This Changes Everything by Denise Grover Swank Page A

daddy had lost his job in Greenville. Claire’s great-uncle offered
him a job on his fishing boat, but Claire’s father hated it. Her mother had
gotten a job at a hotel as a housekeeper, but the summer season was over and
she’d been laid off. Now she worked over in Nags Head at a grocery store and
she was always gone. When her parents were home, they spent most
of their time fighting over money, but this was the first time Claire had ever mentioned
divorce.
    Ellie grabbed
Claire’s hands in hers. “They won’t get divorced.”
    Fat tears ran
down her cheeks. “You don’t know that.”
    Ellie wished she
could assure her friend they wouldn’t, but she knew it might be a lie. Instead,
she said the only thing she could think of that might make her friend happy.
“I’ll tell you part of my secret.”
    Claire narrowed
her eyes and she jerked her hands from Ellie’s. “I told you I don’t want to
hear about Drew Reeves eating glue.”
    Ellie steeled her
shoulders. “Not that secret. The secret.”
    Claire still
looked skeptical, but she stopped crying. “You told me you couldn’t tell me. That
only family can know.”
    Tilting her head
to the side, Ellie gave her friend an exaggerated grimace. “I know, but you’re
at my house all the time and we
have lots of sleepovers. Besides, I told you I always wished I had a sister,
and you and me are just like sisters.” She nodded her head
firmly, proud of herself for coming to this conclusion. “So that means I can
tell you.”
    “ Really ? ”
    Ellie didn’t know
if it was true or not. She hadn’t intended to tell Claire at all, but she’d do
anything to make her happy. And it was true that Claire probably spent
more time at Ellie’s house than her own. With her parents working strange hours
and her older sister, Melanie, spending more time yelling at her than watching
her, it wasn’t a surprise. Heck, Momma had started calling Claire her “other
daughter,” so didn’t that mean that she was like a
sister? In any case, she couldn’t back out now, even though Ellie’s chest felt
heavy, like an elephant had sat on it. Claire was no longer crying, and Ellie didn’t
want to upset her again. Besides, telling Claire would give them something
special to share, just like real sisters.
    “Really.”
    Claire placed her
elbows on her upper thighs and leaned forward, waiting.
    Suddenly, Ellie
didn’t know where to start. She’d known about the curse since she was a tiny
girl. The curse had always been part of her life, her secret to keep. It would
be nice to have someone to talk about it with, especially since Momma didn’t
approve. Whenever Ellie asked her momma questions about the curse, her forehead
wrinkled in irritation. She hated what she called all the “curse nonsense.” Ellie
leaned forward and whispered, “My secret is about a curse.”
    Claire’s eyes
flew open, and she practically shouted, “You’re cursed?”
    “Shhh!” But it
was actually a good question, and Ellie’s brow lowered in thought. She’d never
thought about if her role meant she was actually cursed. After a
moment, though, she shook her head. “No, but Daddy says one day I’ll be a Curse
Keeper.”
    “What’s a Curse
Keeper?”
    “Daddy is the
Curse Keeper now and there’s another one, only we don’t know who it is. When I
turn eighteen, I’ll be the real Curse Keeper.” Ellie’s voice filled with pride,
even though it seemed so far away—and she wasn’t actually sure what it meant,
just that Daddy was always very serious about it. It was a very important job,
which meant she would be very important too. Just like Daddy.
    “But what are you
supposed to do?” Claire asked, as if reading Ellie’s thoughts.
    “Wait for the
curse to break.”
    Claire shook her
head in confusion. “What’s the curse?”
    Unsure how to
answer, Ellie leaned closer again and whispered, “I know what happened to the
Lost Colony of Roanoke.”
    “Mrs. Hinkler
says no
one knows what