“All right,” said Morgan as they took their seats. Then as Mrs. Robertson began to drone on about punctuation and sentence structure, Morgan began to daydream about snowboarding down a white snowy peak. Naturally, she was able to do this with grace and style. And, Morgan realized, in her daydream her hair was loose and flowing. Maybe it was time to lose the beaded braids. Morgan fingered a braid. Her hair was past her shoulders now. She wondered what it would look like without the braids. Perhaps she could get the curl relaxed a little, the way her mother did.
“Morgan Evans?” A shrill voice interrupted her daydreaming.
Morgan adjusted her glasses and looked up at Mrs. Robertson who was looking directly at Morgan.
“Can you tell me … does this sentence require a semicolon or a comma?”
Morgan studied the sentence that Mrs. Robertson was pointing to on the board. She had no idea which was the right answer, but since there was a fifty-fifty chance, she decided to guess. “A comma.”
“No,” said Mrs. Robertson crisply. “And if you had been listening, you would’ve known that this particular sentence requires a semicolon,” and then she went on to explain the reason why. Although, even as Morgan listened, she wasn’t so sure she got it. Why wouldn’t a comma work just as well? Just the same, this little embarrassment was a good reminder that she needed to pay attention. Daydreaming was okay when you weren’t at school, but Morgan knew that it would be a mistake to get behind in class.
At noon, Morgan went to their regular table in the cafeteria. As usual, Morgan had a sack lunch from home. And, as usual, she and Carlie and Amy were the first ones at their table. This was because the three of them usually brought lunches from home. Morgan felt like they were the lucky ones. Amy mostly brought food from the restaurant. Carlie usually had something that smelled delightfully Mexican. And Morgan had whatever Grandma had decided she needed for that day. Morgan knew that Emily ate the cafeteria food for two reasons. One reason was top secret: because Emily was entitled to vouchers. Fortunately, their school’s vouchers looked exactly like regular lunch tickets. The other reason was because Emily’s mother wasn’t much into cooking. The reason Chelsea ate cafeteria food was a mystery. But Chelsea claimed she liked it. For the most part, Chelsea ate the same thing everyday — salad and diet soda. Morgan didn’t think it was the most healthy or even appetizing meal, but she had learned early on that it was better not to mention this to Chelsea.
“You are not going to believe this,” said Emily as she and Chelsea sat down to join them.
“What?” asked Morgan.
“Chelsea invited me to go to the resort with her and her family.”
“No way,” said Amy with a disappointed frown. “Why didn’t you ask me, Chelsea?”
Chelsea shrugged. “I thought you had to work, Amy.”
“I would’ve gotten out of it.” Amy scowled. “I suppose this means that only Morgan, Carlie, and I will be going to Miss McPhearson’s tea now.”
“Sorry to miss that,” said Emily. “Tell her hello for me, okay?”
“But why Emily?” demanded Amy, still unwilling to give it up. “You guys aren’t even that good of friends.”
“For one thing, Emily actually knows how to snowboard.” Chelsea stuck a straw in her soda. “So she was kinda ahead of the game after Carlie dropped out.”
“I am so jealous,” said Carlie.
“I’m sorry,” said Emily. “If you could’ve gone I wouldn’t —”
“That’s okay,” said Carlie. She smiled at Chelsea now. “I’m glad you have someone to go with you.”
Chelsea nodded. “Yeah, that’ll make it more fun.”
Morgan just stared at Emily. Was she honestly planning on going with Chelsea? Those two didn’t even get along that well. “How do you even know you can go yet, Emily?” she asked as she opened a plastic bag and removed half a sandwich.
“I let her use my phone,” said Chelsea. “She already called her mom at work.”
“And Mom said it was fine.”
Morgan wanted to ask her what this meant about Thanksgiving. Were Emily’s mom and brother and Mr. Greeley still coming to Morgan’s house? But she couldn’t think of a way to say it without sounding mad. Instead, she just focused on her lunch. Meanwhile, the other girls chattered away about snowboarding and clothes and most of it went right over Morgan’s head.
By the end of the day, Morgan knew that she was jealous. But she also knew that she didn’t want anyone to know. As usual, the five girls met at their lockers.
