The storms from the previous night had cleared by morning when she came down the stairs. She walked into the kitchen and immediately saw the note that Henry had left on the counter. Picking it up, she read the brief message saying he had gone to the grocery store and would be back soon.
Pouring herself a glass of orange juice, she had barely taken a sip when her phone rang, the country music song her mom loved letting her know that her mom was finally returning her call. She pulled the phone out of her back pocket and swiped the connect button. Walking back to the front part of the house, she pulled open the door and stepped out onto the porch.
“Hey, mom,” Makayla said in a forced happy voice. “I was worried about you.”
“Hi, honey,” Teresa said in a soft voice. “I saw you called. I’ve been really busy and time just sort of got away from me.”
Makayla made a face, but didn’t let her true feelings show. The first thing she wanted to ask was what was keeping her mom so busy she didn’t have time for her daughter. She pushed that thought away as all it would do is start a fight.
“How’s the new place? Henry said you’re living in a condo or something?” She said instead as she sank down into the rocking chair Henry had sat in last night and set her glass of orange juice down next to it.
Teresa released a sigh that echoed over the phone. “It’s wonderful, right on the water. It… It reminds me a little bit of what it is like over there. How the counselor could find a place like this for so cheap just amazes me. I have a job, too. Nothing much, but it is a start. I’m working in a doctor’s office. Just paperwork and updating charts, but it is nice to get back into things,” she said.
“That’s great! I can’t wait to see you,” Makayla said, pulling her legs up and resting her heels on the bar that ran across the front of the rocker. “School starts in a week. I guess I should talk to Henry about bringing me home. I will need to get my class schedule.”
The knot in Makayla’s stomach tightened when her mom didn’t respond. It grew the longer she remained quiet. For a moment, Makayla wondered if they had gotten disconnected. She was about to check when she heard her mom draw in a deep breath.
“I think you should stay there,” Teresa said in a barely audible voice. “At least for a little while.”
Makayla’s feet hit the ground and she stood up. Biting her bottom lip, she paced back and forth as her mind tried to process what her mom was saying. No, she wasn’t going to stay here. She didn’t know anyone here except for Henry and Jason, now that Brian was gone. It wouldn’t have made any difference anyway. Brian had already graduated.
“No,” Makayla burst out in denial. “No, I need to come back to Tampa. I mean, it is my senior year. All of my friends are there and I have already planned out what I was going to do in school this year. Plus, Laura said she could get me a job down at the Smoothie place. I’ll be working and going to school, so you’ll barely know I’m there.”
Makayla stopped and grabbed one of the posts holding up the porch. Her fingers curled around the ornate metal as she waited for her mom to speak. They belonged together, couldn’t her mom see that? Yes, they’d had a rough time of it the last couple of years, but things would be different. They had Henry’s help now.
“I… I need time, Makayla,” Teresa finally said. “I have to find myself.”
Bitterness threatened to choke Makayla as she listened to her mom’s excuses as to why she needed Makayla to stay here with Henry. None of them mattered. As far as Makayla was concerned, they were all just excuses to tell her the same thing she had told her in the hospital… Her mom didn’t want to be a mom anymore. She was tired of having Makayla around.
“You will hardly know I’m there,” Makayla protested in a bitter voice. “I’ll be working and going to school. I can hang out with my friends, or even get a second job. I won’t get in your way, I promise.”
“It’s not that, Makayla,” Teresa whispered in a tired voice. “I’ve met someone. I want to see where this goes before….”
“Is it Rob?” Makayla demanded, letting go of the post and clenching her fist. “Are you back with him and the drugs? Is that why you don’t want me anymore?”
“No! No, I’m clean and Rob doesn’t know where I am,” her mom insisted. “It’s… It’s someone else. He’s different, Makayla. I just need time. I need you to stay with dad until I know what I’m doing. You don’t deserve to go through my screw ups anymore. You deserve a normal life. I’ve been a rotten mom, I know that. I… I just need time.”
Makayla didn’t say anything for several seconds. Her mind and heart rejected her mom’s excuses. Deep down, all she could think was her mom didn’t want to deal with her anymore. Swallowing down the bitter acid taste from the orange juice, she stared blindly at the road as Henry’s old blue truck pulled up out front.
“Henry’s back from the grocery store,” Makayla said in a dull voice. “I’ve got to help him get the groceries in.”
“Please understand,” Teresa begged. “I’ll call you soon. You’ll do fine. You’ll make new friends. It will be a fresh start for you… for both of us. I love you, honey.”
“Love you, too,” Makayla said automatically as the line went silent. “But, I’m not the one who needed the fresh start. I just needed you.”
