“What?”
“Well, it wouldn’t be a surprise if I told you, now, would it?” she said. She smiled and walked away.
What would it be? More clothes? Shoes? Jewelry? Gadgets? Or a special lunch on the beach to celebrate my finishing my first week at school? I never thought I’d see the day when I would be so disinterested in all of that. How different I was from Kiera. She never saw a day when she wasn’t interested in all of that.
Her door was closed as I passed her room, but she must have been listening for me, because the moment I entered mine, she was right behind me. I turned as she closed my door.
“What do you want?” I asked.
“Rules,” she said.
“Rules? what rules?”
“Rules for you regarding me,” she replied with her right hand on her hip. “I told you that Mother was going to tell you the way my parents were explaining you to everyone at the school, but that didn’t include my rules.”
I folded my arms and squinted at her. “I didn’t think you followed any rules,” I said and she laughed.
“You really are a scrappy street kid.”
“Stop saying that.”
“Okay, rule one. Never tell any of your little ninth-grade friends anything about me. I don’t mean just about the accident. I mean anything you see here or hear here, especially. I’m never to be a topic of discussion between you and the other infants.”
“That’s easy. You’re the most uninteresting person I’ve ever met. I won’t be talking about you. There’s nothing much to say.”
“Rule two,” she said, ignoring me. “Don’t dare come over to me in the cafeteria or if I’m outside eating to ask for anything. My friends already know what I think of my so-called cousin coming to live with us. As far as I’m concerned, you don’t exist. You’re not there.”
“That works for me,” I said.
“Rule three. Do not come home blabbing about anything you see me do, especially if I have someone in my car with me after school. My father has forbidden it for now, but he’ll change his mind about it soon.
“Rule four,” she added quickly, to prevent any comment I might have about that. “Don’t dare ever mention to anyone that I’m in therapy.”
“I imagine most people who know you probably expect that you are,” I said.
She glared at me and then smiled like someone who had just discovered a big secret. “How do we know how old you really are?”
“What?”
“Maybe you’re stunted or something, and you’re really seventeen or eighteen.”
“You mean because I seem to be as smart as you are? That’s easy. You’re not mentally seventeen.”
“Keep it up, but remember this. Don’t break any of my rules, or you’ll be sorrier than you are.”
She left, and I stood there for a few moments looking at the closed door. Alena couldn’t have been happy to have her as an older sister, I thought. I went into my sitting room to watch television and get my mind off Kiera and the next day. I did go to bed early, but I didn’t fall asleep for a long time. Would I be able to pull off the story Mr. and Mrs. March had created about me? That, plus wondering whether or not Mrs. Kepler was right about my readiness, was enough to keep me tossing and turning. Finally, I fell asleep, but I slept so deeply that if it weren’t for Mrs. March shaking me in the morning, I wouldn’t have gotten up in time. She looked more excited than I was.
“Although you’re much older than Alena was when she first went to school, I feel as if it’s the same sort of morning. She was such an independent little girl. She didn’t want me to come along. ‘I’ll be just fine, Mother,?
? she told me. ‘It isn’t necessary for you to be there.’ Can you imagine a five-year-old saying that? she never knew, but I was there watching her from a little distance to be sure she was all right.
“Well, don’t worry,” she continued, bringing my uniform in from the closet. “I won’t be following you. I’m absolutely positive you’ll be fine. Come right down to breakfast as soon as you’re dressed. Now, I’ve got to see if Kiera is up. Just because her father has permitted her to drive, she’ll wait until the last minute for everything. I’ll be waiting for you in the breakfast dining area,” she said, and left.
I washed and dressed and fixed my hair quickly and then hurried down to breakfast.
“Was Kiera up?” I asked, taking my seat and seeing that she wasn’t there.
For a moment, I thought Mrs. March hadn’t heard me, she was that deep in thought. But she had.