November Blues by Sharon M. Draper Read Free Book Online Page A

know, sexually active.”
    â€œIt’s not like we did it a lot,” November tried to explain.
    Her mother looked as if she had been slapped. “It’s like I don’t even know you!”
    November wanted to sink through the floor. “I’m so sorry, Mommy.”
    Mrs. Nelson had returned to the table. She put seven spoons of sugar in her coffee before she noticed what she was doing. “Go on,” she said, trying, it seemed to November, to sound a little more encouraging.
    â€œI’m scared, Mom. I didn’t mean for any of this to happen. Me and Josh just got carried away—it’s amazing how easily it happened.” November put her head in her hands.
    â€œYou didn’t use any kind of, uh, you know, protection?”
    â€œWe never even thought about it.”
    â€œHow dumb can you be?” her mother almost screamed.
    â€œThere’s a big difference between those movies they show at school in health class and the real deal,” November told her. “You don’t even think about thinking, you know what I’m saying?”
    â€œNot really. You’re an intelligent girl. Where was your brain?”
    November shrugged. “Stuff just happens. By the time your brain comes back, it’s over.”
    â€œI should have warned you better. Watched you better.” Her mother stirred the coffee. “It’s my fault.”
    â€œIt’s not your fault, Mom. I did this, not you.”
    â€œYes, I guess you did.” Her mother sighed and gave the coffee another furious stir. Then she looked up sharply. “Oh, my Lord!” she said with dismay.
    â€œWhat?” November couldn’t imagine anything worse coming from this conversation. She was wrong.
    â€œThe Cornell program,” her mother said, her voice thick. “There’s no sense in going now. This was your stepping stone to get into one of the best schools in the country next year. There goes that dream.” She gave November a hard stare.
    â€œWhat am I gonna do, Mom?” November asked quietly.
    Her mother didn’t answer right away. She blew her nose and finally took a sip of her coffee. “Good Lord!” she said. “That’s the worst coffee I’ve ever had in my life!” She got up and poured it down the sink. Then she said, looking directly at November, “I’ve got to be straight with you, honey. I’m real disappointed, and I’m so angry I could bite something.”
    â€œPlease don’t be mad at me,” November said again.
    Her mother rinsed out her coffee cup and said in a measured tone, “I’m not mad at you, November, just at the mess you’ve gotten yourself into. This is certainly not what I pictured for your future. You’re so young, and you’ve got so much potential. What a damn waste.” She wiped away another tear.
    â€œI’m so scared.”
    â€œIt’s going to take a while to absorb all this. We’ve been through a lot together, me and you. I don’t know how, but we’ll get through this.” She looked at her daughter. “Oh, my Lord, I wish we didn’t have to.”
    November ran to her mother’s open arms.

CHAPTER 10
SATURDAY, APRIL 24
    LATER THAT NIGHT, AFTER HER MOTHER had gone to bed, November was suddenly, unexpectedly famished. She got up and fixed herself a grilled cheese sandwich and a glass of milk. Then she took one of the vitamins the doctor had given her. “It’s like swallowing a watermelon,” she grumbled as she managed to choke it down.
    She took out another vitamin capsule and stared at its enormous size. Good grief! Why don’t they just make them half the size and have us take two? she thought. Instead I gotta gag on this horse pill every day.
    As she ate her sandwich, she couldn’t stop thinking about her mother. She was glad she no longer had to carry the secret alone, but it had truly cut her heart to see how