Wishing Pearl (24 page)

Olivia groaned when she turned toward the exercise area. All of the machines were in use. She’d have to come earlier next time. She wandered over to the treadmills and skipped past the gasping, red-faced runners to approach the walking girl who was breathing steadily. She’d be easier to talk to. “Hey, do you know if there’s a sign-up sheet for people who want a machine after you guys are finished?”

“Sure. Kira’s got it.” The speed walker nodded in the direction of her. The crying girl from the bathroom. Her name was Kira? Olivia had done all she could to avoid the little blond ever since she’d arrived at Diamond Estates. Now, there she sat, holding court on a stool with her panting minions standing around her, seemingly waiting for her to toss them some crumbs.

Now what? Forget exercising or approach Kira? Olivia shook her head at her internal struggle. Nope. She was done giving in to bad people. If Kira wanted to be a jerk, that was her choice. Olivia had some running to do.

Tugging at the ends of the towel hanging across her shoulders, Olivia jogged over to Kira. “Mind if I sign up for a treadmill?” She reached out for the clipboard.

“I don’t know. How bad do you want it?” Kira’s steel-blue eyes looked Olivia over from head to toe. “Then again, from the looks of things, you sure do need it.”

“Excuse me?”

“Oh, I’m only kidding. Lighten up, Petunia.” Kira snapped her gum and high-fived one of her followers.

Petunia?
Who was Kira trying to impress, and how did she think
that
would do it? “Um, riiight.” Olivia yanked the clipboard away from Kira and scrawled her name at the bottom of the list.

Thirty minutes later, the first group finished their session. Kira stepped up to the machines, her royal subjects close behind.

Olivia looked the list over and saw they had, indeed, signed in before her. What were the chances they would run for only thirty minutes and then give her a turn? No way. They’d never vacate a machine knowing Olivia wanted to use one. They’d run until they had a heart attack if it would keep the new girl from getting what she wanted. What had Olivia ever done to them anyway? Or more precisely, what had she done to Kira?

So it
was
true. Alarm clocks
did
work even in the middle of the night. They should have some sensor that at least required the sun to be up before they let off their cacophony and destroyed peace. Olivia rolled over and pulled her pillow over her head. It felt alien to try to pry her body from her bed. It wasn’t like they had to start school at any certain time. Why couldn’t the powers-that-be move the whole day back an hour or two and let them sleep in a little bit?

Light flooded the room.

“Oh, Skye.” Tricia groaned and covered her head.

Skye laughed. “Race you to the bathroom.”

Olivia pulled herself halfway up and rested back on her elbows. “How can you be so chipper this early in the morning?” She shook her head.

Ju-Ju moaned from under her pillow. “No kidding. I took my shower last night, so leave me alone for ten more minutes.”

Olivia padded to the bathroom and stepped into the shower while thinking about Ju-Ju. She really was a contradiction. So motivated and focused on the rules, yet she had the biggest chip on her shoulder and toughest attitude Olivia had ever seen in someone her own age—actually, Ju-Ju wasn’t even quite her age yet. There was a story there, and Olivia couldn’t wait to hear it.

The thirty-minute primping allotment dwindling rapidly, Olivia finished her shower while Skye and Tricia readied at the sinks behind the partition. She towel-dried her wet hair and then twisted the damp mass into a clip. No time for blow-drying. A little bit of lip gloss and some mascara, and then she’d better get dressed fast or she’d be facing the day naked. She chuckled at the thought of showing up to the prayer room with no clothes on.

At least the house was all girls—unless she counted Ben—and she didn’t have to worry about what she wore. Her mom had seemed enamored by Ben’s rugged good looks, but Olivia didn’t really see the appeal now that she’d gotten to know him. He was handsome, sure, if you liked that sort of thing. Kind of annoying with all of his rules and regulations though. And too spiritual.
Way
too spiritual.

His son, on the other hand—he was another story. But, thankfully, Justin had his own school and didn’t hang around all day for a bunch of teenage girls to make fools of themselves over him. If he did, Olivia would have to get up at five o’clock to get ready.

A quick glance in the mirror disgusted her. Olivia could honestly say she hadn’t left the house in a warm-up suit with her wet hair pinned up and hardly any makeup on in, well, ever. She’d have to get up earlier tomorrow. She couldn’t live like this. A girl had her pride.

Tricia, perfectly made up and dressed to kill in skintight jeans and a flowing tunic, stumbled toward the door like a half-asleep zombie. She picked up a folded piece of paper that someone had slipped under the door. “It’s the new counseling schedule.” She glanced down the list. “Olivia, you’re today. I’m tomorrow.” She passed the paper to Skye and looked at Olivia. “You’ll go to Tammy’s office—the first one of those office doors off the dining room—right after school.”

Oh great
. Sounded like loads of fun. Olivia nodded. What could she say? The work was about to start. That
was
what she’d come here for, right?

What would they talk about? How would she know how much to say to Tammy? Better yet, how could she avoid saying what she didn’t want to? There was no way Olivia could tell her everything. If she did, Jake and Mom would find out. She couldn’t let that happen.

But if she weren’t honest, she’d never get the help she needed, and wasn’t that what she was there for? She’d start slowly and see what happened. If Tammy was as smart as everyone said she was, she’d know how to get Olivia to open up.

Olivia imagined Jake’s face if he knew what Charles had done to her … many times. No way. She’d rather die than tell anyone about that. Even if it meant she never got help.

