Читать книгу The Luckiest Scar on Earth - Ana Maria Spagna - Страница 12

CHAPTER SIX

At Midland High, red Christmas garlands still hung from the front entrance, drooping off-center, like the only color in the world. Gray clouds sponged the sky, like always, as Rose and I walked out after the final bell after midterms. I tried not to worry about my grades—I managed to get Bs most of the time—but I always did. I’d start off thinking that none of it mattered, that in the big scheme of things it made no difference, but once a test came along I couldn’t help it. I stressed. Not a lot, mind you. I had a friend in Colorado who puked after every test. Not me. I just studied hard, then afterwards got all wound up like a little kid who ate too much sugar. Usually I saved this stuff for home—it drove my mom crazy—so Rose’s jaw dropped when I started running up and over the picnic tables in the courtyard. With a teacher in-service planned for Friday, I felt pretty free.

“Quiet little Charlotte,” she said.

“Quiet little Rose,” I hollered.

Rose tipped her head to one side, rolled her eyes, and smiled. Even though she was small, there was something very adult about the way Rose moved, something slow and almost sad. If you could make Rose smile, it was like catching air and landing on your feet.

“What are you doing the rest of the day?” she asked.

I shrugged. “Reading, I guess. How about you?”

“My dad’s taking me to the orchard this afternoon. Do you want to come?”

“Sure,” I said.

I’d have to borrow someone’s phone to call my mom and let her know. I saw Ms. Russo zipping up her windbreaker beside the bike rack.

“Ms. Russo, can I borrow your phone? I need to call my mother.”

She shook her head sternly. “Charlotte,” she said, “do you know that cell phone towers are responsible for the deaths of hundreds of thousands of songbirds each year in this country?”