* * *
Friday morning I had a tutoring session with Francesca. I knew it was unrealistic to expect the situation to have been resolved in less than a week. But I’d received encouraging reports from two of her teachers, so I was hopeful that my conversation with the other girls had started things moving in the right direction.
What I really wanted was to hear from Francesca herself about whether or not she felt the quality of her experience at Howard Academy was improving. If not, I still had more work to do.
“I guess I’m okay.” Francesca was sitting on the floor of my classroom with Faith draped over her crossed legs. “Taylor and Alicia mostly just ignore me now.” She gave me a faint smile. “I don’t really mind. It’s better than how they used to act. Brittany talks to me sometimes. You know, like I’m a real person. That’s nice.”
Nice. I snorted under my breath. But Francesca looked relieved, so I took that as a positive sign.
“You have to learn not to care about what people like Taylor and Alicia say and do,” I told her. “Their opinions shouldn’t be important to you. You know those girls were never really your friends, right?”
“I guess.” She sighed. “Except in the beginning, it felt like they were. They said that they liked me. And that they would show me how to fit in at Howard Academy. I thought they meant it.”
“But now you know better,” I said firmly. “And you’re starting to make other friends, aren’t you?”
“Yes.” Her voice was quiet.
“Real friends who like you for who you are?”
Francesca nodded.
“I know it’s hard to cope when your whole life gets turned upside down overnight. And it’s especially hard when you’re twelve years old—not quite a child and not yet an adult—and you can’t figure out where you belong.” I reached down and placed my finger under the girl’s chin, raising it so that she was looking at me. “But better times are coming. You’re going to grow up and be wonderful.”
“That’s what my mother says too.”
“Well, she should know. After all, look how wonderful she is. And you’re going to be just like her.”
“Maybe.” Her lips quirked. “Except I can’t sing.”
“That won’t matter in the slightest. You’re going to find some terrific talent of your own that makes you just as happy as your mother’s singing makes her.”
Francesca looked as though she wanted to believe me but couldn’t quite bring herself to. “Are you sure?”
“I’m positive. But even then, things won’t be perfect. Even when you’re all grown up and living your fabulous life, you’re still going to meet people who will try to treat you badly or take advantage of you.”
I thought of Amanda, who’d allowed herself to be used by both Jasmine and Rick to further their own ends. “I know a young woman who was manipulated into doing bad things by people she thought were her friends. She should have known better but she got taken in anyway. And she was a lot older than you.”
“Really?”
“Really and truly.”
Francesca brightened. “I guess maybe I don’t feel so dumb then.”
“Dumb? You? I don’t think so. And Faith agrees with me. She has very high standards. She wouldn’t be sitting in your lap unless she thought you were pretty special.”
Francesca ran her hand down the length of the Poodle’s back, her fingers threading their way through the dense hair. Faith arched into the caress and swished her tail from side to side happily.
“I think she’s pretty special too,” Francesca said.
“Perfect. It looks like we’ve found something we can all agree on.”
The girl giggled. “Faith too?”
“Of course, Faith too.” I laughed with her. “She communicates with us all the time. You just have to know how to listen.”
Francesca gazed down at the Poodle. Faith looked up. Their eyes met.
“I think she’s telling me she wants a peanut butter biscuit.”
“Really?” I lifted a brow. “I think she’s telling you it’s time to open your books and get to work.”
“Maybe we can do both.” Francesca lifted Faith gently off her legs. Then she stood up and reached for her backpack.
“I think that’s a perfect idea,” I said.
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