Storms 01 - Family Storms

helped her,” Kiera said.
    I practically spun around in my seat.
Came to her?
    “I’m getting tired of hearing that stupid expression, Kiera. I’m sorry your father taught it to you. No, it’s not a federal case, but Sasha should know to come to me with her problems,” Mrs. March said. She didn’t sound angry as much as hurt.
    Kiera shrugged. “I just happened to be around at the right time. It’s not … it’s no big deal.”
    Mrs. March stared at her a moment and then turned slowly back to me. “How are you now, Sasha?”
    “I feel better, Mrs. March. Thank you.”
    “You know you can come to me with any problem, no matter how big or how small.”
    “I know. Thank you.”
    “We might stay after school tomorrow,” Kiera said. “Mr. Bowman is casting for the school play.”
    “You would go out for the school play?”
    “I might,” Kiera said. “It’s my last chance to do something like that, and I know Sasha will be interested, if not in being an actor, maybe in helping with the sets.”
    “That would be nice.”
    Again, I looked at Kiera. We had never discussed anything like that, and besides, I didn’t recall any casting for the school play being announced. Afterward, on our way to school, I brought that up.
    “That’s because he hasn’t announced it yet,” she said. “Don’t worry. I’ll just tell her I made a mistake. It’s next week. I got the dates confused.”
    “You can’t lie to your mother all the time, Kiera.”
    “Who’s lying all the time?”
    She laughed. “Just when it’s absolutely necessary, and tomorrow it’s important that we don’t go right home.”
    “Where are we going?”
    “To a meeting.”
    “Meeting? What kind of meeting?”
    “A meeting of the secret club I was trying to tell you about last night. It’s at Deidre’s house.”
    “What kind of club is this?”
    “It’s the VA.”
    “VA? Isn’t that something to do with veterans?”
    She laughed. “Absolutely. Everyone in the club is a veteran.”
    “Of what?”
    “Sex, silly. VA stands for Virgins Anonymous,” she said, laughing.
    “I don’t understand.”
    “You will,” she said. “And it will be the most exciting club you’ve ever been in.”
    “I’ve never been in any.”
    “Perfect. You’re a virgin when it comes to clubs, and tomorrow, we’ll end that.”
    She sped up. I tried to ask more questions, but she said I should just be patient and promised I wouldn’t be disappointed.
    I wasn’t disappointed at school. Once again, Ricky asked me to join him at lunch, which once again captured the attention of my classmates. I could almost feel the buzz about us growing with every word we spoke to each other and every step we took beside each other.
    “I might be able to get my father’s boat one of these weekends,” Ricky told me on our way back to class. “It’s at Marina Del Ray. If I can, we’ll all go to Catalina Island. You ever been?”
    “No,” I said. I was sure I sounded like someone locked in a closet. No matter what place they all discussed or mentioned, I had not been there, and as far as I knew, all of them except Deidre thought I was Kiera’s cousin. Either because Kiera would come down on them if they did or because they were just being kind, no one wondered aloud how I could not have done half of what they had done. I did hear Kiera whisper to Margot that my family was poorer relatives, but from what I could see of the Marches, ninety-eight or ninety-nine percent of the country was poorer than the Marches.
    “Great. It’s always fun to show someone places and things for the first time,” Ricky said. It seemed, at least for now, that there was nothing I could do or say that would discourage his interest in me.
    I was having a better day all around. Although Mr. Denacio wouldn’t say anything nice about my playing that morning, I could see that he was cautiously optimisticabout me again. I did better in all of my classes and got a ninety on a pop quiz in history. I could feel my confidence growing stronger all day and was quite convinced that I could walk that beam. I could do it all.
    Grover was there waiting for me after school. I didn’t see Kiera, but I knew she was off to her therapist. Grover rarely said anything to me, but this particular afternoon, he smiled and asked how my day had gone. I think he saw something new, healthier, and stronger in me and wasn’t afraid that he might do or say something that would send a stampede of tears down