Holly's Heart Collection Two (19 page)

Paula nodded. “Holly’s here with me, and she’s trying to get through to her house, but the line’s always busy. Have you heard any news about the Denver move?”

I held my breath as seconds ticked by.

“Okay, thanks, Mom,” she said at last. “I’ll tell her.” When she hung up, she turned to me. “Let’s take a walk, Holly.”

I held our little candle as we headed in the opposite direction of Jared and company—toward the library.

“What did your mom say?” I asked as the candle made leapfrog shadows on the walls.

“Evidently, it’s been decided,” she said, facing me. “I’m sorry to have to tell you this, Holly. But you’re leaving Dressel Hills before school’s out.”

That soon?

My heart sank.

GOOD-BYE, DRESSEL HILLS

Chapter 10

I stopped in the middle of the hall, still holding the candle. “This can’t be happening!” I wailed.

Paula touched my arm. “I know,” she said, fighting back the tears.

Someone came running up behind us. I hoped it wasn’t Jared. He was the last person I wanted to see.

Turning around, I looked into Andie’s face. “What’s going on?” she asked.

That’s when I buried my face in her shoulder. Paula took the candle holder from me and filled Andie in. Soon Paula’s arms were around both Andie and me. And there we stood in the middle of the hallway, three best friends on the brink of separation—stuck in a blizzard, without electricity, and facing spaghetti leftovers for breakfast.

Sobbing like orphans, we stumbled to the girls’ rest room, and once again I washed my tear-streaked face.

Andie couldn’t stop crying. Probably because she was losing her best friend
and
her guy friend. “Someone’s got to tell Stan,” she muttered, blowing her nose.

“He’ll know when he sees our faces,” I said.

“He already said there’s no reason for us to end our friendship, Andie said. “He’ll email me, and there will always be plenty of skiing trips.”

“But you two split up before,” I said. “Are you sure it won’t happen again?”

“We talked things out,” Andie said confidently, blowing her nose. “We’re fine now.”

She sounded so sure of herself. Made me wonder if I’d been too hasty with Jared. Then I remembered his behavior—how he’d sneered at me, pounding his fist, stomping around. Did I really want to be friends with someone like that?

Miss Hess, our choir director, came into the bathroom just then. “Are you girls all right?”

Andie nodded solemnly.

Miss Hess looked at me. “Holly, are you?”

That’s when I filled her in on my latest tragedy.

“I’m very sorry to hear this,” she said. “I had hoped to see all you girls trying out for the female roles in our spring musical.”

I sighed. “Me too.”

Then Andie had an incredible idea. “Maybe Holly could stay with me till school’s out.”

“Really?” Paula was excited about it, too.

“Fabulous,” I said. It was the best thing I’d heard all week. But could I get Mom and Uncle Jack to agree?

We followed Miss Hess to the library, where most of the girls had already gathered. Flickering candles on tabletops gave the place a charming, almost Victorian look. The smell of books, coupled with the brightness of white and wind outdoors, created a cozy atmosphere. I started to calm down.
After all, we haven’t moved yet,
I thought.
Things could still change.

Miss W and Miss Hess sat down with us and began to give instructions. “Think of this as an all-school sleepover,” Miss Hess began.

We chuckled. In a strange sort of way, it was a comforting thought. A much better way to look at things than being forced to stay at school.

“There will be an assembly at seven o’clock tonight,” Miss W said. “After which we will divide the school with an imaginary boundary line. The hall just north of the office will be off limits to girls. And the hall running past the library is off limits to the guys.”

Andie raised her hand. “What if the storm stops before then?”

Miss W glanced at the window behind her. “At this point in the storm, even if the wind and snow do die out, we would still have to wait several hours before the city could begin snow removal.”

“Why don’t we make the best of this time together?” Miss Hess said, smoothing her jean skirt. “Let’s use it as a chance to get to know one another better.” She leaned over and removed her calfhigh boots. “I don’t know about you, but my feet are killing me.”

