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[ Pobierz całość w formacie PDF ] hold up a circus mirror to reality and see only what we want to see. Sister Mary Alice blinked several times. Then she stuffed the big boards back into the portfolio, snagging them on the corners as she unevenly forced them in. I give you until the end of the week, Grace, to reconsider. You re throwing away a real growth experience for what I can only identify as adolescent stubbornness. There s a time and a place to say and think and do different things, and you ve hopelessly scrambled the equation. I m deeply disappointed in you, but I do hope you ll come to your senses. Sister Mary Alice finished gathering up all her material and stiffly retreated from the room. Grace headed straight for the locker room and walked between row after row of olive-colored lockers. Meg s locker was just a few down from her own, and she slid to the floor midway between the two of them. Meg had a dentist appointment near her mother s job, and Mrs. Heinz was picking her up afterwards to drive her home. It was endlessly frustrating to Grace whenever Meg wasn t a bus trip or a phone call away. She took out a notebook and began to write her a letter. She told her all of what she remembered of Sister Mary Alice s accusations and made herself sound more brave and eloquent than she had actually been. After twenty minutes, she had exhausted her righteousness and got up. She and Meg had given each other their locker combinations, and she opened Meg s locker with ease. Grace looked over the familiar items with a tingle of 164 Diane Salvatore pleasure. Someday she d be able to open Meg s dresser drawers in the apartment they would share. There was the class schedule Meg had taped to her door, on which the breaks they shared in common were colored in red. A gray and black sweater hung in the back. Grace pressed it to her face, inhaling Meg s scent. On the floor was a plastic bag in which Meg stored all of Grace s accumulated letters. Grace left this new one on top so that Meg would see it first thing tomorrow morning. Just as she started to close the locker door, a large, unfamiliar manila envelope in the corner caught her eye. She picked it up, guilt making her cheeks hot, and pulled out a fistful of letters addressed to Meg in a hand she didn t recognize. The postmarks showed they were mailed from Queens, the earliest one a month ago, in March. She took the most recent one from just last week out of its envelope and sat back on the floor again, anxiety clawing at her throat. Darling Meg, the letter began. Our talk last nite was one of the best we ever had. You are jus so beautifull it makes me crazy. I hope my plans dont scare you but I m going to make you my wife. Definatley. I ve never loved anyone so much ever and the looks on your face show you feel the same way, to. Your kisses are like rose petals and I m going to make you bloom. I cant hardly wait to have my arms around you again. I love you, Danny. Tiny colored balls of light danced in front of Grace s eyes and her stomach churned like the Grand Rapids. She leaned her head back against the cool locker door and forced herself to breathe evenly until the nausea passed. She rifled through the rest of the letters with unsteady hands. The other letters were more of the same, talk of marriage and escape from Meg s parents, passionate kisses recalled, references to meetings that clearly outnumbered the few casual run-ins Meg had told her had taken place at her cousin s house. Grace was stoic with shock. If Meg were here now, she felt she could walk past her with a mere nod and consider the whole affair over and done with. The worst thing that could have possibly happened was happening, and it was with considerable surprise Benediction 165 that Grace realized her heart was still pumping and her lungs forcing air in and out. With acute self-conscious amazement, she got up and replaced the large envelope. She hesitated for a moment, wondering if she should make an effort to reorder the letters the way she found them, and felt another bolt of nausea. Having secrets from each other was an alien experience. But obviously not as alien to Meg. After dinner, Grace finished her homework with monomaniacal precision. Then she holed up in her room for the rest of the night, dedicating herself to staring blankly at the wall. This was the time she would usually talk to Meg. Because Meg couldn t call her in case Mrs. Molino should pick up the phone, [ Pobierz całość w formacie PDF ] |