Frannie and Tru by Karen Hattrup

Author:Karen Hattrup
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: HarperCollins
Published: 2016-03-22T04:00:00+00:00

FIFTEEN

I hid out most of the next morning in my room, until Mom came to retrieve me and drag me to the grocery store with her. She wanted to know everything about the battle of the bands and these “young musicians” I was spending time with. At first I pulled Tru’s old trick of rolling my eyes and answering in annoyed monosyllables, so that I wouldn’t risk revealing anything about our late-night trip to the park, our run from the cops, everything I’d learned about her and Richard. But I could tell right away I was hurting her feelings, so I finally opened up a little. I told her how the guys played crazy covers of “Heatwave” and “Lola,” and she laughed and said she loved those songs and that she wished she could have heard them.

That afternoon, she and Dad dragged us all to the beach again. Tru sat shotgun and played Bruce, while I sat in the wayback. I was glad for the distance, because I was still mad at him. Not because of what he’d told me, but because of the way he’d treated me.

We emptied out of the van and surveyed the park before us. Everything was different from the first time we’d come. Summer had reached its full rage, the sun merciless, the quarry water thick with bodies, lifeguard whistles screeching overhead.

Jimmy and Kieran went off to play volleyball. My mother and Tru settled at an empty picnic table, her with a mystery novel, him with his phone. I joined them but kept my head down, methodically making my way through my chemistry workbook, the one I’d shoved under my bed and tried to forget about after Tru had arrived.

Dad had gone back to the car for the cooler, and when he got back, he plopped it on the grass. Then he took a spot across from me, awkwardly folding his giant’s body to fit the gap between bench and table. He snatched the workbook from my hands and held it before his face, upside down.

“This? This is easy. I could do this in my sleep.” He lowered the book just enough so that his eyes peeked over the top. They were big and warm and moist. He winked and looked back down at the page.

“Oh, right!” He flipped it right-side up, pretending to fumble as he did so.

He handed it back to me, face crimson in the heat. “At least one of us understands this stuff.”

He gave me a smile that creased the lines around his eyes. I smiled back and felt my mouth waver, as I suddenly wanted to cry. Bending over my book, I hid my eyes, pretending to shield them from the sun.

Dad announced he was going for a dip, then lumbered down to the quarry, swimming out until the found an empty spot and flipping over. He was an incredible floater. Even here, in freshwater, he could suspend himself for hours. I watched him for a minute, then felt overwhelmed by the need to get away.

Download

Copyright Disclaimer:
This site does not store any files on its server. We only index and link to content provided by other sites. Please contact the content providers to delete copyright contents if any and email us, we'll remove relevant links or contents immediately.