Several girls removed their shoes, from tall, city-style boots to hiking shoes. The atmosphere was peppered with conversation and laughter.

I looked on either side of me. Andie and Paula—my dear friends. What an amazing way to spend one of our last nights together. It was oddly fitting that we were together like this, surrounded by zillions of school friends from grade-school days.

Joy and Shauna joined us as Mr. Ross peeked his head into the library. “The city is working to get electricity restored as soon as possible,” he said.

Cheers went up all around. I didn’t clap, though. There was something terribly special about sitting in a beautiful library, candles glowing.

Miss W began talking again. “Girls, we’ll have some free time here before going to the assembly. That is, if the electricity is turned on in time.”

The doors opened suddenly and in marched Amy-Liz. She turned to say good-bye to someone in the hall. I knew it was Jared. I shut out the image by staring into the candle beside me. Jared was already back to his old ways. Why was I not surprised?

Amy-Liz worked her way through the maze of girls toward us. Sitting down, she handed me a note. “Here, Holly,” she said. “It’s from Jared.”

“Give me that,” Andie said, snatching it out of her hand. “Can’t you see Holly’s been through enough?” She began unfolding the letter.

“Wait,” Amy-Liz intervened. “It’s private stuff. And,” she said, looking at me, “I think Holly oughta hear him out.”

Andie got huffy in my defense. “What are you doing hanging out with Jared?” She turned her insufferable stare-lock on Amy-Liz.

Paula nodded. “Jared’s not as trustworthy as you think.”

Amy-Liz’s face lit up like the candle flame on the table. “I think if you give Holly the letter, she’ll understand.”

Paula’s eyebrows shot up. “How do
you
know what Jared wrote?”

“I…uh…he needed a friend,” she said, turning to me. “Just like he needs you to read this, Holly. Read it,” she urged. “Somewhere private.”

Andie began to sound like my mother again. “Can you promise me this won’t upset Holly?” she demanded.

“How should
I
know?” said Amy-Liz.

Reluctantly, Andie handed the letter to me. I took it from her, my heart in my throat.

GOOD-BYE, DRESSEL HILLS

Chapter 11

I abandoned Andie and Paula and the rest of the girls, searching for a quiet corner in the library. Settling into a comfortable chair, I opened Jared’s letter. Slowly, I began to read by candlelight.

Dear Holly,

I can’t believe what you did to us today. Bottom line—you’ll never find a better guy for you than me. And after that ridiculous sixty-day scrutiny test you put me through. Let’s face it, I’m ticked.

We were great friends—you’ll have to agree. It doesn’t have to end like this. Think it through. I won’t wait forever for your reply.

—Jared

All I could do was stare at the letter. Who did he think he was? Part of me wanted to strangle him. And the other part…Well, I didn’t know what to think.

I knew one thing for sure, Jared had treated me horribly this afternoon and again in this letter. The fact that he wanted me to overlook it—as though nothing had happened—smacked of pride. No surprise there. Jared had always been full of himself. I couldn’t allow him just to write me a guilt-letter and decide it would take care of everything between us. Everything was not okay again—no sir-ee!

Glancing at the letter again, my first reaction was to rip it to shreds. Jared had behaved like a perfect oaf tonight at supper, laughing loudly and flirting with Amy-Liz, who happened to be the cutest soprano in the school choir.

“Psst, Holly!”

I looked up. It was Andie. “You okay?”

“Not really.” I stood up, folding the letter.

“What’s Jared trying to pull now?”

“His usual.” I handed it to her. “See for yourself.”

“Man, what a jerk,” she said, handing the letter back after reading it. “What are you gonna do?”

“I’ve got an idea. I’ll tell you later.”

We joined the other girls while Miss W got ready to do her storytelling routine. I stuffed the letter into my back pocket. “What happened to the assembly?”

“No lights,” Andie said. “I think teachers want to keep kids from pairing up in the dark…you know.”

