Heart Like Mine by Amy Hatvany

Author:Amy Hatvany [Hatvany, Amy]
Language: eng
Format: epub
ISBN: 9781451640564
Amazon: 1451640560
Publisher: Washington Square Press
Published: 2013-03-18T16:00:00+00:00

Ava

The moment I walked into homeroom on Monday morning, everyone went silent. Even Mrs. Philips stared at me as I stood in the threshold, holding my backpack across my chest like it was an inflatable life vest. “Ava,” she finally said, “welcome back.”

I’d spent extra time getting ready that morning, carefully brushing and straightening my hair, applying and reapplying a little mascara and blush until I was happy with the result. I picked out my best pair of jeans and a red tank top to wear under Mama’s sweater, hoping that if I at least looked normal, everyone would assume that I was fine and leave me alone. The last thing I wanted to deal with was people telling me how sorry they were about Mama, how horrible it was that she had died. Like I needed reminding of that.

I gave Mrs. Philips a brief nod and kept my gaze glued to the wooden floor as I made my way to my desk by the window. It was too quiet. I wanted the chatter of the other kids to distract me from the thoughts that spun in my head. My dad had spent the weekend packing up Mama’s house and bringing Max and me the rest of our stuff. He even brought over a few boxes of Mama’s things—her clothes and books, mostly. He put a few boxes up in the attic, saying they were for Max and me to have later, when we grew up, then gave me a couple of boxes to go through. I let him put them in my room but shoved them into a corner after he left. I didn’t feel ready to see what was inside. My anger was barbed and bitter in my mouth. I still couldn’t believe he didn’t let me go with him. I also couldn’t believe he thought he could make me stay away.

Now, in class, I dropped my backpack to the floor, slid into my seat, and tried to focus on what Mrs. Philips was saying about next week’s quiz on balancing equations, wishing this wasn’t the one class Bree and I didn’t share. Whitney sat one row and one seat behind me; I could feel her blue eyes boring into the back of my head. I won’t look at you. I won’t.

“Psst,” Whitney whispered. “Ava.” I lifted my chin and squinted my eyes like I was trying to focus on the board. “Hey, Ava!” She said my name again. “What happened to your mom?”

My skin prickled and I tried to ignore her. Please, just leave me alone.

“Did she really have a heart attack?” she asked, and finally, Mrs. Philips noticed she was talking.

“Whitney, can you come up here and solve for x in this problem, please? And explain as you go, too, so the rest of the class can follow along.”

Whitney smiled sweetly at our teacher. “I would, Mrs. Philips, but I’m so upset about Ava’s mother, I don’t think I can. Isn’t it just a tragedy?”

I whipped around and glared at her.

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