A World Away by Nancy Grossman

Author:Nancy Grossman
Language: eng
Format: epub
Tags: Fiction - Young Adult
Publisher: Little, Brown Books for Young Readers

Things were changing with Josh and me. He continued to find ways to sneak over when Rachel was out and the children were at camp. But our time together was more urgent now than it used to be. We talked on the phone at odd intervals throughout the day, sometimes just to say “Hey,” or “What’s going on?” I always called his cell phone just before I went to bed, to hear his voice as the last sound of the day.

There was an odd restlessness when we were together. We reached to touch each other for no reason except that we wanted it, our lips pressing together softly, then insistently. I positively itched to be near him. It was almost frantic. I knew I could only go so long without feeling his skin against mine, without smelling the muskiness around his neck when he pulled me close.

I found that I didn’t wake up easily at the crack of dawn anymore, but I shook off the sleepiness every morning and continued to be the first one up, with hot breakfast ready for the family when they came downstairs. I wanted to show Rachel that my relationship with Josh wouldn’t interfere with my work, so my dinners became more elaborate, and the house shone under my cleaning rag.

After camp, I was the children’s playmate, taking them to the park or the library, swallowing back yawns during Candy Land, doing art projects on the kitchen table. One day we went out hunting for butterflies, but they always flew away as soon as the children approached. Janie loved listening to stories, leaning against me as she sucked her thumb. Ben stopped talking about Missy. He was curious about my life at home, and peppered me with questions about what it was like living in “olden times.”

Josh, too, wanted to know about my other life, and he seemed to glorify the Plain world. He liked to comment on the failings of his society in comparison to the simple way we lived.

On the Friday that Josh and I would be going to the under twenty-one club, Rachel stood beside me as I finished wiping down the counter. “Can we talk?” she asked. I looked at my watch. Josh would be picking me up in an hour. Rachel pulled out a kitchen chair and sat down. I sat across from her, trying not to look impatient.

Her voice was soft and even. “Eliza, in these past couple of weeks, you and Joshua seem to be spending a lot of time together.”

I tried to appear casual. “I guess we have,” I said, as though just realizing it myself.

“I’m not sure if you know this, but your parents gave me strict instructions about you.”

“What kind of instructions?” I asked, feeling uneasy.

“For one thing, they said you weren’t ever to be alone with a boy. I’ve been lenient about you and Joshua because I know him so well. And you were usually with other friends when the two of you went out.

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