Excerpt: Chapter 1, Part 2

Chapter 1 – Greenlee (cont’d)

CLICK TO READ PART 1, POSTED EARLIER ON THE LONE STAR LIT BOOK TOUR

“You have to do this, you have to be strong and stand up for yourself. Do this for yourself. It’s what you wanted.” Mrs. Granger had walked over and kissed her daughter on top of her head.

“Greenlee, you’ve come so far. We’re so proud of you. You don’t realize it yet, but this, baby, it’s the last step.” She’d hugged her and spun her around toward the door. “Greenlee, this is it, you’ve got to do this!” her mother had declared.

Greenlee’s eyes had been brimming with tears and she could hardly look at her mom. This would be the last and most painful step in this impossible situation that Greenlee would ever take. Her mom’s heart had sunk as the tears had streamed down her daughter’s face.

“I really, really think I should go with you,” her mother had said, but she knew as soon as the words had left her mouth that Greenlee would object, and she had been right. Greenlee had shaken her head and left for school.

Why her mom didn’t allow her to stay home one more day and wallow in self-pity, she didn’t really know. Curling up into a ball and shutting out the world was the only thing that appealed to her. Bed—she wanted to go back to bed, and pretend that none of this had ever happened. Greenlee knew that this was impossible. She’d come too far for that. She would have to face them, all of them, and then it would be done.

Students were rushing by her, gesturing and whispering as they headed into school. Greenlee pretended that she didn’t hear them, remaining silent. The snickers, stares, and fingerpointing were brutal. She scurried like a mouse, moving as fast as she could through the maze of students. I’m pathetic, she thought. I’ve become absolutely pathetic! Realizing that she had nowhere to go, she continued to place one foot in front of the other, with no particular destination in mind. Digging her hands deep into her jean pockets, she felt a crisp dollar bill that she’d forgotten about. Greenlee bent down and rummaged through her backpack. In a tiny zipped-up pocket, she found a crumpled and worn five-dollar bill. She managed to scrape up a few coins as well, with a combined total of just over seven dollars for bus fare. Pulling her pink hoodie up to cover her face, she walked down the street. Her phone rang a familiar tune and made her jump. It was Marianne. Greenlee didn’t answer it. She didn’t want to talk to her friend, certainly not at this moment. Then the familiar beep indicated that a voice-mail message was waiting. Surprising even herself, Greenlee deleted the message without listening to it. Tears welled up in her eyes again. She wiped them away with her sleeve, took a deep breath, and continued down the street.