“It’s weird not having soccer to go to,” said Chelsea as she closed her locker.
“And basketball doesn’t start up until after Christmas,” said Carlie.
“Well, I’m going to go by the church and pick up the forms for the ski trip,” said Morgan. “If anyone wants to get one, they’ll be at the clubhouse.”
“Do you need a ride?” asked Chelsea. “My mom’s picking me up.”
Morgan considered this. On one hand she felt sort of mad at Chelsea right now … but on the other hand, it was a quite a walk to the other end of town to get to the church and then all the way back home again. “Sure,” she told Chelsea. “That’d be nice.”
“Anyone else?” offered Chelsea.
“I have to go to the restaurant,” said Amy. “Work, work, work … all I do is work.”
Emily laughed. “Yeah, right. I’ve seen how busy it is at the restaurant this time of day. You and your sisters and brother usually watch TV and eat.”
Amy made a face, then laughed. “Well, I can complain if I want to.”
“And I have to get home to watch my brothers,” said Carlie. “Mom and Tia Maria are getting a head start on Thanksgiving shopping. But at least I’ll be earning money for the ski trip.”
Then Carlie and Amy left to walk home together.
“How about you, Emily?” asked Chelsea. “Want a ride?”
“Sounds good.”
So the three of them went out to wait for Chelsea’s mom. As they waited, Chelsea and Emily discussed what Emily would need to bring on Thursday. Morgan pretended to be distracted with a sketch she was creating on the front of her notebook. It was a tiger, partially hidden behind a tree.
“You can borrow my old ski pants,” said Chelsea. “In fact, you can have them. I don’t need them anymore.”
“Cool,” said Emily. “What color are they?”
“They’re just navy blue, but they are Tommy Hilfiger,” said Chelsea. “In fact, you can have the jacket that goes with them too. It’s a little tight on me anyway, and I don’t think you’re as big on top as I am.”
“Bragging again, are you?” teased Emily.
Chelsea laughed. “We all develop at different rates,” she said in a voice that Morgan knew was an imitation of their health teacher, Miss Perrell.
“Yes,” said Emily in the same tone. “And we do not make fun of others just because their bodies are different than ours.”
“There’s my mom,” said Chelsea.
Soon all three were in Chelsea’s car. “I told Morgan we’d give her a lift to her church so she can get the stuff for the ski trip.”
“That’s fine,” said Mrs. Landers. “Hello, Emily and Morgan. I haven’t seen you two since the park project. How’s it going?”
“Okay,” said Morgan in a slightly flat tone.
“Good,” said Emily. “Thanks.”
“Guess what, Mom?”
“What?”
“Emily is going to come with us to the resort for Thanksgiving.”
“That’s wonderful. I was just feeling sad that you wouldn’t have a friend up there. Meredith and Jason are each bringing someone.” She glanced at Emily. “Are your parents okay with that? Do I need to call them or anything?”
“She just has a mom,” said Chelsea in a quiet voice.
“Yes, that’s right. I knew that. Is your mother all right with you going?”
“Yeah,” said Emily. “Chelsea let me call my mom on her cell p
hone. And it’s okay. I mean, as long as Mom knows where we’ll be and phone numbers and all that sort of thing.”
“I’ll write it all out,” said Mrs. Landers. “Chelsea can bring it to school tomorrow. And your mom can call me if she has any questions.”
Morgan kept her eyes on her drawing of the tiger. But as she filled in the stripes, she felt seriously jealous and angry. Plus, she kept asking herself, why hadn’t she simply walked to the church? The exercise probably would’ve helped with her attitude — and she wouldn’t have been subjected to all this.
“You can just drop me off at the church, Mrs. Landers,” said Morgan in voice that sounded much brighter than she felt. Still, she thought this might be a way to escape the little happy party going on between Chelsea and Emily right now.
“Don’t you want a ride back home?” asked Chelsea.
“No, I need to talk to Pastor George about something,” Morgan told them, although that wasn’t completely true. But she would make it true. She would go and tell Pastor George about her jealousy fit, and perhaps he would straighten her out. It seemed like a good plan. “I can just walk home afterward.”
