Paper Butterflies by Lisa Heathfield

Author:Lisa Heathfield [Heathfield, Lisa]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Tags: Fiction, Fiction-Young Adult, Young Adult Fiction, Social Themes, Physical Abuse, Emotional Abuse, Family, Biracial, Bullying, Carnegie Medal nominee, Carolrhoda Lab, Coming of age, Diversity, Families, Family & Relationships, fathers and daughters, Fitting In, Friendship, Lisa Heathfield, Paper Butterflies, Paper Butterfly, Relationships, Stepmother, Teen, Teenagers, Teens, Young Adult Readers
ISBN: 9781512482454
Publisher: Lerner Publishing Group
Published: 2017-08-01T04:00:00+00:00

Before

two months later

“Left or right?” Blister holds out his folded fists. I touch the right one and he uncurls his fingers. The jagged stone sits in his palm. “Left it is, then.” He pushes up the bottom of the small bag on his back and begins to pedal.

“How’s Tom?” I ask, moving my bike alongside his.

“Not great, but apparently he slept better last night.”

“Can I go visit him?”

“He’s coming home tomorrow.”

“That’s wonderful.”

“With even more pills, though. He’s got seven more days of these ones to keep the infection away.”

“Shall we bake him something nice?” I ask.

“He’d like that.” Blister reaches over to hold my hand. It makes me wobble and I laugh, but he keeps it there.

“Conjoined bikes,” he says.

“That means you’re stuck with me forever,” I remind him.

“That wouldn’t be so bad.” He looks over at me, but it makes his front wheel knock slightly into mine and he grabs both his handlebars to stop himself from falling.

“I don’t think I’ll be joining a circus in a hurry,” he calls over his shoulder as he begins to speed away.

“Stick to being a doctor,” I yell at him, pedaling hard to catch up. He’s too quick, though.

I slow down and look at the fields on either side. There’s a blanket of blue flowers beside me, stretching to the trees.

A car appears in the distance, getting bigger as it moves toward us. Its low hum breaks through the quiet and turns into a rush of engine as it speeds past. I hear it disappearing behind me and imagine it becoming smaller and smaller, until it’s no longer there.

Blister is waiting at the crossroads.

“In your own time,” he says.

“I was admiring the view,” I tell him, and he smiles, his dimples dipping. “I didn’t mean you,” I laugh.

“Oh.”

“Just the general beauty.”

“So it was me, then,” Blister says. I try to hit him on the shoulder, but he moves back, laughing. “Left or right.” He holds his arms out straight.

“It’s my turn.”

“You were too late.”

“That’s not in the rules.”

“Well, I had enough time to rewrite them.”

“That doesn’t seem fair to me,” I say as I point to his right hand. He opens his fingers and his palm is empty.

“Right, then.”

“Can we stop soon?” I ask.

“We haven’t found anywhere good yet.”

“Just for a break.”

“How about two more stones and then if we don’t see anything we’ll stop.”

“Deal,” I say, sitting back on my bike and starting to pedal.

I’ve got my eyes on the next crossroads, far in the distance, when I hear music from somewhere close by. Blister is biking alongside me, but I don’t think he’s heard it. I slow my bike to a stop.

“What’s wrong?” Blister asks, using his feet to brake.

“Can you hear it?”

“Hear what?”

“Someone’s singing.” We both stand still and listen.

“It’s coming from over there, I reckon.” Blister points to a cluster of thick, squat trees, off in the field next to us.

“Shall we see?” I ask.

“We said two more stones,” Blister reminds me.

“But we found something first.”

“I suppose,” Blister says.

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