the arrangement.”

He never even looked at her.

On the way home, she brightened when she caught sight of a dog in a sweater. “It’s so great you put a sweater on him!” she told the owner, a guy on his phone, who didn’t really want to be interrupted. “That means you’re taking good care of him.”

During one of her free periods on Friday, Rose had to check in with Ms. Pratt, the school psychologist.

“Goodness,” Ms. Pratt said. “You look well.”

“I feel well.” Rose knew this office—the pale-blue walls; the indentation in the couch; the tall flowers, now a bit brown around the edges, held in a glass vase filled with water and stones; and Ms. Pratt herself, dark wavy hair, olive skin, always wearing muted colors like beige and taupe. It had never occurred to Rose before, but now she wondered if Ms. Pratt’s understated style was her way of saying The important thing in this room is you.

“You were here while I was away,” Ms. Pratt said. “You spoke with Ms. Gruskin; I read her notes. You had a disagreement with Mr. Slocum?”

“I’m working on that. I’m doing my school service with him.”

“Really?” Ms. Pratt couldn’t hide her surprise. “Tell me what’s been happening with you.”

“Well, I’m Rose now.”

“Rose?”

“Don’t you think it suits me?”

“I think it’s a wonderful name for you. I see you’ve changed your hair, your clothes—”

“You look different too.” Rose realized that Ms. Pratt had a kind of glow about her.

Ms. Pratt couldn’t hide a small smile. “Is it that obvious? Well, it’s not exactly a secret, why I was away. My wife and I went to a reservation in Arizona to adopt a baby.”

“That’s fantastic! Tell me about the baby.”

“We’re not here to talk about that.”

“Can I see a picture?”

“We only have a few minutes—”

Rose clasped Ms. Pratt’s hands. “Please?”

“Oh, all right.” Ms. Pratt had several pictures on her phone, actually. “That’s my wife, holding Ethan—she took an extended leave to take care of him.”

“She’s keeping him safe and sound.” Rose gazed at Ms. Pratt’s beautiful son.

“Now let’s get back to you and Mr. Slocum,” Ms. Pratt said.

“Today’s my last day of school service, and Mr. Slocum and I are going to have a nice, long talk. We’ll be peachy after that.”

“Peachy, huh?”

“My dad used to say that. Ask him, how are you, he’d say, peachy. I’d get mad and tell him, you can’t feel like a piece of fruit! Anyway, why a peach? Why not an apple, or a tangerine?”

“I have a feeling you weren’t the easiest child.”

“Maybe so. But my dad never complained.” Rose leaned forward eagerly. “Ethan—what a great name. So what was he like on the plane ride home? Does he sleep through the night? I’d love to see him in person. Will you bring him to school?” Rose had more questions after that, and then the free period was over.

At the end of her final day of school service, Rose plunged right in. Last chance! “Mr. Slocum, why don’t you tell me about yourself?”

He glanced up from behind his computer. “Whatever for?”

“You think I don’t listen—”

“I don’t think it, Miss Hartel. I know it. Lately there’s been improvement, I’ll admit. But for all of September and most of October, you were off in la-la land.”

“Not true. I’m sorry it looked that way.”