The Fall of Butterflies by Andrea Portes

Author:Andrea Portes
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: HarperCollins
Published: 2016-02-24T16:00:00+00:00

THIRTY-FOUR

Remy is running lines now. From Hamlet. She told me she’s making it her mission to become the English teacher’s Lolita. Which makes no sense because she’s trying out for Ophelia. Also, I’m not used to Remy getting spastic about anything. Especially some off-limits creep. But that seems to be what’s happening, and, honestly, it’s having an effect.

She’s carrying a worn copy of Hamlet around like she’s some kind of character in a Salinger novel. And not only does she swoon at him all the time, which is embarrassing, but when he’s not there, she talks about him. Incessantly. Like, we’ll be having a conversation about pickles and the next thing you know it’s on and on about Humbert Humbert.

Sort of like this:

Me: “I like pickles.”

Remy: “I like Humbert Humbert.”

Or, the other day:

Me: “I think it’s gonna rain. I’m gonna wear my rain boots.”

Remy: “I think you’re right. I wonder if Humbert will drive me home in the rain.”

And on and on and on. Name one thing. Anything. And Remy can bring it back to Humbert. It’s absurd.

There’s another thing, too. She stole all these pill bottles from her aunt. Without telling me.

Yup. Last week she skipped out again for a few days. I didn’t worry. I’m kind of getting used to it. She came back with the same “I decided to stick around at home for a while” excuse and then she disappeared into the closet, aka maid’s quarters. Where she disappears a lot.

What happens in the maid’s quarters stays in the maid’s quarters, right?

But it’s getting kind of out of hand.

And the fact that she’s keeping it secret? Or trying to?

That’s not a good sign.

Am I supposed to say something? Is that the idea? Or am I supposed to ignore it, just shrug and say “whatever” and keep a smile on my face?

And it’s all happening so fast I kind of can’t keep track of it. Like on Monday.

Get this.

Monday after class, I get back to our room. I hear Remy’s voice from behind the door. She’s talking on the phone, and from what I can gather, it’s to her mother. The one side of the conversation I can hear goes something like this—

“So there’s this new drama teacher, and—yes, Mom, drama . . . What? No, I’m not going on about that whole thing again. It’s just a school play . . . fine. So, I’m trying to tell you that I got a part . . . Yes, I auditioned. Aren’t you proud of—so what if I did let myself get carried away with it? Oh, yes. The family name. You know the Kennedy son did theater, right? Well, maybe he wouldn’t have been flying that airplane if he’d been starring in a play that weekend. Mom. I’m just telling you that—”

I feel guilty listening to even that much, so I turn around and make myself scarce, reading in the study room while Remy deals with whatever that is.

When it feels like enough time has passed, I head upstairs.

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.