Her Name in the Sky by Kelly Quindlen Read Free Book Online Page B

ever seen. Besides, my house is all the way at the end of that cul-de-sac, so it’s not like we’ll piss off too many neighbors.”
    They trudge through the last few days before Mardi Gras break, swamped with quizzes and tests and essays but buoyant at the thought of the five-day weekend. The hallways swell with noise on Thursday and Friday as students trade information about which krewes are going to have the best floats this year and whether or not it will rain at Spanish Town and whose parents are going to let them drink at the parades. In Hannah and Wally’s A.P. Government class on Friday, Mr. Creary actually throws his Expo marker up into the air when a third student is called to the office to check out early for a family ski trip. “Not sure why I’m even trying,” Mr. Creary says, his droopy eyes roaming to his desk in the back of the classroom, where everyone knows he keeps his Reese’s Pieces stash. “Y’all do whatever you want. But keep the noise level down, and if Mrs. Shackleford or Mr. Manceau comes around, you’d better look like you’re working on those essay outlines.”
    Father Simon leaves them with a special sign-off message during afternoon announcements on Friday. “Please remember,” he says, his voice hovering on each syllable, “that while this is a joyous time to celebrate our Louisianan and Catholic heritage, the purpose of Mardi Gras is to prepare for the Lenten season, when we must remember our Lord and His greatest suffering. Remember to conduct yourselves like children of Christ.”
    “Wasn’t it Jesus that turned water into whiskey?” Luke asks at the lockers afterwards. “So, I mean, we will be acting like children of Christ.”
    “It was wine,” Baker laughs, her arms folded as she leans against Hannah’s locker. “But yeah, I see your point.”
    “Just make sure you don’t hook up with Joanie in my pantry again,” Clay tells Luke.
    “Ew,” Hannah says.
    “Maybe you should worry about your own hookups,” Luke says. “Who’s it gonna be at this year’s Mardi Gras? Gonna go for Sammy Hebert again?”
    “Shut up, man,” Clay laughs, shoving him playfully, but his face tinges with color and he turns away from them. “Not interested in Sammy.”
    “Who are you interested in?” Hannah asks.
    Clay blinks his eyes shut and shakes his head rapidly. “Nothing. No one. Come on, let’s get some food.”
    They meet Joanie and Wally in the parking lot, and from there they drive to Zippy’s for chips and queso. They sit on the outside patio, where it’s warm enough for them to take off their jackets, and they roll up their shirtsleeves and fight over the chips and talk about the party on Tuesday, and all the while Hannah tries not to notice how Clay leans forward to talk to Baker with a different look in his eyes than she’s ever seen before.
     
    Hannah and Joanie spend the first few days of break hanging out with Wally and Luke while Baker and Clay are in New Orleans with their families. They go to the Spanish Town parade on Saturday and stand in the rain catching beads and doubloons from the passing floats, everyone around them wearing hot pink t-shirts and tutus and latex, the policemen watching from horseback and little kids watching from atop their dads’ shoulders. On Sunday they go to Wally’s house to build forts with his little brothers while Ms. Sumner runs errands, and on Monday the four of them help Hannah and Joanie’s dad plant new flowers in the backyard.
    “It was really nice of you to come over,” Hannah tells Wally afterwards. “I know my dad’s not the easiest guy to talk to.”
    “He’s neat,” Wally says, wiping his brow with the back of his hand. “I like him. We talked a lot about engineering. What he does at work and everything. It’s the most he’s ever talked to me.”
    “Yeah, well, he’s pretty quiet,” Hannah says, rubbing at the dirt on her forearms.
    “That’s not a bad thing,” Wally says. “It just means when he