my dad was always the one working and socializing, while my mom hung out with me. We didn’t see him much. Even back then, he was very busy. He called the other day and asked Mom ifshe’d received the divorce papers. That was it. He didn’t even ask to talk to me.
“You’re reading
Belle Teal
,” I said to Anna. I saw the book sitting on her nightstand. “Do you like it?”
“I do,” Anna said. “Mom brought it home for me from the library where she works.”
I didn’t know Terri worked in a library. How exciting. I wanted to talk to her about books. And then Anna told me that her mother was taking some art classes. She showed me some of her mom’s artwork. Amazing! I immediately thought of Danielle, and hoped she would get a chance to meet Terri and discover for herself the connection they shared. After that Anna showed me the rest of her books and her rock collection. Then I taught her how to make worry dolls, something I’d learned about from one of the characters in a book I read. I figured the dolls could worry about my dad, because I was done with that. Our playdate was perfect and it flew by like a day at the amusement park. We said our thank-yous and good-byes and agreed to do it again.
Driving home, Mom said, “What you heard about Terri was right. Poor girl.”
I stayed quiet. After seeing Terri myself, I knew the story was right. She looked very young.
“I told her about your father,” Mom said.
I remained quiet. I didn’t know how to feel. Surprised. Angry. Happy. I felt all of these at the same time. Mom was quiet now, too. I guess we were busy thinking to ourselves.
anna
D anielle wasn’t able to come to my first playdate because of bad timing, but Jessica made it. We had a blast! Jessica’s mom drove her over, but instead of dropping Jessica off and leaving, she came to our front door and accepted Mom’s invitation for a cup of coffee.
I was really glad. My mom never has anyone over, so it turned out to be her first playdate, too. Maybe she was done paying for her “mistake” now. I sure hoped so. And since I was the “mistake,” I felt like it was my fault. I wanted to help her find a friend, and a husband.
The afternoon flew by.
After Jessica and her mother left, Mom pulled me into a hug. “Those are genuine people, Anna,” she said. “You’vefound a good friend there. You can get as close to her as you want.”
Mom’s words made me smile. I hoped Danielle could come the next time. I was sure Mom would think the same of her.
Danielle
“C lass meeting,” Mr. Terupt announced.
This was one of my favorite times in the classroom. We all moved our desks out of the way and made a circle with our chairs. Everybody sat in the circle, even Mr. Terupt. He held on to the microphone. It wasn’t a real microphone, but we used it as our talking object. You can only speak when you have the microphone. I waited for Mr. Terupt to get us started.
“It looks like our chain should touch the floor soon, as long as you guys can give me another great day or two,” Mr. Terupt said.
The chain was our class reward system. Mr. Terupt had hung a single link from the ceiling on the first day of school, and he attached a link each time we had an outstanding dayas a class. Our goal was to get the chain to touch the floor, at which point we’d earn a free day.
“You’ve done super so far,” Mr. Terupt said. “So I’m wondering what you’d like to do for your free day.”
Mr. Terupt passed the mike to his left. You didn’t have to say anything if you didn’t want to. Alexia passed it along to the next person. Ever since Mr. Terupt had taken her out into the hall, she hadn’t said anything.
Luke was the first one to make a great suggestion. “Why can’t we just have time to do whatever we want? It’d be like indoor recess, but we could plan it better, and just have free time.”
“I like Luke’s idea,” Jeffrey piped up when he got the mike. “If it’s free time, maybe
“You’re reading
Belle Teal
,” I said to Anna. I saw the book sitting on her nightstand. “Do you like it?”
“I do,” Anna said. “Mom brought it home for me from the library where she works.”
I didn’t know Terri worked in a library. How exciting. I wanted to talk to her about books. And then Anna told me that her mother was taking some art classes. She showed me some of her mom’s artwork. Amazing! I immediately thought of Danielle, and hoped she would get a chance to meet Terri and discover for herself the connection they shared. After that Anna showed me the rest of her books and her rock collection. Then I taught her how to make worry dolls, something I’d learned about from one of the characters in a book I read. I figured the dolls could worry about my dad, because I was done with that. Our playdate was perfect and it flew by like a day at the amusement park. We said our thank-yous and good-byes and agreed to do it again.
Driving home, Mom said, “What you heard about Terri was right. Poor girl.”
I stayed quiet. After seeing Terri myself, I knew the story was right. She looked very young.
“I told her about your father,” Mom said.
I remained quiet. I didn’t know how to feel. Surprised. Angry. Happy. I felt all of these at the same time. Mom was quiet now, too. I guess we were busy thinking to ourselves.
anna
D anielle wasn’t able to come to my first playdate because of bad timing, but Jessica made it. We had a blast! Jessica’s mom drove her over, but instead of dropping Jessica off and leaving, she came to our front door and accepted Mom’s invitation for a cup of coffee.
I was really glad. My mom never has anyone over, so it turned out to be her first playdate, too. Maybe she was done paying for her “mistake” now. I sure hoped so. And since I was the “mistake,” I felt like it was my fault. I wanted to help her find a friend, and a husband.
The afternoon flew by.
After Jessica and her mother left, Mom pulled me into a hug. “Those are genuine people, Anna,” she said. “You’vefound a good friend there. You can get as close to her as you want.”
Mom’s words made me smile. I hoped Danielle could come the next time. I was sure Mom would think the same of her.
Danielle
“C lass meeting,” Mr. Terupt announced.
This was one of my favorite times in the classroom. We all moved our desks out of the way and made a circle with our chairs. Everybody sat in the circle, even Mr. Terupt. He held on to the microphone. It wasn’t a real microphone, but we used it as our talking object. You can only speak when you have the microphone. I waited for Mr. Terupt to get us started.
“It looks like our chain should touch the floor soon, as long as you guys can give me another great day or two,” Mr. Terupt said.
The chain was our class reward system. Mr. Terupt had hung a single link from the ceiling on the first day of school, and he attached a link each time we had an outstanding dayas a class. Our goal was to get the chain to touch the floor, at which point we’d earn a free day.
“You’ve done super so far,” Mr. Terupt said. “So I’m wondering what you’d like to do for your free day.”
Mr. Terupt passed the mike to his left. You didn’t have to say anything if you didn’t want to. Alexia passed it along to the next person. Ever since Mr. Terupt had taken her out into the hall, she hadn’t said anything.
Luke was the first one to make a great suggestion. “Why can’t we just have time to do whatever we want? It’d be like indoor recess, but we could plan it better, and just have free time.”
“I like Luke’s idea,” Jeffrey piped up when he got the mike. “If it’s free time, maybe
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