Read Online Blue by Danielle Steel - Free Book Online Page B

he’s doing before I leave,” she promised, but his aunt didn’t sound nearly as worried about him as she was. Charlene knew him well, and his strong drive to detach and run away.
    Ginny was thinking about it as she made breakfast for them that morning. She wanted to tell him that she had spoken to his aunt, but she didn’t dare. She didn’t want him to think they were in some kind of conspiracy against him.
    “How about we look at some of those youth shelters today?” she suggested after breakfast, and saw his eyes get cold and stony.
    “I’d rather do work for you and make some money,” he said, dodging the issue. He didn’t want to face that she would be leaving soon, and she could see that it upset him. But she was determined to find him a safe place to live and to enroll him in school before she left. It was all she could think of now.
    Without saying anything to him, she bought him some binders and notebooks, pens and pencils, a calculator, and all the things he’d need for school. She left them in a bag in her closet, and didn’t say anything about them.
    They spent New Year’s Eve watching TV and saw the ball in Times Square fall, and all the crowds of people there. He looked excited about it, and they had fun together.
    And on the Monday afterward, she and Blue went to the school she’d shown him and met with the vice principal about enrolling him. Ginny gave them her address and didn’t say the arrangement was temporary—she wanted to give him the best shot she could of getting him into the school. They asked where his last school had been, and he explained that he had been living with his aunt then and no longer was. The school was used to kids moving around and asked no questions about it.
    “You’re his legal guardian?” the vice principal asked her, and Ginny paused before she answered.
    “No, I’m not. His aunt still is, although he doesn’t live with her.”
    “Then we’ll need her signature on the forms,” he said, handing them to her. “Once she signs them, we’ll enroll him in eighth grade. He’s got some catching up to do, if he’s been out of school since September.” Blue looked morose at that, and they left a few minutes later. He glanced at Ginny in despair.
    “Do I really have to?”
    “Yes, you do. And we need to get those forms signed by your aunt. Can I call her?” He hesitated for a long time and then nodded.
    “Yeah, I guess so. She doesn’t care if I go to school or not.”
    “I’m sure she does,” Ginny said firmly. She knew he was right but couldn’t say so, since he didn’t know she’d spoken to his aunt. “And I care. You have no choice, Blue, unless you want to work at the lowest-level jobs all your life. You can’t get a decent job without even finishing eighth grade.”
    He knew she was right and hated to hear it, and that night they called his aunt. She had no problem about signing the papers. She warned Ginny again that he’d drop out and run away, and she agreed to sign the forms if Ginny brought them to the hospital that night, which she agreed to do. Charlene’s shift started at eleven, and before Ginny left, she asked Blue if he wanted to come, and he shook his head from where he sat on the couch.
    “I’ll just wait here,” he said softly. He seemed to have no ties that meant anything to him. He had been set adrift and was swimming on his own. Ginny just didn’t want him to drown in the process, and even though they hardly knew each other, she had made a commitment to help him and intended to see it through. It was why she was good at what she did in her current work. She never gave up on anyone, and was willing to keep plodding until she got results. Her motto was “Nothing is impossible,” as she had already said several times to Blue. And it made her heart ache for him that he felt so alone and disenfranchised that he didn’t even want to see his aunt. She suspected that the final scene with Harold had been a bad one, probably