A Season of Eden by Jennifer Laurens Read Free Book Online Page B

about ready to go after her.”
     
    His lips turned up a little. “I wasn’t treated unfairly, Eden.” His intense gaze inched over my face as if searching for secrets. Then he glanced up at the clock. I did too. My heart plunged… five minutes until the bell rang.
     
    “Did your brothers and sisters also learn how to sing?” I asked.
     
    “I don’t have any siblings.”
     
    “Yeah? Me either.”
     
    He looked at me curiously. “That fits you.”
     
    “Oh, yeah? Why’s that?” My face warmed. I was pleased he’d given me a moment’s thought.
     
    His shoulder lifted. “Only children are often their parents’ prodigies, intentional or not. When my mother started teaching me for instance, it was with the intent that I would someday go further with my voice and talents than she had been able to. I imagine your parents have taken the same care with you. You’re more assertive than most kids your age. Confident. Not afraid to step over boundaries most kids spend the next few years figuring out as if crossing a mine field.”
     
    “Wow.”
     
    He flushed an adorable shade of red. “It’s just my opinion.”
     
    “You were totally right about most of that. Amazing.”
     
    His eyes grew dark and serious. I knew he wondered what part of his statement was accurate and what was not.
     
    I wasn’t about to tell him neglect had made me into the person I was.
     
    He cleared his throat. “Hey,” his voice was soft, “could you pass out the music for me?”
     

     
    “Sure.”
     
    I centered each piece of music on the seats, savoring the sounds of his movements behind me. Occasionally, I snuck a glance at him. He fiddled with the boombox.
     
    Wrote instructions in chalk on the board. Straightened piles of paper on the piano.
     
    Class started at eight o’clock. Up until that week, various freshman and sophomore class members had volunteered to take roll. Pride kept me from stooping to the token act.
     
    “Eden.” Mr. Christian walked over with the clipboard.
     
    “Could you be in charge of taking roll every day?”
     
    Though I wanted to help him, I saw this as a devastating cut. He viewed me like any other student.
     
    Disappointed, I said, “I’m sure one of the freshmen would be glad to help out with that.”
     
    A flash of confusion shadowed his face. I almost felt guilty. All around me girls raised their hands. One even had the nerve to grunt, like an anxious elementary-aged child waiting to be called on by an oblivious teacher.
     
    He handed the panting girl the clipboard and she gleamed. My heart felt like it was being squeezed. Our private chats had meant nothing. Though I kept my eyes on him as he took us through rehearsal, I did so only because I didn’t want him, or anybody else to sense the rupture inside of me.
     
    “Altos,” he addressed the group I was in and for a moment, he looked at me. Vainly, I tried to ignore how my heart quickened at his glance. “You’re a little flat on that first chorus. Switch around. Everybody find a different seat.
     
    If your neighbor is flat, it can be infectious.”
     
    He sent me a pointed look. I wondered what was going on. Inside I was raw. I walked up the risers to the back row. The girls made room for me as if I was royalty. I stood in the very center and glared down at him.
     
    After he saw where I had moved, he lifted his baton, ready to continue, keeping an evasive gaze out over the class.
     
    “From the first chorus,” he said.
     
    We continued until we finished the song. I hated being that far away from him. His passionate conducting didn’t tickle the air around me with his scent: orange citrus and skin. His face was hidden behind the greasy heads of the two freshmen that stood in front of me. I couldn’t feel the air ripple when he moved.
     
    When the bell rang, I didn’t look at him. I gathered my books and walked out.
     

     

     
    •••
     
    Sick disappointment stayed with me, a gutting flu from which my