“Well, if you’re sure,” said Mrs. Landers as she pulled up in front of the church.
“Yes,” said Morgan. “And the exercise will do me good.”
“But while we’re here,” said Mrs. Landers, “Why don’t I just make out a check for the ski trip. Then it will be all taken care of.”
“Works for me,” said Chelsea. “I’ll go in with Morgan and get the form while you write the check.”
“I’ll go in too,” said Emily.
So the three of them went into the church office together, where Chelsea and Emily each picked up their own forms and Morgan got three.
“I’m going to take this out to my mom to fill out,” said Chelsea after Morgan introduced her to the church secretary.
“At this rate, it looks like you’re going to fill up the whole ski trip, Morgan,” said Mrs. Albert. “Cory and Janna should be pleased.”
Morgan folded the papers and slipped them into her backpack. “I don’t think I can fill up the whole ski trip, Mrs. Albert. Just five spots … for me and my friends.”
“Well, good for you.” Mrs. Albert smiled. “And you’re going too, Emily?”
“I hope so,” said Emily.
Morgan was about to ask if Pastor George was around, but then realized that it could pose a problem to her escape plan if he wasn’t there right now. So she decided to just chat with Mrs. Albert. “We’re going to be making things for the bazaar,” she said. “And our friend Carlie’s dad is going to help us cut down Christmas trees, and we’ll make wreaths and things to sell so that we can earn our way for the ski trip.”
“Sounds like you girls have a busy month ahead.”
Just then Chelsea reappeared with her completed form and check. “Here you go,” she told Mrs. Albert. “All set.”
“Well, we’ve had a few deposits, but you’re the first one to be paid in full, Chelsea. Thank you.”
“No problem,” said Chelsea. “Ready to roll, Em?”
“See ya later, Morgan,” called Emily.
“Yeah,” said Chelsea. “Later.”
Then Morgan was alone in the office with Mrs. Albert. She felt embarrassed and slightly abandoned, and wasn’t even sure that she really wanted to talk to Pastor George now.
“Was there something else you needed, dear?” asked Mrs. Albert.
“No,” said Morgan. She felt a lump growing in her throat.
“Why didn’t you leave with your friends?”
“I … uh … I wanted to walk home,” she said, blinking back tears.
“Oh …”
Then Morgan said good-bye and turned and slowly made her way to the front door. She wanted to be sure that the Mercedes was completely out of sight. It was. So she went out and began walking back toward home. Alone. The lump in her throat was growing bigger, and the breeze off the ocean was picking up. And, before long, the wind began to chill the tears that had sneaked down her cheeks.
chapter four
“Are you mad at me?” Emily asked Morgan on Wednesday.
“No, of course not,” said Morgan. The two of them were in the clubhouse, getting ready for the others to arrive for a quick Thanksgiving party that Amy had insisted they needed to have. Although Amy, at the moment, was nowhere to be seen.
“But you’ve been acting different,” said Emily.
“Different than what?” asked Morgan as she set out napkins and paper cups.
“Different like you’re mad or something.”
Morgan turned to face Emily now. Maybe it was time to be honest. “I guess I’m hurt,” she said.
“Because I’m going with Chelsea?”
Morgan shrugged. “I’d been looking forward to you coming over for Thanksgiving … I thought we were going to work on the polar socks.”
“But we can do that next week,” said Emily.
“I know, but …”
Just then Amy walked in carrying a pink box. “Happy Thanksgiving,” she said as she set the box on the table. “I made these myself.”
“Ooh, those are pretty,” said Emily as Amy opened the box to display cupcakes frosted in shades of yellow, orange, and gold and topped with candy corn.
“Chocolate,” said Amy. “And see how I tinted the frosting different colors?”
“These are really nice,” said Morgan.
“Here come Chelsea and Carlie,” said Emily, pointing out the window.
“Happy Thanksgiving,” said Chelsea as she set down a grocery bag. “I brought chips and soda.”
“I’ll put some music on,” offered Emily, going over to the old-fashioned record player and selecting a vinyl record.