Makayla slowly slid the phone into her back pocket. Henry glanced up at her, a look of concern on his face. She pulled on the mask of calm that she hid behind. Forcing a smile to her lips, she walked down the steps.
“You okay?” Henry asked, glancing at her again when she reached for several bags.
“Sure,” she replied with a shrug. “This looks like a lot of canned goods.”
“They go on the Defiance,” Henry said. “I was thinking it might be nice to take her on a bit longer trip.”
“Really?” Makayla asked in surprise. “Where?”
“I thought it would be nice to sail down to the Keys for a few days,” he said, slamming the back of the tailgate closed. “What do you think?”
Makayla looked out at the sleek sailboat. “When? You know school starts next week, don’t you? I….” Her voice faded when Henry grunted.
“Well, damn,” he said in disappointment. “When is your first break?”
“I don’t know,” she said, looking down at the heavy bags in her hands. “I thought you’d be taking me back to Tampa this weekend, but…” She looked up and drew in a deep breath. “But, mom said she thought it might be best if I stay here a little while longer. Maybe I can just drop out, you know, it isn’t that big a deal anymore. I could get my GED, instead.”
“NO!” Henry growled with a severe frown. “You aren’t dropping out of school. I’ll talk to Jason. He’s got kids in school. He’ll know what to do. We’ll get you enrolled in high school here. It can’t be all that difficult. Parents move all the time,” he said with a shrug. “We’ll just plan on taking the Defiance down on your next long break if the weather is good. It’s no big deal.”
Makayla watched as Henry turned on his heel and walked down the dock. She bit her lip and stared at his retreating back. Finally releasing a sigh of resignation, she followed him. Maybe her mom would change her mind. Maybe Henry would change his.
And maybe there really was a tooth fairy, she thought sarcastically to herself.
*.*.*
A week later, Makayla was wishing that there were such things as fairy godmothers and magical wishes as she stood in the office at Westwood High School. She stumbled forward when another group of students walked down the narrow corridor. There was nowhere to sit and barely any room to stand as she waited for a guidance counselor.
Henry had signed her up two days ago. The front receptionist had been overworked, trying to process the people waiting with the ringing phone. Another woman had come out to help, but she was even more harried than the other. The woman had shot out instructions so fast that Henry had growled for her to slow down. The exasperated look hadn’t been lost on Henry, neither had his temper.
“Next,” a tall, slender woman with thick, black hair and a tired smile called. “Makayla Summerlin.”
Makayla pushed away from the wall that she had been holding up for over an hour and stepped forward. Almost immediately, she had to back up again as three girls came down the hall. The tallest one pushed into her with a muttered curse.
“Ms. Hemmings, you need to slow down and get to class,” the counselor scolded as the three girls rounded the corner. “Makayla, come on in.”
Makayla rubbed her arm where the girl had hit her and nodded. She adjusted her backpack and stepped into the small, cramped room. She almost moaned when she saw that all the chairs were filled with files.
“Your files were faxed over this morning,” Mrs. Lambert said. “It looks like most of your prerequisites are out of the way. I’ll place you in Advanced Biology, Advanced Trig and Algebra, and a Creative Writing course for your elective. Based on your Standardized test scores, you might want to consider taking a few classes at the college. If you had enrolled sooner, I could have gotten you into dual enrollment. It looks like you were doing that at your last school. I can get you the paperwork and they may still be able to enroll you in some of the online courses before the drop/add period is up next week.”
“Okay, thanks,” she mumbled, glancing out the door at the group of students. “Do you have any other classes that I can take other than Creative Writing? I did one already as a freshmen.”
Mrs. Lambert shook her head. “No, with your current classes,” she said, reaching for the paper that was printing. “If you’ve already had something similar, this will go toward one of your humanities classes. It should be easy. Mrs. Moore is a great teacher.”
“I was hoping to get a foreign language class,” Makayla argued. “They offered German at my other school. I’ve had three years. This would have been my fourth.”
Mrs. Lambert stood up and handed Makayla the paper she was holding. She smiled down at her, but Makayla could tell that the counselor was already thinking of her next student. A frown creased her brow when she saw that she also had gym.
“I’ve already had gym,” Makayla said in frustration. “I shouldn’t have to take it again.”
“We don’t offer German and gym is another one of your electives. Next,” Mrs. Lambert said, practically pushing Makayla out of her office. “If you still don’t like the schedule after things calm down in a few weeks, come back and see me. Aaron Pierce!”
Makayla jerked out of the way as a huge boy pushed by her. Gripping her schedule in her hand, she stared blindly down at it. She had no idea where any of her classes were, where the gym was, or even the cafeteria. Panic swelled inside her as she rounded the corner. Today was going to be a very, very, very long day.