Gracie's Song by Michelle Schlicher

Author:Michelle Schlicher [Schlicher, Michelle]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Michelle Schlicher
Published: 0101-01-01T00:00:00+00:00

10.

The smell of cotton candy filled the air. Gracie felt her mouth fill with saliva as she inhaled the aroma. She looked over at her father, who sipped on his beer. He whistled through the small opening in his mouth, where the creases in his skin prominently came together to form a circle for the sound. He was in a good mood tonight. Leading Gracie and Hannah through the crowd, he linked his arm with their mother’s. Screams came from the tilt-a-whirl. Gracie accidentally bumped into a carnie. He turned, his face painted like a clown and a cigarette hanging out of his mouth. Gracie looked away, the image a horrifying yet appropriate one for the setting. The carnie smiled and blew smoke in her direction. She raced ahead to catch up with the rest of her family as they slowly made their way through the crowd and she was thankful to no longer be looking into his bleary eyes. Her mother had a corndog in her hand and fed a bite to her father.

“Now that’s fair food,” he said, chomping down on it. Hannah was relaxed, sipping on a slushie. When her shoulders weren’t tight with tension as they usually were around their father, she could have been almost normal. Gracie went to stand by her, keeping her eyes on their parents.

“You think he’s gonna last like this all night?” Gracie asked.

Hannah nodded. “He likes the fair. I think he’ll do alright.” She was almost 13, and she looked older than her years. Gracie, who felt too young in her body, had spent the last few weeks envious of her big sister, and the accompanying attention she received from the boys (and men, if she was being honest) around them. Her father had noticed it, too, and he paraded her around, proud to show her off. While Gracie didn’t like that one bit, she found herself wishing she wasn’t so much younger. With each day, Hannah was closer to getting out of their house, while she was closer to being left behind. And the last thing she wanted was to be left behind.

They continued walking, stopping to talk to the Delores family, who went to their church. They had a son named Cap who was a year older than Hannah. He always looked at her with roving eyes, and it made Gracie want to kick in his goofy Coke-bottle glasses so he wouldn’t be able to stare at her like that. Hannah pretended not to notice, or maybe she didn’t notice. Gracie shouldn’t have noticed either. She was too young to be thinking about such things, but she had Finn to thank for that. “Your sister’s really pretty,” he’d said one day as they climbed the treehouse.

“Oh yeah? Well, you can’t have her, so why don’t you keep it to yourself?”

“I don’t want her. I’m just sayin’. I’ve seen lotsa boys lookin’ at her lately, and ya know. I hear ’em talk.”

For the first time, Gracie had looked at Hannah as others might have seen her and realized just how beautiful she was.

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