Enough by Mary Jennifer Payne

Author:Mary Jennifer Payne
Language: eng
Format: epub
ISBN: 9781459813328
Publisher: Orca Book Publishers
Published: 2016-08-01T04:00:00+00:00

Chapter Nine

“We really discourage students from transferring midway through the year like this,” Ms. Smitherman says as she crosses her thin arms across her chest and leans back in her leather desk chair. The skin on her forearms is thin and folds like crepe paper across her sky-blue cashmere sweater. I look away and out the window at the snow twirling in the cold wind outside.

“Lizzie and I realize this isn’t an ideal situation,” Nan says. “However, due to a family emergency, her mother granted me temporary custody.” She slides the lawyer’s envelope across the desk toward Ms. Smitherman. “I have Lizzie’s last report card in there as well. You’ll see her grade-point average is very high.”

Ms. Smitherman nods. “We’ll try as much as we can to match your courses so you don’t lose credits. In the meantime, you’re welcome to pop into a few classes after sorting out your timetable with the guidance department. With only a few weeks left until Christmas, you’ll really be starting in the new year. However, you’re welcome to drop in on a few classes and get to know some of our teachers and students.”

“That sounds good. I guess. I don’t know,” I say. The words stumble from my mouth. This feels surreal. Am I really transferring, leaving my school, Charlie and Trixie? Everything’s changing so fast.

Ms. Smitherman stands and extends a veiny hand toward me. “Well, welcome to Mary Ann Shadd Secondary.” Her nails are polished bright red, and a massive diamond ring sits heavily on one of her twiglike fingers. I gently touch her hand, afraid to shake it with any amount of force in case it snaps off like a bad Halloween joke.

“We appreciate you helping us like this,” Nan says, standing and smoothing down the front of her black trousers. “And I’d love to see Lizzie involved in extracurricular activities while she’s here at Mary Ann Shadd. She’s a talented singer.”

I stare at Nan, my body numb with shock. Why would she tell this Ms. Smitherman, someone who is pretty much a complete stranger, about something so personal? And what Nan doesn’t know is that I’ve sung less and less since Dean moved in with us.

Ms. Smitherman smiles widely at me. Her teeth are Chicklet white. “We’ve got a fabulous drama club that puts on a show every year. In fact, we’re only a week away from auditions.” She sees the uninterested look on my face and raises an eyebrow at me. “This year’s production is the Wizard of Oz, next year we will be doing West Side Story.”

“Sorry, never heard of it,” I say with as much politeness as I can manage. More than anything, I want to get out of this stuffy office. I wish Nan would just let me get my timetable and leave. Last night I only slept about three hours because I couldn’t stop worrying about Charlie and Trixie. It probably didn’t help that I was constantly checking my emails and text messages, hoping there’d be something from Fahad.

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