my eyebrow. “He wanted to know if you’re happy.”
“What did you tell him?” I ask, not sure what I would have answered if he’d asked me the same thing.
“I told him I thought you were.” She looks at me for a long moment. “Was I right?” I poke around inside of myself for a minute before deciding.
“I’m pretty happy,” I admit.
She gives me a small smile, then takes a breath. “He alsowants to see you.” I close my eyes. She finds my hand under the blanket and squeezes it. Her fingers are cold against mine. “You don’t have to,” she says. “After all this time, he can’t really enforce visitation.”
“I’ll think about it,” I say. My head says no way; it’s my heart that needs to think about it.
“He gave me his new number,” she says. “I put it on your desk.” I look over at the piece of paper sitting there, tucked under my crystal heart paperweight. It’s small, just part of a piece of paper, but it seems to push some of the air out of the room. “I was worried,” Mom says. “I tried to call the house, but the line was busy.” I think of the phone I dropped on the counter without hanging it up. “You didn’t answer your cell.”
“It’s downstairs,” I say.
“I was worried,” she says again.
“I’m okay,” I say. I look at her. She’s staring at my face. “Really.”
“Pinkie-swear?” she asks. I find her pinkie with mine and squeeze it. “Don’t forget to set your alarm. Charlie came over to tell you he’d be out front at ten after and not to be late.”
“Charlie came over?” I ask, reaching for my clock. I set it for five A.M . Yuck.
“Apparently he couldn’t get through on the phone either.” She smiles at me. “He also said good job on the new truffles.” She pulls my door shut as she leaves. I put my clockback on the bedside table and pull my biology lab book from my backpack. Just then, what my mother said hits me. I leap out of bed and run out into the hall.
“Which truffles?” I ask.
“The new ones. He said he stopped by Jan’s today to see you and he loaded up on free candy.” She shakes her head. “It’s a wonder that man is able to stay in business with everything he’s always giving away.”
I smirk. If there is such a thing as a love potion, Jillian will be pretty excited to know that Charlie ate some of our truffles. “Better get to sleep. Big day tomorrow,” I say, kissing her fast on the cheek. She smiles and shakes her head at me. I trudge into my room and climb into bed. This is exactly why I wouldn’t use magic even if it did exist. There’s too much randomness in the world. I’d probably a) cast the wrong spell on b) the wrong person. Ugh. I completely refuse to get caught up in the insanity of Jillian’s plan. But, I am in this for as long as Claire is. Like Jillian said, she needs it.
chapter nine
I lean over and tilt my head, trying to get the water out of my ear. I can feel it sloshing around in there. The good news is that our coach still has the same rule from last season. If someone throws up during practice, we get out fifteen minutes early, and if two people lose it, we end practice immediately. The bad news is that this morning, I was the second puker. I let Charlie talk me into drinking some new protein shake his coach recommended. It’s horrible, full of spirulina and kelp. It tasted bad enough going down. It was worse coming back up.
“Nice work, Paisley!” I look over and see Peter (Mr. Row Butt) giving me the thumbs-up. I wave at him weakly. I can still taste the seaweed in my mouth. He walks over to where a girl with long blond hair is leaning down from the bleachers, waiting to talk to him. She giggles at something he says.
“Didn’t take him long,” I mutter, picking up the stack of kickboards. Another of coach’s rules. The pukers get to do cleanup.
“Didn’t take who long to do what?” I look over to
“What did you tell him?” I ask, not sure what I would have answered if he’d asked me the same thing.
“I told him I thought you were.” She looks at me for a long moment. “Was I right?” I poke around inside of myself for a minute before deciding.
“I’m pretty happy,” I admit.
She gives me a small smile, then takes a breath. “He alsowants to see you.” I close my eyes. She finds my hand under the blanket and squeezes it. Her fingers are cold against mine. “You don’t have to,” she says. “After all this time, he can’t really enforce visitation.”
“I’ll think about it,” I say. My head says no way; it’s my heart that needs to think about it.
“He gave me his new number,” she says. “I put it on your desk.” I look over at the piece of paper sitting there, tucked under my crystal heart paperweight. It’s small, just part of a piece of paper, but it seems to push some of the air out of the room. “I was worried,” Mom says. “I tried to call the house, but the line was busy.” I think of the phone I dropped on the counter without hanging it up. “You didn’t answer your cell.”
“It’s downstairs,” I say.
“I was worried,” she says again.
“I’m okay,” I say. I look at her. She’s staring at my face. “Really.”
“Pinkie-swear?” she asks. I find her pinkie with mine and squeeze it. “Don’t forget to set your alarm. Charlie came over to tell you he’d be out front at ten after and not to be late.”
“Charlie came over?” I ask, reaching for my clock. I set it for five A.M . Yuck.
“Apparently he couldn’t get through on the phone either.” She smiles at me. “He also said good job on the new truffles.” She pulls my door shut as she leaves. I put my clockback on the bedside table and pull my biology lab book from my backpack. Just then, what my mother said hits me. I leap out of bed and run out into the hall.
“Which truffles?” I ask.
“The new ones. He said he stopped by Jan’s today to see you and he loaded up on free candy.” She shakes her head. “It’s a wonder that man is able to stay in business with everything he’s always giving away.”
I smirk. If there is such a thing as a love potion, Jillian will be pretty excited to know that Charlie ate some of our truffles. “Better get to sleep. Big day tomorrow,” I say, kissing her fast on the cheek. She smiles and shakes her head at me. I trudge into my room and climb into bed. This is exactly why I wouldn’t use magic even if it did exist. There’s too much randomness in the world. I’d probably a) cast the wrong spell on b) the wrong person. Ugh. I completely refuse to get caught up in the insanity of Jillian’s plan. But, I am in this for as long as Claire is. Like Jillian said, she needs it.
chapter nine
I lean over and tilt my head, trying to get the water out of my ear. I can feel it sloshing around in there. The good news is that our coach still has the same rule from last season. If someone throws up during practice, we get out fifteen minutes early, and if two people lose it, we end practice immediately. The bad news is that this morning, I was the second puker. I let Charlie talk me into drinking some new protein shake his coach recommended. It’s horrible, full of spirulina and kelp. It tasted bad enough going down. It was worse coming back up.
“Nice work, Paisley!” I look over and see Peter (Mr. Row Butt) giving me the thumbs-up. I wave at him weakly. I can still taste the seaweed in my mouth. He walks over to where a girl with long blond hair is leaning down from the bleachers, waiting to talk to him. She giggles at something he says.
“Didn’t take him long,” I mutter, picking up the stack of kickboards. Another of coach’s rules. The pukers get to do cleanup.
“Didn’t take who long to do what?” I look over to
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