Read Online Heavenstone 01 - The Heavenstone Secrets by authors_sort - Free Book Online Page B
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after Cassie’s little mother-daughter-like talk, I was practically trembling all day. She made sure to put reminders in my head, too. On our way to school, she said, “I hope everything I told you is still fresh in your mind. I know how easy it is to forget when you get excited.”
“I won’t forget,” I said.
“Good.” She smiled at me. “We’ll be perfect, as perfect as I planned for us to be. Remember, we are the Heavenstone sisters. That means a lot around here. I can almost hear people thinking it whenever they see us together. ‘There they go, the Heavenstone sisters.’”
She laughed. She seemed to be in one of the best moods I had seen her in since the night Daddy announced Mother’s pregnancy. Mother had gotten strong enough to look after herself. She didn’t want Cassie to miss any more school. Daddy said he would hire a nurse if we had to, but Mother insisted she was fine, and Cassie agreed.
“I’ll be coming right home from school, anyway, Daddy,” she told him. “No need to bring a stranger into the house. I can do whatever has to be done.”
“Well, I don’t doubt that,” Daddy said. “I can’t think of too many women who are as reliable as you, Cassie.”
Cassie beamed. That helped put her in the good mood, I thought.
We entered the school building together. Because she was two grades higher than I was, Cassie and I rarely saw each other in the building, even at lunch, because there were two lunch rooms, one for students in grades seven through nine and one for tenth through twelfth. I don’t know if it had been designed to be that way or just turned out that way. Rarely did she come looking for me, but this particular lunch period, I looked up from my tray of food and saw her in the doorway, obviously searching for me. Iwas sitting with Kent, two other boys, and two other girls. The moment I saw Cassie, I felt my face flush, as if I had been caught doing just the things she had warned me against.
“What’s wrong?” Kent asked, seeing how I had stopped eating and listening to everyone.
“My sister’s looking for me. I’d better see what she wants,” I said.
I rose because I saw she had spotted me and was heading in my direction. I didn’t want anyone else to hear what she might say. She paused when she saw me heading for her.
“Something wrong with Mother?” I asked quickly.
“No.” She looked past me at my table. “Do you have lunch with him every day now?”
“Sometimes,” I said. I really did, but one day he had missed lunch.
She leaned toward me to whisper. “Listen carefully to the way his friends talk. It will tell you a lot about him. If they make sexual references in your company, and he lets them, that will tell you something important about him and how much he really respects you. Understand?”
I nodded. Had she come here just to tell me this? It made me feel as if the relationship between girls and boys was really just some game, some contest, and she was assuming the role of my coach. In a real sense, I realized that she was.
“Same with the other girls in your company,” she said, still looking past me at my friends. “If they giggle or don’t seem embarrassed, you knowthey’ve been promiscuous. You remember what that means?”
“Yes, Cassie. Don’t worry so much.”
She pulled her face back. “Don’t tell me not to worry so much. What happens to you happens to me. I thought you understood.”
“I do. I’m just … it’s all right. I’m being careful.”
“Um,” she said, looking past me again at the boys and girls at my table, as if they were all part of some gang doing sex and drugs. I felt like bursting into tears. She was embarrassing me. I could see other students starting to pay attention to us. “Okay, we’ll talk later.” She turned and walked out.
I stood for a moment, trying to catch my breath and calm down. On the way back to the table, I fumbled for an explanation. They were all surely going to be
“I won’t forget,” I said.
“Good.” She smiled at me. “We’ll be perfect, as perfect as I planned for us to be. Remember, we are the Heavenstone sisters. That means a lot around here. I can almost hear people thinking it whenever they see us together. ‘There they go, the Heavenstone sisters.’”
She laughed. She seemed to be in one of the best moods I had seen her in since the night Daddy announced Mother’s pregnancy. Mother had gotten strong enough to look after herself. She didn’t want Cassie to miss any more school. Daddy said he would hire a nurse if we had to, but Mother insisted she was fine, and Cassie agreed.
“I’ll be coming right home from school, anyway, Daddy,” she told him. “No need to bring a stranger into the house. I can do whatever has to be done.”
“Well, I don’t doubt that,” Daddy said. “I can’t think of too many women who are as reliable as you, Cassie.”
Cassie beamed. That helped put her in the good mood, I thought.
We entered the school building together. Because she was two grades higher than I was, Cassie and I rarely saw each other in the building, even at lunch, because there were two lunch rooms, one for students in grades seven through nine and one for tenth through twelfth. I don’t know if it had been designed to be that way or just turned out that way. Rarely did she come looking for me, but this particular lunch period, I looked up from my tray of food and saw her in the doorway, obviously searching for me. Iwas sitting with Kent, two other boys, and two other girls. The moment I saw Cassie, I felt my face flush, as if I had been caught doing just the things she had warned me against.
“What’s wrong?” Kent asked, seeing how I had stopped eating and listening to everyone.
“My sister’s looking for me. I’d better see what she wants,” I said.
I rose because I saw she had spotted me and was heading in my direction. I didn’t want anyone else to hear what she might say. She paused when she saw me heading for her.
“Something wrong with Mother?” I asked quickly.
“No.” She looked past me at my table. “Do you have lunch with him every day now?”
“Sometimes,” I said. I really did, but one day he had missed lunch.
She leaned toward me to whisper. “Listen carefully to the way his friends talk. It will tell you a lot about him. If they make sexual references in your company, and he lets them, that will tell you something important about him and how much he really respects you. Understand?”
I nodded. Had she come here just to tell me this? It made me feel as if the relationship between girls and boys was really just some game, some contest, and she was assuming the role of my coach. In a real sense, I realized that she was.
“Same with the other girls in your company,” she said, still looking past me at my friends. “If they giggle or don’t seem embarrassed, you knowthey’ve been promiscuous. You remember what that means?”
“Yes, Cassie. Don’t worry so much.”
She pulled her face back. “Don’t tell me not to worry so much. What happens to you happens to me. I thought you understood.”
“I do. I’m just … it’s all right. I’m being careful.”
“Um,” she said, looking past me again at the boys and girls at my table, as if they were all part of some gang doing sex and drugs. I felt like bursting into tears. She was embarrassing me. I could see other students starting to pay attention to us. “Okay, we’ll talk later.” She turned and walked out.
I stood for a moment, trying to catch my breath and calm down. On the way back to the table, I fumbled for an explanation. They were all surely going to be
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