A Step Toward Falling by McGovern Cammie

Author:McGovern, Cammie [McGovern, Cammie]
Language: eng
Format: mobi, epub
Publisher: HarperCollins
Published: 2015-07-23T07:00:00+00:00

CHAPTER TEN

BELINDA

THIS SURPRISES ME A lot. I walk into the nurse’s office this morning and football player number 89 is sitting on one of the beds with an ice pack on his knee. I don’t know number 89’s name so I don’t say anything and I don’t look at him. He was not at the Best Buddies dance and he is not my friend. But sitting here not looking at him makes my heart pound. I feel like I might not be able to breathe pretty soon. I don’t understand this. I’m not supposed to be alone in rooms with people who scare me. That’s why I’m sitting in the nurse’s office, so I don’t have to see people like number 89.

My armpits are sweating and so is my face.

I should walk out, but the door is across the room. I’d have to walk past him and I can’t.

I can’t move at all.

“Hi, Belinda,” I hear him say. “I’m sorry to be in your space. I’m supposed to ice my knee for twenty minutes before school, but I could sit somewhere else if you’d rather.”

I’m surprised he knows my name because I don’t know his. Usually it’s the other way around. “It’s okay,” I get my mouth to say.

“I’m Lucas Kessler,” he says. “We’ve never officially met.”

My face goes hot again.

“I know your mom and your grandma didn’t want us talking to you but now that we’re sitting here by ourselves, I just want to say how sorry Emily and I are about what happened to you. We’ve been going to this class—”

“Oh my goodness! Belinda, you’re here!” Ms. Weintraub, the nurse, is standing in the doorway. She looks nervous because she knows this boy isn’t supposed to be here. “We didn’t expect you for another half hour. Lucas, why don’t you sit out here in the main office.”

He gets off the bed and limps into the other room, holding the ice to his knee. I’m glad he’s not in the same room anymore but for the rest of the day I wonder what he was about to say when Ms. Weintraub came in. What class are they going to?

The next morning he’s there again. I’ve gotten to school early enough that Ms. Weintraub isn’t here again. I made Nan drive me early. I wanted to see if he’d be here and he is. He must have gone to the freezer himself and gotten the ice pack. This time I’m not so scared. I sit two chairs away from him because I’ve learned about personal space and I never get closer than a Hula Hoop away from people I don’t know.

“Hi,” he says when I sit down. It looks like he’s happy to see me, but I don’t know. I’ve learned from Ron that I shouldn’t expect people to be happy to see me.

I don’t smile but I keep talking so I can ask him a question. “My name is Belinda. You’re Lucas.” I know we already know each other’s names but I’m nervous so I say this.

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.