Embittered Ruby (29 page)

“
The
Olivia? The one you guys keep promising to tell me about but never do? We’re having that talk tonight.” Carmen needed to get that story for her mystery book. Speaking of that, who did she need to see to actually get her hands on an empty notebook?

“Come on. I’ll introduce you.” Tricia clasped Carmen’s hand.

Carmen pulled back. “No. It’s okay. There’s no need to bother them.” How embarrassing.

Tricia tugged harder. “Come on. They won’t bite. I promise.” She marched Carmen over to the cluster of people where Justin held court.

“Hey guys. Carmen is one of our new girls. She’s from New York.”

No way was Carmen going to correct Tricia and admit she was from New Jersey, let alone Hackensack. New York wasn’t a lie because she hadn’t said it herself, right? Plus it was her dad’s address. She could have mail sent there if she wanted to.

“This is Ginny Mansfield and her daughter Olivia.”

Carmen shook their outstretched hands. Next she’d have to shake Justin’s. Would it be too obvious if she wiped hers on her jeans before touching him? Because she wouldn’t be wiping them on anything afterward. Ever.

“This is Justin, Ben and Alicia’s son.”

“Pleased to meet you.” Yep. That was the voice from the stage at church that morning.

Carmen averted her eyes as the flush crept up her neck. At least he hadn’t reached for her clammy hand.

“And this is Mark Stapleton. He and Ginny are the ones getting married here at Diamond Estates in a few weeks.”

Mark pumped Carmen’s hand.

“Congratulations.” Couldn’t she just go back to her seat? Meeting people was such an awkward experience. The moment of that first meeting was when people sized each other up. It was when first impressions were locked in and the bias toward a person became either positive or negative. How stressful to shake someone’s hand knowing that was happening at that very moment.

“Where are Skye and Ju-Ju today? I didn’t see them at church.” Tricia’s eyebrows furrowed.

“Skye had to work at the mall, and Ju-Ju’s home sick with the flu. I’m supposed to take her a doggie bag. And a Ding Dong.” Olivia laughed. “You know Ju-Ju. No surprise there.”

It couldn’t get any more embarrassing than just standing there while they all talked about stuff that had nothing to do with Carmen. “It was nice to meet you all.” Carmen slunk away to her table where Leila sat alone.

“Hey. Where’ve you been all day?” Had she been sitting there when they stepped away for introductions? If so, why hadn’t she joined them?

“Nowhere. Here. I don’t know.” Leila shrugged.

She seemed fine, but did Leila feel left out? She never jumped in or made her opinion known about anything. She went with the flow, but only if someone singled her out and asked her to participate. Was that how she liked it? Or maybe she felt insecure. Carmen would have to find out sometime. With Leila, she couldn’t come right out and ask her something personal like that. At least not in that setting.

How about something with less pressure? “What do you like to do with your free time?”

Leila smiled. “My free time? I don’t know. I like to listen to music, and I babysit. Oh, I like gardening. It’s probably my favorite hobby.”

“That’s cool. Like flowers and stuff?”

“No, I mean vegetables, herbs, that sort of thing.”

Carmen sat forward in her chair. “I’ve always wanted to do that. I want to be a chef, you know. Fresh ingredients are always the best. You’ll have to give me some tips.”

“I’d love to. Maybe we can even plant some things in the spring.”

The spring? They would still be at Diamond Estates then. Even long enough to plant something and wait for it to grow. Her baby would have been close to being born around that time. The enormity of her commitment to be at Diamond Estates hadn’t quite registered with Carmen until that very moment. Could she last that long?

Y
ou getting up for prayer this time, sleepyhead?” Kira stood on Leila’s bed railing and peered over the edge at Carmen.

“You think I should?” Carmen smirked and threw back the covers. “Is the bathroom open?”

“Yep. But you’ve only got twelve minutes. I’d leave in ten. We’ll meet you down there.”

Carmen padded across the empty room and used her ten minutes to wash her face and brush her teeth. A shower would have to wait. At least the place was all girls—no one to impress. Unless she counted Ben. Which she didn’t.

The warm washcloth comforted her tired eyes. Carmen stared into the mirror.
You can do this. Fake it till you make it
.

Dressed in Juicy sweats and ready to go, Carmen had two minutes to get down to the prayer room. She couldn’t be late. It wasn’t an option. That would be like thumbing her nose at the rules—Ben would not be happy with her, and he’d make a huge deal out of it. Carmen jogged down the stairs, taking them two at a time. She skidded to a stop just in time to enter the foyer before the grandfather clock began its countdown to six o’clock.

Deep breath.

Carmen smoothed her sweatshirt and entered the prayer room at the fifth gong.

“Welcome, Carmen. We’re glad you could join us.” Ben smiled.

“Was there ever a doubt?” Carmen looked around the room. What was she supposed to do? Join her roommates in their cluster? Or was she supposed to pray alone until she earned the right to commiserate with her buddies?

