Fly Back, Agnes by Elizabeth Atkinson

Author:Elizabeth Atkinson [Atkinson, Elizabeth]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Tags: Fiction, Fiction - Middle Grade, Middle-Grade Fiction, Middle-Grade Novel, Middle-Grade Novels, novel, Novels, Self-Esteem & Self-Reliance, Social Issues, contemporary fiction, Family, Friends, Friendship, Growing up, Honesty, Identity
ISBN: 9781541590748
Publisher: Lerner Publishing Group
Published: 2020-01-02T00:00:00+00:00

Chapter 17

I stopped on the edge of the road and stared at her.

“I knew I should have told you from the beginning, Chloe. I feel so bad for lying about it.”

I could feel myself breathing faster. Stella was a mom?

“Are you okay?” she asked. “Let’s go to the beach and sit down, so I can tell you everything.”

I forced myself to follow her as she rushed ahead. But my legs felt heavy, like they didn’t want to move.

A couple minutes later, Stella turned left and plowed through a small parking lot where an ice cream truck played one of those irritating jingles in a loop. She waited for me to catch up, but I couldn’t make myself go any faster.

A few people were sprawled out across a strip of sand that ran between some picnic tables and the river. Stella spread her towel off to the side, away from everyone else, so I did the same.

I watched as she arranged herself neatly, as an adult would do. The thought of hanging out with a person who was a mother seemed absurd to me, even embarrassing, but I was trapped.

“Remember when I mentioned that my mom left when I was little?” She twisted around and laid down on her stomach, as if settling in for a long afternoon. I picked up a stick and poked at the ground.

“Well, the truth is my mom had an addiction problem, and other problems, and eventually settled down in Florida. I’ve only seen her a few times since she took off. So my dad ended up remarrying and my stepmom is like, very religious—I mean super religious—and has all these rules. It was hard losing my mother like that, but even harder living with my stepmother. So hard.”

I found it was easier to listen to Stella, and not freak out, if I doodled in the sand.

“That’s why Dave left,” she continued. “He was in high school when our dad married our stepmom, and he couldn’t stand her from the moment she marched through the door and started ordering us around. Dave rebelled and ended up getting in a lot of trouble, so our stepmom kicked him out and he went to live with Birdie, who’s our real mom’s mother. I never really saw Birdie growing up, because my stepmother didn’t let me visit her, but Birdie always sent presents and cards on my birthday. And I know she still sends money to my mom in Florida.”

At this point, Stella took a deep breath and exhaled loudly.

“I don’t want to bore you with all the details, Chloe, but I hope if I give you some background, it might be easier to understand why I lied to you.”

All at once, I didn’t want to do this. I didn’t want to hear the story of her life or her grownup secrets. I just wanted to be a kid sitting by the water on a hot July day. Playing my own game. A harmless, silly game that would all be over at the end of the summer.

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.