Sword Play by Linda Joy Singleton Page B

researched private schools, but found none of them adequate.”
    “Well I’m NOT going back to Arcadia High!” I exclaimed, jumping up and folding my arms across my chest. “No way. Not ever! If that’s what you’re going to tell me, I don’t want to hear it.”
    “Would you sit down and act reasonably?” she asked in this calm voice that made me want to throw something at her. Didn’t she realize it was my life we were discussing? She couldn’t just make decisions without asking me. I wasn’t ten like my sisters, I was almost an adult. I had a right to choose my own school. I’d given up a lot to move back home for her, and this was how she repaid me? By sending me back to a school where I’d be shunned and insulted and ignored?
    I started to reach for my suitcase, when Mom put her hand on my arm. “Sabine, would you please listen without jumping to wrong conclusions?”
    “Wrong?” I sniffed. “You said it wasn’t a private school and the nearest public school is Arcadia High.”
    “I would never allow you to return to that narrow-minded school.”
    “You wouldn’t?” If I hadn’t been sitting down, I would have fallen over. “So what school am I going to?”
    “None.”
    “What?” I stared at her in shock. “You’re home-schooling me?”
    “Me? Heaven forbid! Even if I had the time, I wouldn’t have the patience.” She chuckled. “I doubt either of us would survive that.”
    “Okay, so no Arcadia High,” I said counting off with my fingers. “No private school. No home school. Guess I’m dropping out.”
    “Ha, ha.” She frowned, not at all amused.
    “Then what? What’s left?”
    Mom handed the orange folder to me and said, “Open it.”
    Uneasily, I opened the folder and pulled out bundles of papers. Assignments for English, calculus, science, Spanish, etc, all from teachers with names I recognized.
    “These are my teachers! From Sheridan High.”
    “Exactly.” Mom nodded.
    “I don’t understand,” I said, wrinkling my brow.
    “You would if you’d simply listen.”
    “I am listening.”
    “I researched all options and concluded since it’s mid-semester, it would be too disruptive for you to change schools. So I made all the arrangements for independent study.”
    “Not a new school?”
    “You won’t attend school at all. Until the semester is over, and I can make better arrangements, you’re still a student of Sheridan High.”

I celebrated Mom’s fantastic news by making phone calls.
    First Nona, but got her machine and left a message.
    Then I called Josh. We talked for over an hour. After I told him about my independent study program, he told me the latest in his life. Even small things like going to the mall to buy new sneakers sounded exciting coming from Josh. He had a natural skill for conversation and connecting with people. If he changed his mind about being a magician, he’d make a great politician. His sexy smile alone could win an election. As he described giving his dog (nicknamed Horse) a bath, I thought how lucky I was to have a boyfriend who was both funny and honest. It was silly to want anything more.
    “Horse raced down the hall lathered in soap and jumped in Dad’s lap,” Josh went on. “Mom doubled over laughing at Dad—until he ran to her and shook his fur, showering her with bubbles.”
    “Your parents must have freaked.”
    “Nah. They thought it was funny, too. Dad even helped me drag Horse back to the bathroom.”
    “You’re lucky your parents are so relaxed. My mother would have hit the roof. She doesn’t allow pets in her house except fish.”
    “Your mother’s not that bad. I liked her when we met at your sisters’ birthday party.”
    “She liked you, too.”
    “So she has good taste,” he said jokingly. “I know you don’t always get along with her—”
    “That’s an understatement.”
    “But she cares about you. Give her credit for arranging independent study.”
    “Well … okay. That was cool.”
    “I got