School of Charm by Lisa Ann Scott Read Free Book Online

that for your pageant?” I asked.
    â€œWe’re supposed to do what Miss Vernie tells us,” Dana said, like I was a first-grader.
    I shrugged. “I like birds.”
    â€œShe’s got twelve birdbaths. Have you ever seen what those nasty starlings leave behind?” Dana asked, blinking her huge amber eyes.
    Miss Vernie returned with six small empty buckets and a burlap sack. “Here, girls. Now make sure you hold a bucket in each hand when you’re carrying the water. Keep yourself balanced and stand up straight.” She crossed her arms and smiled at us, creases forming around her bright blue eyes and her cheeks glowing pink from the heat. “That’s all for today.” She scurried off down one of her paths, and we went to fill the buckets up with the hose.
    Even though starling poop dries up like concrete, I didn’t mind cleaning out those birdbaths. Dana rinsed off the dirt once I’d finished cleaning, and Karen refilled each bath, huffing and puffing as she picked up the buckets. I poured a few handfuls of seed into each feeder while the two of them fetched more water.
    I kicked a pinecone off the path and ran my hands over the rough bark of a big tree. I closed my eyes and breathed in the fresh, warm smell of the woods and the earth. The scent of pine filled my nose. I stretched my arms to the sky and pretended for a moment that I was home.
    The girls returned with the water and I went back to work. Karen and Dana stood silently, slapping away mosquitoes and examining their nails while I scraped the birdbaths.
    â€œYou coming tomorrow, Chip?” Dana said my name like it was a piece of food caught between her teeth. She pressed her big lips together.
    Yes! The answer was a popcorn kernel that popped in my brain, surprising me. But this had been a lot more fun than sitting inside looking at Grandma’s dolls. “I guess.” I forced myself to say the words slowly and quietly.
    Karen held her charm bracelet up so it caught the sun. “I ain’t got nothing else to do this summer. If I stay home, my mom will probably make me read. I’ll be here.” Her brown hair was flat against her head, and beads of sweat trickled down her cheeks from our hard work.
    When we finished, Dana and Karen wheeled their bikes down the long, long driveway then took off riding, standing up on their pedals, just like I used to on my old bike. I stepped out of the cool refuge of the woods, onto the hot pavement, and started back toward Grandma’s. I couldn’t hear Miss Vernie’s wind chimes and their metallic whispers anymore. Seems like the minute I walked off her property, they disappeared.
    And so did the good feeling that had snuck into my heart for a few hours.
    Then my stomach flipped. I’d forgotten about my turtle. He’d been in the closet all day! Unless Grandma found him. If she did, he was probably gone. Or stuffed, sitting on a shelf in the dead animal room. Or boiling in a great big pot for soup. I started jogging. I had to talk to Daddy about this. How was I going to take care of a baby turtle that had come way too early?
    Then I remembered. Daddy was gone. I’d have to talk to Mama about my turtle instead. Only, I’d never talked to Mama about any of my problems before. Just Daddy. I started walking slower and slower thinking about the truth. Daddy was gone. Really, really gone. He was in heaven, and I was stuck in North Carolina. And he wasn’t doing anything to show me he’d been listening.

chapter six
    I T FELT LIKE A COLD, HEAVY ROCK WAS SITTING IN MY chest as I walked up Grandma’s driveway all alone. The U-Haul trailer was gone, so I guess there was no chance Mama would change her mind and take us back home. I stepped inside and let the screen door slam behind me. No one noticed. Everyone was watching Charlene look at herself in a full-length mirror pulled out into the living room, right in the middle of all those