Count on Me (Bayview Heights Trilogy) by Kathryn Shay Read Free Book Online Page A

you.” He stared at her. “You know,” she said, getting more irritated, “if we’re going to do this, you’ve got to be here.”
    Something fluttered in his chocolate-colored eyes. A sadness. Now she felt bad. Problem was, Julia played so many roles, on and off the stage, she often got carried away. She hadn’t meant to hurt him She tried a Drew Barrymore smile. He opened his notebook and didn’t respond.
    “You wanna go first or should I?” he asked, staring down.
    “Let’s do each question together. Since they go from easy to hard.”
    Ten minutes later, they got to hard. “So Ms. Actress, what’s your greatest fear?”
    Julia bit her lip. Ms. Caufield had said they shouldn’t agree to do this assignment unless they planned to be honest. They’d have a chance to edit out anything too private, but part of the purpose of interviewing each other and presenting your partner to the class was to reveal things about yourself that others didn’t know.
    “Jules?” Her head came up at the nickname only her closest friends used. “A tough one?”
    She nodded. “You?”
    “Nah, it’s easy for me.” His long hair fell onto his forehead. It was squeaky clean and looked soft as silk. “I’m afraid they’re gonna take my little brother away from me and my ma.”
    “Why would they do that?”
    “She leaves us alone. A lot.”
    “I’m sorry.”
    He shrugged. “Your turn.”
    Watching closely for his reaction, she said softly, “I’m afraid for people to see the real me.”
    “That why you assume so many roles?”
    “In the plays, you mean?”
    “In real life.”
    His comment hit a nerve because she knew it was true.
    “Who is the real you?” he asked gently.
    “You got it on paper.” Her reply was flippant, accompanied by a toss of her bangs off her face.
    “Nope. This is surface stuff.”
    After a very long pause she sighed. “I guess I don’t know who the real me is.” She peered up at him from under thick lashes. “And if I did, maybe I wouldn’t like her.”
    Just then Ashley walked by on her way back from the washroom and slapped Julia on the back. Julia was glad for the interruption and turned to say something to her friend, effectively cutting off Dan’s reply to her revelation.
    Ashley spoke briefly to Julia, then sat back down, tugging at the short denim dress she wore. She covered her stomach with both hands.
    “All right, we’re on number twelve,” Ashley’s partner, Teresa Lanahan, said. “What are your secret goals in life?” she asked. “Even though they might not come true.”
     My only goal right now is not to be pregnant , Ashley thought. Please, God, don’t let that be . “None of what I want’s secret.”
    “Let me guess. You want to marry Evan, have a dozen kids and live in Pleasantville, U.S.A.”
    Teresa’s tone irritated Ashley. “Why would you say it like that?”
    Teresa shrugged. “Like what?”
    “So disapproving. What if I do want that?” She indicated the drab sweats Teresa wore every day like a uniform. “Not everybody wants to play for the WBA.”
    Teresa’s face tensed. “I’d be satisfied with a basketball scholarship so I can play in college.”
    For a moment Ashley was intrigued. What would it be like to have aspirations that had nothing to do with guys? Her mother and three sisters never had any dreams of their own, and Ashley had inherited the Emerson homemaking gene. “Won’t you get a scholarship?”
    “I should.”
    “Where do you want to go?”
    “University of Connecticut. They got a great women’s basketball program.”
    Ashley smiled thinly. Would she even be going to college? Her gaze strayed to Ms. Caufield, who was interviewing with Madison Kendrick—or Mad Maddie as the kids called her because of her tall, wild-eyed appearance and odd behavior. Would Ms. C be disappointed in Ashley if she got married and never went to college? Hell, if she was pregnant, she wouldn’t even graduate high school with her class.
    Scanning