The Lucy Variations by Sara Zarr Read Free Book Online Page A

hope.
    “Thanks, Mr. Charles.”
    “And thank
you
for the pumpkin bread on Friday. Sorry I ate it before giving you a chance to win your bet.”
    She grinned at him. “I knew you would.”
    By the next afternoon, her mood had continued to improve.
    Mr. Charles loaned her a thick collection of Munro stories, and when she flipped through it in class she saw his pencilled notes and underlines and a couple of Post-its with comments specifically for her.
    During PE she won a tennis game against Soon-Yi Pak. Soon-Yi totally smashed her in the overall match, but still. During the match she caught a glimpse of her own flexing quad as she waited for a serve, and felt powerful. A guy whose name she didn’t know said, “Nice play,” when he passed her in the hall.
    Reyna didn’t bring up the divorce even once at lunch, and Carson ate with them, which was always fun.
    And when she walked through the back door of her house, into the kitchen, the room was full of sunlight and Martin was pulling a tray of brownies out of the oven.
    “You’re the perfect mother,” Lucy told Martin, and gave him a kiss on the cheek.
    “I try.” He set the brownies down and sniffed the tray, then poked at them warily with a spatula. “These are vegan. Special request from Gus.”
    “Is he turning? Grandpa’s gonna love that.”
    “I don’t think so. He just wants something to offer Will. To sort of celebrate his first lesson. You know your brother. Sweet.”
    Lucy’s good vibe about the day dipped a little. She’d forgotten Will would be there; she didn’t want to run into him and have some awkward interaction about what happened Sunday night.
    She poked a brownie. “They look pretty normal.”
    “We’ll see.”
    The music-room door had been left open a crack, and Lucy worried how she’d get by without being spotted. Then she noticed there was no sound or movement or any indication of live bodies inside. Maybe Will and Gus were in Grandpa Beck’s study, looking for a CD or album from his vast collection.
    She got to the bottom of the stairs and heard Gus’s voice from above. “Lucy!” She looked up. He leaned over the second-floor railing, flushed. “Me and Will are playing Wii tennis. He’s really good.”
    Tennis? He hadn’t been joking about video games. She put one foot on a step. “Better get back to it. You don’t want to get on his bad side on the first day.” She jogged up the stairs, Gus disappearing from her sight line for a second. When she got to the second-floor landing, Will had joined Gus at the rail.
    “How about a match, Lucy? I see from the scoreboard you have a winning streak going.”
    The expression on his face was nearly the same as when he’d asked her to play piano. It unnerved her, still. Any invitation from him might be dangerous. “It doesn’t take much to beat Gus.” She added, “Sorry, Gustav.”
    “It’s okay. I know. But Will says I’ll get better.”
    “I’m sure Grandpa will be thrilled to hear that. You can do a Wii demonstration at the winter showcase.” She shouldn’t have said that. She should have been happy the noose around her little brother’s life was loosening. “I’m kidding,” she added, trying to erase the creeping envy. Gus and Will would play video games, eat brownies, maybe bang out a few bars of “Chopsticks”. Nice for them.
    “I break every forty-five minutes,” Will said. “It helps the brain. Science says so.”
    “Okay, anyway, I have homework.” She headed up the next flight of stairs.
    Gus called after her, “You always say that now.”
    “Well, I always do now.”
    “Lucy, wait.” Will’s voice was right behind her; he’d followed her up the stairs.
    She turned and shifted her bag, swept hair out of her eyes.
    He leaned over the rail and said to Gus, “You can head down now; be there in a minute.” Then to Lucy, “The other night. I’m sorry I put you on the spot. Aruna said—”
    “Don’t worry about it.”
    “I guess I assumed you