Forever by Judy Blume Read Free Book Online

other times I’m afraid.

7
    â€œGuess where we’re going over Washington’s
     Birthday?” Michael asked.
    I shifted the phone to my other ear. “I give up.”
    â€œSkiing.”
    â€œBut I don’t know how.”
    â€œI’m going to teach you.”
    â€œReally?”
    â€œYeah . . . we’re going to my sister’s
     place in Vermont  . . . she’ll be calling in a little while to fill
     your mother in on the details.”
    â€œYou’re serious?”
    â€œYou better believe it. Listen, you’ll like Sharon, and her
     husband, Ike, is okay too.”
    â€œIt sounds great.”
    â€œIt will be . . . and Kath, wait till you see the
     snow.”
    When I hung up I ran into the living room. “Guess where
     Michael’s invited me?”
    â€œTo his prom?” Dad asked.
    â€œNo . . . nothing like that.”
    â€œWell, tell us,” Mom said.
    â€œTo Vermont . . . to go skiing . . .
     his sister’s got a place there. She’s going to call you.”
    My mother looked at my father.
    â€œI can go, can’t I?” I said.
    â€œWell . . .” Dad began.
    â€œPlease!”
    â€œYou can’t expect us to say yes just
     like that, Kath,” Mom said.
    â€œWe’ll have to think about it,” Dad told me.
     “After we hear the details.”
    Later, when the phone rang, I said, “That must be Michael’s
     sister . . . her name’s Sharon.”
    â€œI’ll take it upstairs,” Mom said, but by then Jamie had
     already answered and was calling “Hey, Mom . . .
     telephone . . . somebody named Sharon something.”
    â€œWhat’d she say?” I asked when my mother came back
     downstairs. “Did you tell her I can go?”
    â€œShe sounded very nice,” Mom said.
    â€œGo on . . .”
    â€œShe said she and her husband would drive you up to Vermont on
     Friday. It’s about a seven hour trip. Their place is near Stowe.”
    â€œWhen would they come home?” Dad asked.
    â€œMonday afternoon.”
    â€œThat’s three nights.”
    â€œWhat’s the difference?” I said.
    â€œThey have plenty of room, Roger,” Mom told him, andI knew then that she was on my side—that she would let me go.
     “They share the house with two other couples but they’ll have it all to
     themselves over the weekend. She said there are three bedrooms.”
    â€œI don’t know,” my father said.
    â€œHer husband’s a resident in internal medicine,” Mom
     said.
    â€œSo you won’t have to worry about me getting sick,” I
     told my father.
    â€œJust breaking a leg or two,” Dad said.
    â€œI’ll be very careful . . . I
     promise.”
    â€œI don’t know . . . skiing is a dangerous
     sport.”
    â€œNo more dangerous than riding in a car,” I argued.
    â€œGive us a chance to talk about it tonight,” my father said.
     “And we’ll let you know tomorrow.”
    â€œI don’t see what there is to discuss . . .
     it’s all very simple.”
    â€œI don’t like making hasty decisions.”
    â€œMom . . .”
    â€œDad’s right. Let us sleep on it, Kath.”
    â€œI want to go very much.”
    â€œWe know,” they both said together.

    I don’t know how I got through the next day. Talking to Erica
     helped some. “My mother will let me go but my father seemed kind of scared to say
     yes.”
    â€œThat’s logical,” Erica said. “Fathers have
     complexes about their little girls. They can’t stand the thought of their precious
     darlings having sex.”
    â€œYou think that’s what’s bothering
     him?”
    â€œAbsolutely. It has nothing to do with breaking your leg, like I
     said . . . it