Читать книгу Way Too Much Drama - Earl Sewell - Страница 14

eight

VIVIANA

I had told Anna all about how Misalo ruined everything by calling out Maya’s name. Misalo had humiliated and hurt me in a way that I never thought possible. There had been days when I really felt bad, but that incident with him took the cake. Anna listened and was sympathetic, but beyond that there was nothing that could be done. It was over between Misalo and me, and that hurt me more than I ever thought it would. I truly liked him. I appreciated his honesty. Even though I had twisted the truth to get his attention, it was, in my opinion, well worth the lies I’d told. He gave me the type of attention I longed for, but now that was gone and the hole in my heart was as big as a crater on the surface of the moon.

The following morning I saw Maya in the upstairs hallway. She was heading downstairs, and I was on my way to the bathroom.

“Slut!” Maya said as she walked past me.

“What did you just say to me?” I asked.

“Our truce is over. I don’t like you. I don’t want you in my house, and I’m going to make sure that I do everything that I can to get you kicked out.” Maya’s eyes were ablaze with an evilness that I’d never seen before. I didn’t feel like getting into a battle of words with her so I just flipped up my middle finger and continued on.

When I came downstairs, I ran into my aunt Raven, who was carrying a basket of laundry.

“Come with me, Viviana,” she said.

“Why? What’s up?” I asked, wondering if I’d done something wrong.

“I want to talk to you,” said Aunt Raven. I exhaled and followed her to her bedroom where she began folding her laundry.

“I’ve contacted your school and had your records transferred over to Thornwood,” she began.

“Okay,” I said, dreading the fact that I’d have to repeat my junior year of high school.

“You’re going to have to be tested. Your entire junior year is filled with incomplete grades.”

“I told you why,” I said defensively.

“I know your mom kept moving you around,” Aunt Raven said.

“I hate tests. Why can’t they just let me come in as a senior?” I grumbled at the idea of having to deal with some stupid multiple-choice exam where I had to use a No. 2 black pencil to fill in a circle.

“Honey, schools use standardized tests to determine if you have a learning disability or some other handicap,” Aunt Raven said as she moved to a nearby closet and removed several hangers.

“I’m not stupid,” I said with an edge in my voice.

“I know that,” Aunt Raven said.

“Then why didn’t you tell them?” I was getting emotional, but couldn’t help it.

“Watch your tone with me,” Aunt Raven warned. “You’ll be tested on basic stuff. Reading Comprehension, English, Math and Science. It’s a way for the school to find out what courses they should place you in.”

“I still think tests are stupid,” I said, loathing the idea.

“You take the test first thing tomorrow morning,” she said.

“Are you serious? They won’t even give me time to study?”

“I’m afraid not,” said Aunt Raven.

“Augh, that sucks,” I complained as I plopped down on the bed.

“Don’t worry about it. Just go in there and do the best that you can,” she said. I cut my eyes at her as if I were about to stab her.

“I have a question for you,” she said.

“What?” I mumbled a little as I felt a small anxiety attack swelling up.

“When was the last time you had a physical?” she asked.

“I don’t know. Mom rarely took me to the doctor. She doesn’t have health insurance,” I said.

“Okay. Do you remember the name of the last doctor you saw?” she asked.

“I have no idea. The only thing I remember was that she was Korean, and she was still learning how to be a doctor.”

“What do you mean, she was still learning how to be a doctor?”

My answer seemed to have alarmed her. “She was in training. Down at Cook County Hospital,” I said.

“Oh, you mean she was doing a residency,” said Aunt Raven.

“Yeah, whatever that is,” I answered. Aunt Raven paused for a moment and then said, “I’m going to call your grandmother and see if she has any of your medical records.”

“What for? I’m not sick,” I said.

“School, dear. Anna, Paul, Maya and you need to get a physical for school, and I have to get as much of your medical history together as possible.”

“Oh,” I said, then turned my thoughts to Maya and how she had threatened me earlier.

“I’ve scheduled an appointment for later this week.”

“Fine,” I said. “Is that it?”

“That will do it,” she said, trying to sound upbeat and as if I wasn’t an additional burden on her. I don’t know why, but I felt lousy. I felt as if I didn’t belong here and that I was more trouble than I was worth.

I walked back to the kitchen to get myself something to snack on. Shortly thereafter Paul walked into the kitchen with his skateboard that had graffiti-styled lettering that read Fly Higher. Paul quickly made himself a peanut butter and jelly sandwich and sat down at the table to eat it.

“What’s up?” he asked as he bit into his sandwich then removed a handheld game from his pocket.