Justin Kramon by Finny (v5) Read Free Book Online Page B

hear what he would say.
    “I think she’ll get over it, though,” Sylvan said. “It’s just a boyfriend.”
    “The thing is,” Finny said, “I can’t figure out how she knew.”
    “There’s lots of ways,” Sylvan said. “Anyway, it’s only three more days. Then once we’re back at school, I think it’ll be over.”
    “But they won’t let me take lessons with Mr. Henckel again.”
    “Who knows? Maybe they will.”
    She didn’t see why her brother was being so optimistic about the situation. Nothing ever worked in her favor with her parents.
    “Would you do me a favor?” Finny asked her brother, since he was being nice. “I mean, if I needed it.”
    “Sure, Fin. Anything.”
    “If I want to get a message to Earl sometime, would you bring it to him? Like maybe a letter, or just something I tell you.”
    “I could do that.”
    “I don’t have anything right now. I just mean, it might be hard for me to talk to him sometimes.”
    “He’s the reason you’re in trouble.”
    “Yeah, well,” Finny said, and shrugged.
    “Anyway, of course,” Sylvan said.
    Then Finny began to explain where Earl’s house was, past the fountain, over the—but Sylvan stopped her.
    “It’s more of a birdbath,” he said.
    “How do you—” Then it hit her. She didn’t even need to finish the sentence. Sylvan must have realized, too, because his mouth hung open a little.
    “I’m sorry, Fin,” he finally said, with an awful, sad look in his eyes. “I really am.”
    Finny couldn’t wait for school to start again. It was probably the first time she’d ever felt that way. She had the idea that once she was back at school, once the machinery of her house was humming again, she would be a little freer to wander, to slip back into her own routines. She imagined phone calls to Earl, afternoon walks together. She looked forward to the first day of classes the way a traveler might look forward to a warm house after a long cold journey.
    But the weekend before she was to go back to school, her father told her she was to pack a suitcase. “A change of plans,” he said. “We’ve been talking to the people at Thorndon. A boarding school. A very good one, actually. It’s in Massachusetts. They’ve agreed to take you in the middle of the year. I booked you a flight Monday. They’re just finishing their winter break.”
    Finny’s mouth dropped open. She tried to think of words to fill the space, but all that came were empty breaths.
    “It’s a wonderful opportunity,” Stanley said. “To make some changes. To get a new outlook, if you will.”
    “I won’t,” Finny said.
    “There’s not much of a choice, unfortunately,” Stanley said. “You’ve been testing the limits for a long time, Finny. And this took it too far. You just need a little time to get your priorities in order.”
    “My priorities are in order.”
    “A change in circumstances will be good,” her mother said. “A new setting always offers a young lady opportunities for growth. And besides, there really wasn’t anything else we could do, Finny. You didn’t leave us a choice.”
    Finny was struck dumb by her mother’s words. Once again, she’d proven less than adequate in both her parents’ eyes, and she was paying for it. She didn’t know how to convince them of their mistake, so she cried and hollered and pleaded.
    In the end, though, she packed her bag. Like her parents had said, there really wasn’t much of a choice.
    She was still outraged by what her brother had done, telling on her, but she gave him a note she’d scrawled out to pass on to Earl as soon as Sylvan could. She saw now that her brother felt as horribly about what he’d done as she did, that he couldn’t have known what the consequences would be. And anyway, he was the closest she had to a friend in this house.
    The note to Earl said: Sent to Thorndon School by my parents. Have to pack my bags and am leaving on Monday. I love you and I miss you and I will write to you