Holly's Heart Collection One (5 page)

“Excuse me, Holly, you’ll have to speak up, please,” Miss W said.

I smiled weakly.

Seconds from now I would reveal my dearest secret to the world, create more conflict with Andie, and maybe upset Jared.

I was well into the second paragraph of my emotion-packed composition when the school secretary tiptoed in. All heads turned toward the door.

“The principal would like to speak with several of the students,” she said politely.

Several turned out to be seven—all boys. Jared was one of them. This was it…my miracle! Jared would miss my confession.

After the boys shuffled out, I continued reading with as little expression as possible, sneaking glances at Andie, hoping she wasn’t paying attention.

Afterward, we passed our stories to the front. Miss W announced tomorrow’s grammar quiz. And that was that.

I tried to dodge Andie in the hallway, but she caught up with me. I braced myself for the onslaught.

“What’s up?” she asked.

“Not much.” I smiled. Who cared if Andie creamed me? At least Jared hadn’t heard my creative writing assignment.

“What are you so happy about?” she persisted.

“Let’s just say God answers prayer.”

“I know
that.
What else?”

I changed the subject. “Hey, looks like you got your story written without my help.”

“I was up till midnight doing what you could’ve done in a few minutes.” We waved at Marcia Greene, the brainiest girl in our class, as she passed us in the hall. Andie continued, “That was some fantasy you read today. It doesn’t have anything to do with Jared and the two of
us,
does it?”

“Oh, you know how it is. We writers get inspiration from many sources.”

“But did you have to describe me down to my toenails?” she asked.

“Hey, I do my best writing when it comes to things I know”—this in my most sophisticated voice.

“Don’t you mean
people
you know?” She was accumulating ammunition. “Aren’t you worried Jared will hear about it?”

“Who’s going to tell him?” I said. “Besides, it’s already obvious how he feels about me.”

“Yeah, well, there’re two sides to every story.” She had that familiar glint in her eyes.

We came to our lockers. “Look at that,” Andie said. There was a note, all squashed up, stuck in her combination lock.

I peeked over the top of her. “Who’s it from?”

She opened it. “From Jared!” she crowed. “He wants me to practice the audition music with him after school tomorrow. At
his
house.”

This was bad news. No, it was horrendous.

“He’s heard I’m a piano whiz, no doubt,” she bragged.

I opened my locker. No notes for me.

“Want to tag along tomorrow?” she asked.

“No, thanks,” I mumbled. “I promised Mom I’d watch Carrie after school.”

“Holly.” Andie’s tone had changed. She sounded hurt. “Can’t we be as close as we were
before
we laid eyes on Jared Wilkins?”

I looked at her. She gazed back with pleading puppy-dog eyes. I shook my head. “One of us has to back away from him,” I said. “That’s what we wrote in the Loyalty Papers: ‘If we both like the same boy, one of us will give him up for the sake of our enduring friendship.’ Can you give Jared up for the sake of our friendship?” I felt a giant lump in my throat. I didn’t want to lose our friendship. But I didn’t want to forget about Jared, either.

Andie grimaced. “It’s time to revise those papers again.”

“Why?” I asked.

“Might save our friendship, don’t you think?”

The seriousness in her voice convinced me. “Okay,” I agreed. “Saturday afternoon. My house.”

Luckily the route to my next class took me past the principal’s office. I was dying to know what had happened to the guys who were pulled out of Miss W’s class. I rounded the corner to the principal’s office. Three ghost-faced kids sat waiting for the principal. Remnants of my English-class miracle.

I spotted Tom Sly. “What’s this about?” I whispered.

“Someone saw them smoking behind the gym at lunch,” he said.

My heart sank. But I defended my crush. “Jared? Smoking? He wouldn’t do that.”

“Grow up, girl. Jared’s no saint. Besides, lots of kids smoke…and more.” He pulled me over against the wall. “Listen,” he said in my ear, “can you keep a secret?”

“You can trust me,” I said. But could I trust him? After all, he had tried to resuscitate me for no reason.

