Chapter 2

Maggie

Maggie pulls on the itchy knee socks, part of her uniform for St. Ambrose Academy. She’d been excited about the uniform when she first started. She thought the girls who went to St. Ambrose looked so smart in their kilts, white blouses, and navy cardigans. After a month of wearing the uncomfortable clothing, her enthusiasm has waned.

Starting seventh grade at St. Ambrose has meant lots of big changes for Maggie. The school is farther from home, so she has to leave early in the morning. Her father drops her off on his way to work. She’s also learned how to take the city bus home, which has shown her a whole new side of the city. Luckily, her best friends, Brianne and Lexi, also got into St. Ambrose and the three of them are on the bus together. St. Ambrose is where her mother went, and from a young age, Maggie hoped she’d go there too.

There’s more homework, and no boys, which Maggie minds more than she thought she would. Not because she particularly liked any of the boys at her old school, but the energy in the room is different without them. It’s been a month of getting used to new things and Maggie is glad she has Harvey to come home to.

Nothing makes her happier than to put her key in the lock on her front door and hear Harvey skittering across the tile floor of the front entrance to greet her.

Of course, she’d learned last fall what it meant to lose Harvey. It hadn’t been her fault; she’d been on holiday with her family when Harvey had run off. Maggie still isn’t sure if it was fortunate or not that he’d been found by Austin, a boy who volunteered at Brayside Retirement Villa. Austin and his grandpa had taken good care of Harvey, but he’d done nothing to help Harvey find his real home and for that, Maggie can never forgive Austin.

If nothing else, losing Harvey proved to Maggie just how precious he is to her.