Chasing Hope by Kathryn Cushman

to me like there are a lot of things that have never occurred to you. You’ve got a grandmother who’s doing everything in her power to keep you safe, to help you stay out of juvie right now, and you don’t even respect her enough to make a stinking phone call and let her know where you are. No, I take that back. You should have made the call to ask her for permission before you went camping in the first place. She deserves respect. A simple phone call is not too much to ask of anyone.”
    “Okay, deep breath. You’re getting a little worked up. It’s not like I don’t appreciate Grandma. I just made a mistake. I’m sure even you have made a few mistakes in your lifetime.”
    By now, Sabrina had angry tears in her eyes. “I just cannot bring myself to understand the kind of girl who would treat the woman who loves and takes care of you with so little regard.”
    “You have no idea what my life has been like.”
    “I know enough to think you would appreciate something good when you’re living in the house with it.”
    Those words hit Brandy harder than she’d expected. For just a moment, she thought about all the nice things her grandmother had done for her over the years, all the times she’d gone out of her way to help her, and yet . . . She turned her attention to the sidewalk. “Maybe you’re right.”
    “There isn’t any maybe about it.”
    Brandy looked up, knowing what the answer was about to be, but needing to ask it anyway. “Does this mean you’re not going to train me anymore?”
    “We had a deal, which you broke.”
    “There wasn’t anything in our deal about me checking in at home before going camping.” She held up her hand to stop the argument she knew was coming. “Okay, I get it, that was wrong, but it wasn’t part of the deal.”
    “Drinking and smoking were part of the deal, though. You going to tell me you spent the night camping at the lake with your friends and you didn’t do either?”
    Brandy lifted her head a bit higher, straightened her shoulders. “As a matter of fact, that’s exactly what I’m going to tell you. I didn’t touch anything all weekend long. My crew didn’t like that so much—” she snorted a laugh, thinking about the look of horror on Janie’s face—“but I told ’em I was taking a little break.”
    Sabrina scoffed. “Honestly? Why in the world should I believe you ?”
    Brandy knew the argument was lost. Right there. “There isn’t a reason, okay? I get it. Nobody takes my word for anything, andI guess I understand that. But it’s the truth, whether or not you want to believe it.” And there it was.
    The sun was starting to sink in the sky behind the campus buildings, leaving long shadows and increasing darkness in its wake. Brandy turned toward her grandmother’s house, shivering in the growing cold as she walked. High school cross-country had lasted less than three weeks. She supposed that was about two and a half weeks longer than most people expected.
    Come to think of it, this was a relief. The pressure was off. No more early morning or late afternoon practices. No more conversations with people like Erin Methvin, who pretended to want to include her. Exactly. A relief. Who needed all that?
    That’s when the full implication hit her. She needed all that. She’d just blown her last chance to stay out of juvie. “Why are you so stupid?” The question to herself came out louder than she’d intended but there was no one around to hear.
    A brown paper sack blew across the sidewalk and came to a stop at Brandy’s feet. She drew her foot back and kicked it as hard as she could. It flew up into the air just as the wind came and pushed it right back down beside Brandy’s foot.
    “Be at my house tomorrow morning at five o’clock. Sharp.” Sabrina called the words from somewhere down the street behind her.
    “Tomorrow’s Monday.” Brandy shouted the words without turning.
    “We’re having an extra practice this week.”
    Brandy