chapter one
Why was I worried? Liz and I hung around together at school but going to her house made everything different. Going to her house made us real friends.
âSit down,â said Liz. âThat is if you can find a place.â
I looked around Lizâs room. There were mounds of clothes on her bed, a pile of shoes on her floor and books piled on her desk.
âWhere?â I asked.
Liz shoved some clothes off her bed. âHere,â she said.
I plunked myself down on her pink and red flowered quilt. âGreat quilt,â I said.
Liz pushed another pile of clothes off her bed and flopped down beside me. âMy aunt made it when I was ten.â Liz patted her quilt like an old friend. âIt has a couple of holes and a mustard stain near the top, but I love it.â
âItâs beautiful,â I said.
âIf you could see it,â said Liz laughing. âI always plan to clean my room, but things get in the way. It drives my mom crazy. Sheâs a neat freak.â
It was true. The rest of Lizâs house looked like a movie set. There were sparkling mahogany antique tables, glass lamps and a marble coffee table with four perfectly lined-up glossy magazines on top. It looked like no one ever sat on or touched anything.
âI bet your room is neat,â said Liz. âYouâre so organized.â
My tiny bedroom was more like a closet than a room. Lizâs bedroom was as big as our living room and kitchen put together. She had space to sprawl out. She had room to be messy, but even the smallest pile of clutter would make my room crowded.
âIâm not that neat,â I said.
I didnât want Liz to think I was a neat freak too. Liz and I had known each other for four years, but weâd only become friends since weâd both started grade nine at High Road High. I didnât want anything to spoil that.
âLetâs listen to music,â said Liz, pulling a CD player out from under her bed.
She popped in a CD and soon she was singing along with the music. She was also laughing and apologizing. âI know my voice stinks,â she said. âI canât keep a tune to save my life.â
âItâs not so bad,â I said.
âYou donât have to be nice,â said Liz. âI donât care if I have a lousy voice. I love to sing.â
I used to love to sing too, but I hadnât sung in a long time. To my surprise, I belted out a song like Judy Garland singing âOver the Rainbow.â Liz stopped singing and stared at me. âI didnât know you could sing,â she said.
âI donât usually,â I told her.
âBut you should. Your voice is amazing. You should try out for the school play.â
âI couldnât sing in front of a whole room full of kids and teachers.â
âYes you could. Try,â said Liz.
But I couldnât. I didnât want anyone pointing at me, noticing me, talking about me. It was hard enough being from Brazil in a school where almost no one else came from a foreign country. I wanted to be invisible.
I used to sing all the time in Sao Paolo, where I lived until I was nine. But here it was different. I couldnât sing in public here.
âLiz,â called her mom. âI have to go out for an hour. Who was that singing on the radio?â
âThat wasnât the radio. It was Renata,â said Liz. âIsnât her voice amazing?â
âItâs beautiful, Renata,â said Lizâs mom, standing at the door. Lizâs mom smiled warmly at me. She had a small, round face like Liz and short brown hair. Her black pants and white shirt didnât have a single crease or wrinkle.
âI wish youâd clean this room up,â she told Liz. âI donât know how you can stand all this clutter.â
âItâs not clutter,â insisted Liz. âEverything in here is special. Iâm a collector, Mom. I canât get
Yenthu Wentz
Aneesa Price
Suzanne Weyn
Mary Marks
Craig Johnson
Patrice Michelle
Kate McMullan
Sherryl Woods
Steven Savile
Hallie Swanson