Soon the five of them were eating and laughing and talking, and Morgan began to feel a little bit better, telling herself that it was just like old times. She knew she shouldn’t be so bummed about the fact that Emily was going to do something with Chelsea. All five of them were friends. And it was okay to do things with different people. Maybe she’d invite Carlie and Amy over during the weekend to work on socks. Morgan knew that jealousy was a sin. And she was going to do everything she could to get over it.
“The elf costumes for the Christmas parade arrived,” said Chelsea. “And I hate to admit it, but they’re pretty geeky looking.” She made a face. “I thought maybe we could rework them somehow since we don’t want to look like freaks up there on the float.” She pointed at Morgan. “You’re pretty good at that sort of thing. Maybe you can think of a way to make them look cool.”
“Sure,” said Morgan.
“Let’s plan on getting together next week then.” Chelsea looked at her watch and then at Emily. “Uh-oh, Em, we gotta go. My mom is probably already at your house by now.”
“But it’s not even five,” said Morgan.
“I know. We’re supposed to be on the road at five,” said Chelsea. “They have this big dinner at the lodge tonight, with live music and everything. We don’t wanna be late.”
“Sorry we can’t stay to clean up,” said Emily as Chelsea tugged her by the arm. “You guys have a good Thanksgiving.”
“You too,” called Amy.
“Don’t break any bones,” added Carlie.
“Have fun,” said Morgan, although her heart was not in it.
“I have to go too,” said Amy. “The restaurant is calling …”
“Me too,” said Carlie. “I told Mom I’d watch the boys tonight while she’s making Mexican wedding cakes.”
“Who’s getting married?” asked Amy as she pulled on her parka.
“No one,” said Carlie. “They’re actually just cookies, but Mom likes to make them for holidays.”
“I’ll clean up,” said Morgan as she picked up the paper plates and napkins and tossed them into a bag.
“Thanks!” called Carlie and Amy in unison. “See ya.”
Morgan took her time cleaning up the bus. She put
all the garbage away, then put the leftover sodas in the fridge and the chips in the cupboard. She wiped down the table and the counter and sink. Then she even went around and fluffed the pillows and things before she finally unplugged the strings of lights and turned off the heater. “Good-bye, old faithful bus,” she said as she turned off the last light. “Happy Thanksgiving.”
Back at her house, Morgan retreated to her bedroom. She knew that her mom was going out tonight with some single girlfriends who got together occasionally. She also knew that since it was Wednesday, Grandma would expect her to go to midweek service with her. The problem was that Morgan did not feel like going. She knew she should probably go anyway. Pastor George often said that the best time to go to church was when you felt the least like going, but somehow she didn’t think she could force herself tonight.
Morgan’s plan was to lie low. She would keep the light off in her room and pretend to be napping. Maybe Grandma would lose track of the time and forget all about going to church. After all, she was pretty wrapped up with getting things ready for tomorrow’s Thanksgiving feast. Because, as it turned out, Emily’s family and Mr. Greeley were still coming over. Just another reminder for Morgan that her best friend was off having fun with someone else.
At quarter past seven, it was late enough that Morgan knew they wouldn’t be going to church. But now she felt a little concerned too — as well as hungry. Grandma would usually have called Morgan to dinner by now. Maybe she actually went to church without her. Morgan went out into the living room and looked around. No Grandma. The kitchen was dark too. Then Morgan checked out the kitchen window, peeking into the carport, but Grandma’s car was there. Was it possible that Grandma had gone out with someone else tonight? Morgan looked around to see if there was a note. No note.
Finally Morgan decided to peek into Grandma’s room, although it seemed unlikely that she’d be in here. And there, with only a bedside lamp on, Grandma was stretched out on top of her bed with her Bible still open in her lap. Morgan felt a jolt of panic, like something was seriously wrong — was Grandma dead? Then she walked closer and saw that Grandma was breathing. She was simply asleep. Morgan tiptoed out of the bedroom and went to the kitchen to find something to eat. It looked like Grandma had been busy today. Lots of things, including several yummy-looking pies, were all ready to go for tomorrow. A big turkey occupied most of the refrigerator. No wonder Grandma was so tired.
Raising Faith Page 3