Read The End of Forever Online
Authors: Lurlene McDaniel
The End of Forever
ALSO AVAILABLE FROM LAUREL-LEAF BOOKS
ASHES OF ROSES
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Mary Jane Auch
KEEPER OF THE NIGHT
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Kimberly Willis Holt
SKELLIG
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David Almond
A SUMMER TO DIE
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Lois Lowry
TIGER EYES
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Judy Blume
DEENIE
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Judy Blume
You’ll want to read these inspiring titles by
Lurlene McDaniel
ANGELS IN PINK
Kathleen’s Story • Rainas Story • Holly’s Story
ONE LAST WISH NOVELS
Mourning Song • A Time to Die
Mother, Help Me Live • Someone Dies, Someone Lives
Sixteen and Dying • Let Him Live
The Legacy: Making Wishes Come True • Please Don’t Die
She Died Too Young • All the Days of Her Life
A Season for Goodbye • Reach for Tomorrow
OTHER FICTION
Hit and Run
Briana’s Gift
Letting Go of Lisa
The Time Capsule
Garden of Angels
A Rose for Melinda
Telling Christina Goodbye
How Do I Love Thee: Three Stories
To Live Again
Angel of Mercy • Angel of Hope
Starry, Starry Night: Three Holiday Stories
The Girl Death Left Behind
Angels Watching Over Me
Lified Up by Angels • Until Angels Close My Eyes
I’ll Be Seeing You • Saving Jessica
Don’t Die, My Love • Too Young to Die
Goodbye Doesn’t Mean Forever
Now I Lay Me Down to Sleep
When Happily Ever After Ends
Baby Alicia Is Dying
From every ending comes a new beginning.…
Published by Laurel-Leaf
an imprint of Random House Children’s Books
a division of Random House, Inc.
New York
This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places, and incidents either are the product of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously. Any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, events, or locales is entirely coincidental.
Copyright © 2007 by Lurlene McDaniel
All rights reserved.
This edition contains the complete and unabridged texts of the original editions. This omnibus was originally published in separate volumes under the titles
Somewhere Between Life and Death,
copyright © 1990 by Lurlene McDaniel, and
Time to Let Go,
copyright © 1990 by Lurlene McDaniel.
Laurel-Leaf and colophon are registered trademarks of
Random House, Inc.
www.randomhouse.com/teens
Educators and librarians, for a variety of teaching tools,
visit us at
www.randomhouse.com/teachers
RL: 5.2
eISBN: 978-0-307-77622-8
July 2007
v3.1
Life and Death
This book is dedicated to the memory of Kaitlyn Arquette, September 18, 1970-July 17, 1989—a flower whose season was all too brief—and to her family, who will treasure her memory forever.
• • •
I would like to express my thanks to Erlanger Medical Center, Chattanooga, Tennessee, and to Dr. Reggie McLelland of Covenant College.
• • •
To every thing there is a season, and a time to every purpose under heaven: A time to be born, and a time to die … —E
CCLESIASTES
3:1–2 (KJV)
“Where’s Amy?”
“Late. As usual.” Erin Bennett didn’t even try to hide her annoyance.
Her best friend, Shara Perez, heaved a sigh and sprawled across a bench in the deserted studio. “Honestly, Erin, your sister’s gonna be late to her own funeral.”
“Not so,” Erin muttered, adjusting her leotard and stretching her right leg over her head.
“I’ll
be in charge of taking her to her funeral, so I know she’ll be on time for that.”
Shara giggled. “Now what do you suppose Freud would say about that? Maybe you really wish you were an only child, like me.”
Erin rolled her eyes, hating to admit that she’d often wished that very thing. And with only fifteen months between her and her sister, Erin realized that she’d never had the luxury of being the one-and-only. “I just think Amy’s being a pain,” she said. “She knows how much this dance number means to me.”
“Come on, Erin. You know Amy’s not like that. She never forgets anything on
purpose.”
Erin began to pirouette across the polished dance
floor in wide, sweeping circles. She forced herself to concentrate on her form instead of her anger toward her kid sister. She’d have thought that being a sophomore at Briarwood School for Young Women this year would have matured Amy. Instead, Erin found herself constantly making excuses for her, covering for her tardiness and irresponsible attitude. It was embarrassing, but Erin couldn’t seem to stop. Amy always managed to rope her in and get her own way, while still being sweet, outgoing, and likable.
As a junior and the president of the Terpsicord Dance Troupe at Briarwood, Erin felt she had a reputation to maintain among her peers. Amy’s lack of seriousness really annoyed her, but she didn’t know what to do about it.
The door to the dance studio flew open. “Am I late?” Amy called as she skidded across the oak floor.
Erin stopped spinning, caught her breath, and walked over to where Amy stood, all big blue-eyed innocence. “Three-fifteen, Amy. I said ‘Be here by three-fifteen because we have to knock off by four today.’ Shara made it on time. I made it on time. But you? Well, as usual we’re both standing around waiting for Amy. And you’re so late that we’re not going to get any serious rehearsing done today. The recital’s in March—only four weeks from now.” Erin knew she was wasting valuable time, but she was determined not to let Amy off too easily.
“Only four weeks? Yikes! Time’s slipping by all right, but just wait till you see what I’ve got.”
“This had better be good, Amy. Ms. Thornton is
counting on the three of us to make this number the high point of the show. I’m beginning to wish I’d never asked you to do the dramatic readings.”
“Oh, come on. When I’m a famous actress, you’ll look back on this and laugh. Here, take a look at this.” She handed Erin a large leather-bound book. “Won’t it be perfect on the podium for me to read from? I won’t have to use that dorky library book. I can just tuck copies of the readings inside. It’ll look so much more elegant, don’t you think?”
Erin eyed the old leather-embossed volume, struggling inwardly to stay angry. She had to admit that Amy was right. The book would be so much nicer and would really contribute to the overall effect. “Where’d you get it?”
“It’s Travis’s grandmother’s.”
Travis.
The name alone made Erin’s pulse skip a beat. “Did he loan it to you just for the recital?” She stroked the rich leather cover imagining that Travis had held it.
“Sure.”
Erin felt her resolve weakening. Her sister was irrepressible, and no one could stay mad at her for long. That’s probably why she attracted friends so easily—as well as the undivided attention of Berkshire Prep’s cutest senior, Travis Sinclair.
“It’s a nice touch,” Erin admitted. Amy grinned and bobbed on the balls of her feet. “But I really need you to be on time,” she added sternly, not wanting Amy to think she was off the hook entirely.
“So what are we waiting for? Let’s get started.”
Erin signaled Shara, who started the music on a cassette player and began to sing. Soon she was immersed in the dance, and once she was lost in her art, nothing else existed. Not even her aggravation with Amy.
