Focused by Alyson Gerber

Author:Alyson Gerber
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Scholastic Inc.

IN THE MORNING, Mom, Dad, and I go to Dr. Gold’s office.

Dad leaves his luggage in the car, but I know it’s there. I can’t stop thinking about the fact that he’s leaving in a few hours and won’t be home again until Friday. That’s so many days from now. And even though he’s sitting next to me in the quiet waiting room, I miss him already.

I don’t want to be here. There’s no point, since Mom and Dad already decided, and the cold, hard truth is that they don’t really care what I think. They just want my problem to go away and I do, too, but it’s not happening. I hate that right now I’m missing math, since I actually finished all of my homework.

After Mom picked me up from Red’s house last night, I did English, math, and Spanish, but I fell asleep before I could start history or science. I tried to wake up early this morning, but I didn’t have enough time to get through the directions before we had to leave. My grand plan is to go to the library during lunch and do both assignments in forty-five minutes. And even though I sort of know that’s impossible, I have to find a way to make it happen.

My phone buzzes in my bag. It’s a text from Red. Where are you?

Late. Be there post-math, I write back, because even though I’m happy he noticed that I’m not at school, I don’t feel like talking about where I am or what’s going on right now. I feel like throwing up in my mouth.

Okay, he says. Cool.

At 7:30 on the dot, the door to Dr. Gold’s office swings open, like she was standing on the other side, waiting for the clock to change. “Good morning.” She smiles at me and then at Mom and Dad. “Come on in.” Dr. Gold is wearing a navy-blue dress with white polka dots and a belt with a big red flower that matches her mood. I’m wearing all black, which tells the story of how I feel.

It’s silent as we all shuffle into her office and sit down.

“Before we get started, I wanted to reassure you that Dr. Sharma reviewed your test again and the results are still the same,” Dr. Gold says to me.

“Thank you,” I respond, because even though it’s really hard for me to believe that I’m not stupid, the fact that Dr. Gold had my score double-checked makes me trust her even more. “I don’t even know why I’m here,” I continue. I can feel Mom and Dad staring at me, waiting for me to explain myself. But I don’t take my eyes off Dr. Gold, because she’s the only person in this room who I’m not mad at right now. “There’s no point to me being at this meeting. It’s basically a huge waste of time. And I don’t want to miss any more school. They’re just going to do what they want to do,” I say, pointing to my parents.

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.