Saving Gracie by Terry Lee Read Free Book Online

since…well…forever.” Ruby pushed straggly hair out of her eyes. “You know what’s weird though?” continuing before Quinlan could comment, “and by the way, I’m from Earth too. When we’re there, you know…there, we think we’re so….” she rolled her hand around in a circular motion searching for the right word. “Important.” Smack. Bubble. Pop. “Yeah, important.”
    Quinlan raised an eyebrow and waited for Ruby to continue.
    “We think we know it all, ya know.” Ruby chuckled. “Like we’re the only ones in the universe.”
    “We’re not?” Quinlan’s shock factor shot up a few notches.
    Ruby looked at Quinlan like she’d sprouted a third eye between her brows. “Oh, pu-lease. All the stars on a dark night? The Milky Way? Of course we’re not….” Ruby shot a look at Quinlan and then touched her arm. “Wait…you’re serious?”
    “Um….”
    “Well, that’s a topic for another day. My point is it’s not till we get here that we get to see the bigger picture.” Ruby swept her arms in a wide arc.
    Quinlan nodded in agreement, not that she had a clue what Ruby meant. But it seemed like the right thing to do.
    “And…here we are.” Ruby halted. “Home, sweet home.”
    Quinlan saw Ruth in a swing on the front porch of a quaint cottage. A picturesque white picket fence framed the property. Quinlan raised a hand in greeting and turned back to Ruby. “So, did it take long? You know, about your name?”
    “This last time? Nah, not really.” Ruby winked, turning to head back down the street.
    This last time? “So what was your Earth name?” Quinlan yelled at Ruby’s retreating form.
    “Fred,” the hefty woman called back without turning. “Later dude,” she shouted over her shoulder.
    “Fred,” Quinlan repeated and tilted her head. “Hmm,” she muttered, not completely dismissing the notion Ruby could be pulling a fast one on her. Reaching the front porch, Quinlan asked, “and what’s your name?”
    Her sister smiled. “Meghan.”
    Quinlan extended her hand. “I’m Quinlan.”
    “I know.” 
    ~~~
    Quinlan spent the next week in orientation classes. New subjects challenged her obsessive-compulsive need to proclaim total mastery. But, she couldn’t concentrate. After the excitement of her arrival wore off, worries of Gracie nagged her daily.
    “There’s no telling what kind of mess she’s gotten into by now.” Quinlan proclaimed to no one in particular, ignoring how hypocritical she felt after years of blasting Gracie for talking to herself. “Who’s going to help that child?” She hated leaving Gracie. At the time she hadn’t seen any choice. Now she felt the miserable weight of abandoning her daughter. This is wrong. I shouldn’t be here. I need to get back. But how?
    It didn’t help that the classes held absolutely zero interest for her. Bored beyond belief, Quinlan filed her nails during the “Veils of Self-Deception,” napped through “The Bigger Picture,” and counted ceiling tiles during “Energy Centers.”
    On the last day of orientation, Quinlan breathed a sigh of relief. She exited the classroom and stuffed the future curriculum brochure into her book bag. Then, realizing Meghan wouldn’t be home for an hour, Quinlan headed for the library. She plopped into a comfortable, unoccupied chair toward the back. A row of tables with computers lined a nearby wall.
    She yawned. She hadn’t been sleeping well, self-diagnosing the cause as her obsessive worrying about Gracie…well, that or too much sleeping in class. Thank goodness orientation is over , she thought, pulling the brochure out of her book bag.
    Quinlan read the introductory section and shook her head. “Great. More boring classes.” She had to choose two majors and two minors, or one major and three minors.
    She scanned the list on the first page of major topics. “Two majors. Yeah, like that’s going to happen.”
     
    “Growth Opportunities” [ why? ]
    “Self-Deception vs.