Page 94 - My FlipBook

L IS A J. L A W R E N C E

She could do it. They could do it. All of it. Come to
school. Graduate. Get jobs and move past this. Everything
was possible. She closed her eyes and felt her body float from
her desk—so light.

W

After Nate dropped them off at home, Greta said, “Ash, you

don’t have to transfer to my math class.” She faced forward
to hide her smile.
“Why not?”
“I have a good teacher. Take art instead.”
“You were always better at it than me anyway. I don’t
think I would have been much help to you.”
She unlocked the door, Ash nearly stepping on her to ADVANCE READING COPY

escape a gust of wind. He beat her to the oven in the kitchen.
“I’m thinking of moving the couch,” he said, pointing to the
middle of the kitchen floor. “To right here.”
Greta smiled, then noticed the light blinking on the
answering machine. Dad. Always her first impulse, no matter
how hard she tried to stamp it out. She pressed Play as Ash
reached for the matchbox.
“Hi there, Ash. This is Ed, the manager of Freddy’s Fries.”
His voice sounded tinny through the answering machine.

Both Ash and Greta froze and watched the machine as
though Ed himself stood there.
“Thank you for your interview yesterday. I wanted
to let you know that we’ve gone with another candidate

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