Deaf Child Crossing by Marlee Matlin

Author:Marlee Matlin
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Simon & Schuster Books for Young Readers

CHAPTER 9

the right choice?

“I GUESS SOMEONE IS TOO EXCITED TO SLEEP in this morning,” said Lainee. By the time Lainee came in to wake her up, Megan was already fully dressed and sitting on her bags, ready to go.

“Maybe I’ll take a stab at cleaning up this disaster area while you’re gone,” Lainee said as she crossed to the windows to open them.

Megan did a last-minute check of her bags. She hoped she hadn’t forgotten anything.

“Camp is going to be fun, isn’t it?” said Lainee as she sat down on the bed next to Megan.

Megan looked at her. “Aren’t we going to be late?” she asked.

“Don’t worry,” said Lainee as she pointed to Megan’s big purple clock on the wall. It read 7:00. “We still have an hour.”

Megan sat there and played with the bracelet on her wrist. It was a braid of multicolored strings that she had made herself. She sighed.

“Okay, what’s wrong?” Lainee asked. “Ever since you came back from the mall yesterday you’ve been moping around. I would have thought you’d be more excited about going away with Cindy.”

“She’s always butting in and trying to do things for me,” said Megan. She got up from the bed and walked over to her desk. She was looking for some pens and pencils to take with her to camp. “If I’m going to this stupid camp, I wish I was going by myself.”

“You don’t mean that,” said Lainee.

“Yes, I do.” Megan crossed back to her bag with her pens and pencils.

Lainee patted the bed. Megan sat down next to her.

“There’s nothing wrong with people wanting to help,” said Lainee. “But, then, you have to want or need it, don’t you?”

“How can I tell her I don’t want it? I told her yesterday, and she got all mad,” said Megan. “She said I wasn’t being fair.”

“Remember last week when we saw Mrs. Hammer from down the street having a hard time getting up the ramp with her wheelchair? Do you remember what I did?” asked Lainee.

“You helped her up . . . ,” said Megan.

“But do you remember what I did before that?” said Lainee.

She thought for a moment, but couldn’t remember.

“I asked her if she wanted help,” said Lainee.

“But Cindy never asked me if I wanted help. She just did it!” protested Megan.

“You have to tell her nicely that when you need her help, you’ll ask for it,” said Lainee. “And really, isn’t she just trying to be nice?”

Was Mom right? She always seemed to know the right thing to say. Maybe she was right.

“You mean I need to help her?” asked Megan.

“I think you know the answer to that,” said Lainee. She smiled at her.

Megan thought for a moment, then hugged Lainee hard.

David entered the room. “What’s this? Don’t I get a hug like that?”

“Oh, Dad,” Megan said as she hugged him. “I’m going to miss you so much.”

Matt appeared at the door, rubbing sleep out of his eyes, and his hair stuck out in every direction. He obviously had just woken up.

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