What Janie Saw by Caroline B. Cooney

Author:Caroline B. Cooney [Cooney, Caroline B.]
Language: eng
Format: epub
ISBN: 978-0-375-97998-9
Publisher: Random House Children's Books
Published: 2012-05-22T04:00:00+00:00

And her New Jersey parents, on whom she would like to lean, at whose house she would rather live right now than the sad, difficult house of Frank and Miranda—what did they think?

She knew. They would think that Janie had done the best she could, and they would love her even if she hadn’t. She wanted her real parents so badly at that moment she thought she would start bawling.

But if you started crying, you might not stop.

I’ll visit New Jersey this weekend, she thought. We have to talk.

“Miss?” said a loud voice. “You ready to order?”

The symmetry of her life struck Janie as violently as the chords of Visionary Assassins.

When Hannah had walked away fifteen years ago with toddler Jennie Spring, she had bought that little girl’s trust with ice cream. Now here that little girl stood, in her Janie Johnson life, ordering ice cream for Hannah’s parents.

Janie placed her order. Then Reeve’s ringtone filled the tiny ice cream shop and his photograph smiled at her on the cell phone screen.

She wanted to leap back into being his girlfriend. If only she didn’t have the sordid knowledge of how low Reeve could stoop. “Hi, Reeve,” she said softly. She loved his name. She loved saying it.

“Janie,” he said. “Listen.” He always started conversations that way, as if otherwise she would not. Although listening to Reeve was one of life’s pleasures.

She didn’t want to lean on him again. She wanted to stand alone. But standing alone was hard. Not to mention lonely. “I saw the video,” she told him.

“I wondered when you’d want to talk about it. I’m so proud of you, being so calm and shrugging it off like nothing. They’ll probably dance to it at your senior prom, although I’ll bribe the DJ not to play it.”

Janie paid for the three ice creams. Frank would be able to feed himself, but he would make a mess. They were used to that now. Handsome, tall, laughing, unflappable Frank Johnson. A mess.

Like my life, thought Janie.

And then she shook herself. My life is wonderful. I am loved by two families. I’m smart enough to get into a good college. I have friends who worry about me and a guy who still loves me. “Okay, so we’re not actually dating,” she said to Reeve, “and we’re still in a state of half forgiveness, but I want to reserve you for that very senior prom. Will you take me?”

Reeve gave that great burst of laughter she loved so much, the one that made entire rooms laugh along with him, the one that consigned any problem to nothingness. She felt herself moving Reeve up on the forgiveness scale. Three-quarters now.

“I’ll take you,” he said. “And guess what. I’m coming home for the weekend.”

When she needed to be in New Jersey, seeing yet another set of parents.

“That’s wonderful, Reeve,” she said. “I miss you. Especially right now. And maybe on Saturday, we could drive to New Jersey together, because I need to talk about the video with my family.

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