Girl in the Shadows (Shadows 2)

"No. I never heard of him. I don't follow road acts," he said, twisting his mouth as if I had asked him about a stripper or something, "So you just ran off to live with him and put your high school education on hold?"

"Something like that," I said.

"You left in the middle of a semester?"

"Yes."

He looked at me and shook his head as if I was absolutely impossible to understand, Maybe I was.

"Okay. I've got to get to Echo." He started out.

"Can I watch?" I asked.

"Watch? Watch what?" He had a way of grimacing that made me think he had something that tasted horrible on his lips.

"How you teach her. I'd like to see what you do so that maybe I could help, too, maybe help her with her work when you're not here."

He widened his smirk, drawing those almost too perfect lips deeply into their corners.

"I'm not sure I want you to do that. You could confuse her if you don't teach her correctly and that could damage what I do and put her behind,"

"That's why I'd better watch you, to see the right way to communicate with her." I countered quickly.

"Do you know anything about signing, anything at all about how to communicate with a deaf person?"

"No. I mean, a tiny bit.I'll learn," I added quickly.

He thought a moment. "All right, You can come along, but just stay in the background, watch, and listen," he decided with obvious reluctance and walked out. I hurried after him.

Was it me? Was there something about me that annoyed boys? Was I that distasteful, ugly, and fat?

Echo was sitting patiently in front of the desk. She smiled at me when I appeared behind Tyler. He moved his chair around deliberately so that she would have her back to me and then he began siring quickly, so quickly I couldn't understand anything. Whatever he told her caused her to turn and look at me curiously. Then he tapped her knee and she turned back to him.

"We're doing her math problems first this morning," he announced. "Just sit on the sofa there and don't do anything to distract her."

I quickly sat and he opened a textbook, pointed to something on the page, and began. Most of his communication with her was through very quick signing that I couldn't follow, so that pretty soon I felt totally left out. Finally Echo began working on problems and he sat back. He was staring at me so hard. I felt like I had food on my face.

"What?" I asked.

"I'd hate to learn that you are taking advantage of these people," he said.

"I've only been here three days," I said, fixing my eyes sharply on him the way my sister. Brenda, could fix her eyes on someone who challenged her. "but I. too, would hate to learn that anyone was taking advantage of them,"

He seemed to like my reply and softened his eyes.

"What about your parents? Why would they let you leave school and travel around the country in a motor home?"

"They're both dead."

"You have no one, no other immediate family?"

"I have an older sister but she is a professional basketball player and off on a tour in Europe. After my uncle's death. I was going to go live with a cousin I hardly know, but Mrs. We stington wouldn't hear of it."

"What did your uncle die of?"

"He suffered from alcoholism." I reluctantly revealed.

"So you traveled about with a drunk?"