“
I
was the one who caught them smoking.” He snickered.

“Who else saw them?” I asked.

“You’re looking at him.”

“Did Jared catch you spying?”

“No way.”

“You’re sure it was all of them? When was all this going on?”

“Hey, don’t grill me, girl,” he said. “During lunch. About twelve fifteen.”

The principal opened the door of his office and out came a tall, muscular boy. It was Billy Hill.

“There’s one of Jared’s smoking buddies now,” Tom said.

“Billy Hill doesn’t smoke,” I insisted. I watched him head down the hall, his shoulders slumped. He was one of the best players on the basketball team, and one of the nicest guys I knew. “Billy looks so helpless,” I said as he disappeared from sight.

“Not as helpless as you looked after you conked out the other night.”

I glared down at Tom, who was inches shorter than I.

“Your lips were so soft. We oughta try it again,” he said.

He was actually admitting it. I gave him a dirty look. “You’re disgusting.”

“I was your hero. I saved you,” he taunted.

“Jared was the
real gentleman,
dragging your face away from mine.”

“You can do better than Jared.” He cracked his knuckles one after another. “Like me, for instance.”

“Don’t be weird. We’re barely friends.” I tossed my head.

“I think you’re gorgeous,” he said.

Oh great,
I thought,
not the class show-off.

He must’ve seen me frown, because he blurted out, “Is it true what Miss Neff calls you in gym?”

I got away as fast as I could, but I still heard him calling after me, “Holly-Bones, Holly-Bones…”

The nickname stung all the way home. Still, that was nothing compared to the news about Jared. I couldn’t wait to tell Andie what I knew, even if she
was
my rival.

I tramped up the snowy steps leading to my house. The porch swing swayed as I bumped past it. Daddy and I used to spend summer nights singing our hearts out on that swing. Sometimes Mom came out to join us, surprising us with iced tea to sip on between songs. But that was light-years ago.

Carrie met me at the front door. “I got an
A
on my math paper,” she announced, waving it at me. A happy face smiled at the top.

“Great!” I congratulated her. “How about a snack?” I needed to get Carrie out of my hair so I could talk to Andie.

Once Carrie was safely settled at the table with apple slices, I retreated to the downstairs bathroom with the phone. I dialed Andie’s number. Mrs. Martinez answered. No, Andie wasn’t home yet. She was still at her piano lesson. “Please tell Andie to call back as soon as she gets home,” I said.

I hung up and paced the house, waiting for Andie’s call. Finally I flopped in front of the TV beside Carrie.

“Where’s Mom?” Carrie asked, snuggling with the cat. Goofey cleaned his little paws.

“She’s working late tonight.” I threw an afghan over our legs. “I hope she gets home soon. I’m starved.” Actually, I wasn’t super hungry. I just didn’t like it when Mom wasn’t home. I guess I worried too much. When she was gone longer than I expected, my brain kicked in with dumb things like
What would happen to Carrie and me if something happened to Mom?

A half hour later we heard the garage door rumble open. Both of us raced to the windows and rubbed holes in the frost to peek out. Mom was home! Carrie and I ran through the kitchen to greet her.

“What do my darlings want for supper?” Mom asked as we hugged.

“I got your homemade pizzas out. How’s that?” I said.

“Sounds wonderful.” She removed her shoes on the way upstairs. “I’ll make a salad in a minute.” Mom looked worn out.

“
I’ll
make the salad,” I called up to her. She didn’t answer. I hurried to preheat the oven. Then I pulled out a head of lettuce and began to shred it.

Carrie dropped a stack of letters on the bar. “Here’s the mail.”

I moved the mail to the desk in the corner of the kitchen. A blue envelope slipped out of the pile, landing on my foot.

I picked it up. My heart leaped as I saw my name written in bold black script. Who could it be from? The handwriting wasn’t familiar at all.

I checked out the return address. There was no name, just a street address and state. California? The last I’d heard, Daddy lived there. My heart began to pound.

