Storms 01 - Family Storms

moved back into Alena’s suite. For me, it was like renewing an old friendship. I hadn’t realized how much the suite and everything in it had become part of me. I shared it with the memory of Alena, but I felt it was more mine now, too.
    My schoolwork improved considerably over the nextweek. Mr. Denacio even took time out in instrumental class to have me demonstrate what real practice could do. What I enjoyed most was the expressions on the faces of my classmates. Why, they surely wondered, was I so buoyant and energetic, as well as happy, after all that had happened? They knew how much trouble Ricky and Kiera’s other friends were in because of what had happened to her. Perhaps they were friendlier to me because they were hungry for more details. Once I had felt as if I had celebrity status because I was friends with seniors and did things with seniors. Now I had it because I was simply an exciting person to get to know.
    Of course, I gave them little information, but that just made them more determined to talk to me, be with me, and invite me to their homes. It all made me feel much better about myself. Why, Lisa Dirk even told me I looked as if I was limping less and less.
    On Friday, they brought Kiera home. She was still confined to bed rest. All of her meals were brought to her, which was nothing new to her, I guessed. When I arrived home, Mrs. March told me she was upstairs and getting better. She knew that because Kiera was complaining.
    “However, I think she’s still a bit stunned,” she said. “Dr. Kindle said psychological problems often follow such an event, so I wouldn’t be upset about anything she might say or do right now.”
    I knew she was trying to prepare me for anything Kiera might say or do to me, but I had a new sense of power and strength. I was no longer afraid of Kiera. Her friends had practically crawled underground. They were meek mice inschool now. Ricky’s disposition remained unknown. If his parents hadn’t had money and influence, he wouldn’t even have been attending Pacifica. The few times I saw him, he said nothing to me, and I said nothing to him.
    It was impossible to avoid seeing Kiera, so I thought it would be best if I simply went directly up to her suite. The door was open, and she was propped up on big pillows in her bed.
    “How are you?” I asked.
    She stared at me as if we had never met. “Terrible,” she finally replied. “They want me to stay in bed another three days or so. I haven’t been able to wash my hair, put on any makeup, or anything. Look at what I look like.”
    “Look at what you almost did,” I told her.
    “Another goody two-shoes.” She looked away and then back at me. “Deidre called me in the hospital and told me what was going on with Ricky. I heard he told you things.”
    “He did.”
    “Are you happy now?”
    “More than I was last week, yes,” I said.
    She smirked. “It looks like I’m going to have to live with you.”
    “Looks like it.”
    “Why would you want to stay here after all you went through? They’d probably give you lots of money and place you in a comfortable new home.”
    “Probably.”
    “So?”
    “I’m staying for Alena. I’m not
becoming
Alena,” I quickly added, “but I’m staying because of her. Besides, someone has to look after you.”
    “Very funny.” She paused, her eyes narrowing a little.
Here it comes,
I thought. “I’m not going to say I’m sorry, if that’s what you’re waiting to hear.”
    “That’s all right. I can wait. Someday you will.”
    “How did you get so arrogant?”
    “I had a good teacher,” I said.
    I saw her fighting a smile. “I don’t want to like you,” she said defiantly.
    “You will, eventually.”
    “And I suppose you’ll like me, is that it?”
    “Maybe. Eventually.”
    “Eventually, eventually. Everything’s ‘eventually.’”
    “Everything is. When my mother and I were living in the streets, I used to wonder if we’d ever get off them, get back into a home, into a life. If I asked her, she’d always say ‘soon.’
Soon
’s a great word. It’s full of promise and hope.”
    “Is it?”
    “Sure. Soon you’ll get out of this bed, and soon you’ll go to school. Soon you’ll graduate and go to college, and soon you’ll meet someone you can love, who can love you, and soon you’ll get married and have a daughter maybe just like you, too.”
    “Please. You sound like my mother now.”
    “We all get to sound like our