Even if it meant she carried it alone forever.

No matter what, no one could ever find out.

After a light breakfast of toast and a banana—Olivia passed on the bacon and cheesy eggs—the girls filed down the hallway toward the library, ready for their school day. “I’m really curious about how the whole school thing works.”

Tricia’s long, french-manicured fingernails clicked on the heavy library door she held open for Olivia. “Think of it like being homeschooled. Most parents who do that aren’t actually teachers—that’s kind of how Tammy, Donna, and Patty do it here with us.”

“I guess.” Olivia didn’t really care about the teachers. She could handle the work on her own if she had to. “My only concern is my oboe. I used to be able to go practice every day during study hall. We also had band practice twice a week, and then symphonic band practice two other times each week. I was hoping to try for a scholarship to a music school.”

“If you’re serious, you should really talk to Tammy about it. They always do their best to work out something important like that.” Tricia sat down at a table and unzipped her backpack.

Olivia nodded. Tricia was right. If life after Diamond Estates included a music scholarship, she needed to have disciplined practice times. “I’ll talk to her about it today during our counseling appointment.” Besides, maybe that would get her out of some of the dumb stuff like snowshoeing. Then again, Justin had gone snowshoeing.

“I’d tell them I need time to practice my flute. But they’d just laugh at me since I haven’t touched the thing in weeks.” Tricia gave a wry grin.

“Yeah, I don’t think I’ve gone this long without playing my oboe in years.”

“Okay, girls. Let’s get settled down so we can start on time.” Patty stood in front of the two rows of wooden tables where the girls had taken their seats. “We’re going to start the day off with math drills, so everyone take out your most current workbook.” She counted heads and scribbled a note. “Once you’re done with the assignment, pair up for the drill portion. Olivia, why don’t you come on up here and have a seat by the desk so I can fill you in on how things work?”

Olivia joined Patty at the front of the room and sat in the wooden chair beside her desk. “Are you the teacher every day?”

Patty shook her head. “No one here is actually a teacher. We all take turns facilitating your self-directed studies.” She piled seven—no, eight—books and papers on her desk and slid the stack in front of Olivia.

“Based on your grades and the classes you were enrolled in at your last school, we’ve determined that these courses are the best places for you to start.” She flipped open the social studies book. “See here? There’s a checklist at the beginning and end of each chapter. You must do everything on that checklist before you may take the test to pass on to the next segment.”

Oh boy. This should be interesting
. “What if I have questions?”

“Oh, I’m sure you
will
have questions from time to time.” Patty smiled. “You can always feel free to ask the person in charge that day. If we don’t know the answer, we always know how to find it.”

“Okay. This
is
real school, right? I mean, this counts for college and everything, right?” What if she’d made a
huge
mistake and had disqualified herself from college by coming to a fake school?

“Oh, definitely. Everything you do is fully accredited, just like anywhere else. You don’t have to worry about that at all.”

Olivia sure hoped Patty knew what she was talking about.

“Now, it looks like most of the girls are ready for drills. Want to jump in with them or do the assignment first?”

Olivia shrugged. “Whatever you think.”

“Well, then you go ahead and sit by Kira. She’s in the same book as you and doesn’t have a partner at the moment.”

Perfect
. Olivia slumped into the seat beside Kira and closed her eyes. Could the day get any worse?

Patty stood in front of the room of paired-up girls and held up a timer. “Okay, spread the flash cards out in front of you. When the buzzer goes off, you see if you can beat your opponent by solving the problems on more cards than she does. As you get the answer right, snatch the card into your pile, and we’ll count them at the end. Ready. Set. Go.” Patty clicked the button.

Kira stared into Olivia’s eyes and pressed her hands and forearms over the cards.

“What are you doing?” Olivia kept her voice low and calm. “I can’t see the cards. Move your arms.” She glanced at Patty, who was watching the timer. The other teams were scurrying through their races, but Kira wouldn’t budge. Olivia sat back in her chair. If Kira wanted to act like a child, there was nothing Olivia could do about it.

“Five more seconds.” Patty held up the timer.

Olivia crossed her arms and waited for the buzzer.

Kira’s steely eyes glinted with smug confidence as she swept the cards into her lap and gathered them in a pile. “I win.”

That’s what you think
.

C
ome on in, Olivia.” Tammy gave her a big grin and gestured to a puffy tomato-red chair on the other side of her desk. “Have a seat. How’s your day going?”

“Fine.” Olivia sat on the edge of her seat, wringing her hands in her lap.

“Don’t be nervous. I don’t bite.”

“I don’t know why I’m so jittery.” Olivia spoke slowly and signed her words.

“It’s normal to feel anxious about talking to someone about your personal life and thoughts. Especially a relative stranger.”

Olivia nodded and fought back tears. “It makes no sense that I’m about to cry.” She made the motion for tears. “We haven’t even started.”

“You’ve got a lot bubbling just under the surface. Part of you is scared to face it, but the other part is so ready to let it all go. This will be an ongoing process, so don’t think we’re going to be able to fix everything today, or even this month.” Tammy reached a hand across the desk to touch Olivia’s shoulder. “It took a lifetime for you to get to this point. Give us some time to work out a breakthrough. Okay?”

“Deal.” She’d try, but Olivia had no idea how much she would tell Tammy. Maybe everything. Maybe nothing.