But I did go to sleep thinking and dreaming about Evan. Perhaps I was on the doorstep of real love. Could it really happen this quickly? I wanted to believe it, but I had the feeling that if Roxy were there with me and I had told her all of this, she would smirk and say, “Relax, sis. This is just your first romance. You haven’t experienced anything like it, so you don’t know exactly how to act and think.”
“Does it get better?” I would ask her.
“Better? Sure. It’s like anything else you enjoy. The more you do it, the better it becomes.”
“But didn’t you ever love anyone more than anyone else, Roxy?”
She just would look at me. And then she would slowly disappear with the question still ringing in her ears.
I fell asleep before she could return, and once again, I was up before Papa in the morning. He looked surprised but also still groggy, which was unusual for him. I had the feeling my enthusiasm was a little too much for him this time.
“Watch yourself,” he told me, as if he believed I was already so lovesick I might be careless crossing the street.
It was true that there was more of a bounce in my steps as I hurried to school. I anticipated that Evan would be waiting for me near my locker. I know I was at school earlier than necessary, but I was hoping he would have the same enthusiasm and be there, too.
He wasn’t. Students began arriving in large groups, their voices loud, their gestures overly dramatic. I had my books and was slowly making my way to homeroom, looking everywhere as I walked, hoping to see Evan. I lingered as long as I could and then thought that maybe the excitement about his father running for Congress had overflowed. Maybe he had to be somewhere to take pictures with his mother and father. All sorts of possibilities streamed through my brain.
I saw Chastity arrive. She was almost late. I waved to her, but she either didn’t see me or ignored me and joined Carol Lee Benson and Dawn Miller as they rushed to their lockers to get their things before the warning bell rang. A sudden cloud of dark disappointment rushed over me. It was like a blanket being thrown over a fire to smother it. I had my head down as I approached the doorway to my homeroom. Just before I entered, I felt a hand on my right elbow and turned to see Evan. He was like Superman swooping down to pull me up out of a pool of depression.
“I thought you weren’t coming to school or something,” I said, rushing my words, realizing the bell was going to ring any moment. “I thought there was some sort of family political thing you forgot to mention.”
“No, nothing like that yet,” he said, but he didn’t smile.
“What’s wrong? You look like you just lost your best friend or something.”
“Maybe I did. Don’t go to the cafeteria for lunch. Meet me at the west entrance. We need to talk,” he said, and the bell rang.
“But why—”
Before I could add another word, he turned and hurried to his corridor. Chastity, Carol Lee, and Dawn came up behind me.
“See that look on Evan’s face? What did you do, tell him you’re pregnant?” Dawn asked, and to my surprise, Chastity joined in the laughter.
I gave her a cold look and then walked into homeroom and went to my desk. My heart was thumping like a blown tire on the highway. I kept my eyes forward, listened to the announcements, and said nothing to anyone until the bell for class rang. Chastity hurried out ahead of me. She even joined Cathy Starling.
What’s with her? I wondered. Suddenly, she was best friends with those girls? Cathy Starling, who compared her to a blimp? I didn’t rush to catch up. Chastity never looked back for me, either.
When we sat at our desks in our first class, Chastity leaned over to whisper, “How was your day in the park?”
“It was very nice,” I said. “We went to the—”
“I’m glad for you,” she said, interrupting, and then turned around to talk to Carol Lee.
It was the same during all of my morning classes. Chastity and the other girls were always whispering behind my back or even directly in front of me, and Chastity did her best to avoid me as much as possible. It caused me to lose my concentration, and Mr. Kendal bawled me out in math class for not hearing his question and n
ot paying attention. By the time I finished my last class of the morning, I felt like bursting into tears. The only thing that buoyed me was knowing that I was going to meet up with Evan. He was waiting at the west entrance. I smiled and hurried to him.
“Let’s go outside,” he said, opening the door.
I followed him out, and he walked down the path that went around the building. There was a low cement barrier between our school and another building. He sat on it and looked up at me.
“What’s wrong?” I asked.
“My mother got a call last night from Carol Lee Benson’s mother. They go to a Pilates class together.”
“So?”
“Seems somebody told Carol Lee that you have an older sister,” he said. “Not an adopted older sister and not a half sister, either.”