The phone rang. I grabbed it off the desk.

“You called?” It was Andie.

“Yes, and it’s real important, but I’m stuck in the kitchen now, so I’ll call you after supper.”

“Can’t you tell me quick?”

“I can’t talk now.”

“Just give me a little hint,” Andie begged.

“It’s about Jared and—” I looked up to see Mom on her way downstairs. “I promise I’ll call back later.”

Quickly, I hung up. Excited and nervous all at once, I hid the letter in my pocket. Should I tell Mom? I would read it right after supper, then decide.

A letter from Daddy! This was headline news. Compared to
this,
the info about Jared was “Dear Abby.”

BEST FRIEND, WORST ENEMY

Chapter 6

“The pizza smells terrific,” Mom said, sitting down at the table. I had drawn the curtains across the bay windows, and the dining room light threw a warm yellow glow across the oak table. The heat vent behind me blew warm air at my feet. Now that Mom was back, it felt like home.

We bowed our heads as Mom prayed over the food. Goofey rubbed playfully against my leg under the table.

“Long day?” I asked after the amen. Mom had pulled her hair back into a ponytail and scrubbed her face clean of makeup. Her eyes looked tired.

“Let’s talk about
your
day, Holly-Heart.”

“Well, to start with, you’ll never guess what happened in English.” “Try me,” she said, biting into a slice of pizza.

“I was reading my story about two girls in love with the same guy, when—”

“Now, Holly,” she interrupted, “what kind of things are you writing for school assignments these days?”

“It’s okay, Mom,” I assured her. I could see this wasn’t the time to share my English-class miracle with her.

Carrie jumped right in and began talking about her math test. I knew my part of the conversation was probably over. Picking the black olives off my pizza, I tried not to think about the envelope that was poking into my leg through my jeans pocket. I didn’t want to tell Mom about the letter. Daddy was probably the last person on earth Mom would want to hear from tonight.

“I saw your principal’s wife at the post office this afternoon,” Mom said, helping herself to another piece. “Was there some trouble at your school today?”

“Uh, yeah…kind of.” I wondered how much she knew.

“Please, Holly, choose your friends wisely,” she said. It was a definite warning.

“My friends are okay, really.”

Carrie piped up. “Whose night is it to clear the table?”

“Yours.” I pointed to her. “I made the salad.”

“
I
set the table,” she hollered.

“Girls, girls, please,” Mom said. “Supper was wonderful, Holly-Heart. Do you mind if I go upstairs and rest?”

“Go ahead, Mom. Carrie and I will clean up the mess.”

“We’ll talk later tonight,” she said, leaving the room.

Carrie and I cleared off the table and stacked the plates in the dishwasher. I wiped the crumbs from the counter and picked off the dried and gooey pieces of cheese from the oven rack. Meanwhile, the letter burned in my pocket.

As soon as we finished in the kitchen, I headed for my room. Closing the door behind me, I pulled the letter from my pocket.

I crossed over to my window seat and perched there, holding the letter in my hands. What would it say? Staring at the unfamiliar handwriting, I realized I wasn’t ready to open it.

I hadn’t seen Daddy since I was a little girl. I’d never known what went wrong between him and Mom, and she never told me. Possibly thought I was too young. All I knew is that one day he had gone away, and after a few months, even his cards and phone calls stopped.

Soon after their divorce we started attending church. That’s when Mom became a Christian. And then Carrie and I accepted Jesus, too.

I couldn’t remember seeing Mom happier. She was excited about her faith, reading the Bible and talking to the Lord every day. Our new church friends helped us put our lives back together.

Now, after four whole years without Daddy, my world was comfortable again. Safe. Somehow, I had learned to adjust. Praying helped. I honestly believed my prayers would help bring Daddy to Jesus. Wherever he was.

I held the letter—a window to another world. Did I dare open it? I hesitated. No, it was safer the way things were, with Mom and Carrie and me on our own. I started to rip it up. Then I stopped.