“Yeah,” I muttered, my mind on Jared’s note. And on the raging storm outside. I shivered. “It’s really cold in here.”

“Go get your jacket,” she suggested. “Only wait’ll you hear what you have to do to get permission to leave the library.” She snickered. Evidently, she’d eavesdropped on Miss W and Miss Hess. We sat on the floor, waiting for Miss W to do a final head count.

Still in her stocking feet, Miss Hess closed the library doors. “If you must leave the area to use the rest rooms or the phones,” she said, “please sign one of these index cards.” First she held a yellow-lined card up for all to see, then placed it on the pile on the desk. “Any questions?”

“They don’t trust us,” Amy-Liz whispered, grinning.

I bit my tongue.
Look who’s talking!

After several well-presented tales by Miss W, we were given one hour of free time. For some of the girls that was tough. After all, what can you do in a school library with no electricity and candlewicks burning down to nothing fast?

No problem here. I had plenty to keep me busy sitting in the dark. First, I had to devise a plan—how to respond to Jared. I could almost envision the letter, no, the limerick, I would write.

I headed to the desk where the stack of index cards were kept. Miss W sat beside the desk looking fairly wiped out.

“May I please have a pass to get some paper out of my locker?” I fidgeted with the index cards.

“The eighth-grade lockers are on the opposite side of the boundary, she said. “It’s off limits to girls.”

“I’ll be back in two minutes,” I pleaded. “I promise.”

She glanced at her watch, then looking up at me, she smiled. “For you, Holly, I’ll allow it. Be back in two minutes.”

I dashed out of the library and down the dark hallway. Feeling my way along the row of lockers, I discovered the futility of locating mine.

A faint glimmer came from the end of the hall. Rushing to investigate, I realized just how cold the school building had become. If only I could find my locker and get it open, I would have paper as well as my jacket.

Nearing the end of the hall, I discovered an array of communal candles and holders lying on the floor. Some were lit, some weren’t.

I had to hurry. More than two minutes had passed! Miss Hess and Miss W would be sending out a search party any minute now. I lit a single candle off one of the others and, shielding the flame, I made my way down the dark corridor—locker hunting.

Finally I found mine. Balancing the candle in one hand, I spun my combination. Grabbing my notebook and jacket, I slammed the locker door. And just like that, the lights flickered on.

“Wow! I should’ve tried this earlier,” I joked to myself. Blowing out the candle, I raced back to the library.

Miss W seemed delighted to see me. “Look,” she said, pointing to the girls lined up near the windows. “The stars are coming out.”

I ran to the windows and cupped my hands on the frosty pane. Monstrous drifts were everywhere, but the snow had stopped. I exhaled, leaving a ring of moisture on the glass. The blizzard of the decade had come and gone. So had my stormy bout with Jared Wilkins. Except the winds of war were still blowing. One pathetic letter from Jared wasn’t going to stop anything.

Finding Andie and Paula, I whispered my plan to write a limerick in response to Jared’s letter.

“How cool,” Andie said.

“Want some assistance?” Paula asked.

“Perfect,” I said, searching for a quiet table for three.

When we sat down, Paula and Andie announced their plans to throw a going-away party for me.

“It’ll be one you’ll never forget,” Andie said.

“I’m afraid of that,” I said, laughing.

“We’re going to make the next few weeks count for a lifetime,” Andie said, grabbing my elbow. “You’ll see.”

It was obvious she was trying to be brave. She didn’t mention anything about my staying with her till school was out, like before. But we could make those kinds of plans tomorrow or the next day. After all, I’d have to get Mom and Uncle Jack to agree. Besides, the way Jared was acting, maybe several more weeks was long enough to hang around here.

I gave Paula and Andie a piece of paper. “Write a list of words that rhyme with Jared,” I said.

A broad grin spread across Andie’s face. “I’ve got one.” She wrote the word, passing it across the table to Paula and me. We burst into giggles.