Ben held out an arm and gestured to the room. “Feel free to find a quiet place by yourself or join a cluster. I want to encourage you, Carmen, to open your mind and heart. Let down your guard and see what happens. You never know what might happen. Be open to anything.”

“I’ll try.” Yeah. Probably wasn’t going to happen. But she could pretend with the best of them. She selected a spot near the window depicting the Last Supper and huddled on a floor pillow. If she sat with others, they might pray out loud, or worse, expect her to.

Carmen surveyed the space. How many of the girls were praying for real, and how many were totally blowing it off? Some had to be sleeping. That was actually a pretty good idea. But Ben would be watching her closely this first week. She should be on her best behavior.

Here goes. Carmen closed her eyes. She opened one no more than a slit and saw that many people were speaking in whispers or at least moving their lips. Carmen’s mouth formed the words of a pretend prayer. “I pledge allegiance to the flag…”

Prayer out of the way, now she had to deal with school. That would be interesting. How would classes work in a house with twenty-five girls? Carmen stood at her dresser and looked at her options. Stay in her sweats or actually put something decent on? At least jeans.

Pulling on her favorite pair, Carmen strained to hear the conversation in the bathroom. Tricia spoke softly to Leila about how the day would go. Breakfast then straight to school. Carmen’s stomach rumbled at the thought of food. “You guys almost ready?”

“Coming now.” Tricia came out of the bathroom looking like she’d been pulled off the pages of
Cosmo
. A gorgeous pumpkin-colored sweater fit snugly over a lace cami. The orange brought out the rich tones of her black skin. Her hair, usually straightened, had been left curly and wild.

Carmen would have never thought that raspberry lipstick would look right with the sweater, but it was actually the perfect complement, and it showed off her bright smile. The dark jeans and camel boots finished off the perfect look. “Do you do this every day?” Carmen gestured at Tricia’s body.

“This? You mean get dressed?”

“Right. Next you’re going to say, ‘What, this old thing?’” Carmen laughed and turned to Leila. “You ready?”

“Guess so.” Leila exhaled and slung her backpack over her shoulder.

They paraded silently to the library, which was another room they’d skipped on the tour. One she’d been eager to see.

They stepped inside to a world of books. The walls were lined with sagging shelves from floor to ceiling. Ladders hung on rails on each wall, giving access to the volumes above. A big picture window overlooked the pasture. Plush seats near the windows offered a comfy spot to curl up with a good book. Carmen could kill some hours in here for sure.

“Have a seat, girls,” Tammy signed and spoke in her broken dialect. “Welcome to your first day of school here at Diamond Estates.”

Wait. Was she deaf? “Thanks,” Carmen mumbled as she chose the seat beside Tricia and across from Kira at a table. They worked at tables? Carmen hadn’t done that since Mr. Wersal’s third-grade class. The fourth seat at the table remained empty. Where was Leila? Carmen craned her neck to look behind her. Oh, for Pete’s sake. Leila stood back by the window. What was she waiting for? A personal invite?

Carmen motioned to the empty seat. Leila beamed and scurried to fill it.

“Tricia, would you please show Carmen and Leila around the classroom and give them an overview on how we do our work?”

Carmen stared at Tammy’s fingers as they flew in sign language. How could a deaf teacher work with twenty-four girls who didn’t know sign language? That would be interesting.

“Happy to.” Tricia jumped up and crooked a finger. “C’mon with me.”

They approached a countertop with bins labeled with the various subjects. Tricia slid the one marked M
ATH
over to herself. “Here’s the way it works. You pull out the workbook that corresponds with your lesson plan—Tammy will help you figure out what that is.” Tricia flipped the book open. “You do the work then take the test. That’s it.”

“What do you mean, ‘do the work’?” Carmen flipped through the pages.

“Actually do the lessons in the workbook. That’s classwork.”

“Where’s the test, and when is it?” Carmen hated tests, but she usually rocked them. At least it didn’t sound like there would be that much work involved.

“You have to request it from that day’s teacher, and then you take it at your desk.”

Sounded easy enough.

Leila set her workbook down. “What if I need help with something?”

“That’s what the teacher is here for. Some days it’s Donna, other days Tammy. If they don’t know the answer, they’ll know how to find out what it is.” Tricia smiled and waited. “No more questions?” She turned toward the front of the classroom. “Tammy? We’re ready for you to evaluate them for a starting point.”

“Great. Come on over, girls. Have a seat at your table.” Tammy laid down two packets. “This is a standardized test. This isn’t scored for a grade—it’s only a placement test. Do the best you can, but don’t guess. We need to get an accurate assessment of your skills.”

Like she knew she would, Carmen placed well above grade level. Kind of awkward to see that Leila, a year younger than Carmen, was about a year behind where she should be. How had that happened? She seemed smart enough. Though how could one really tell algebra skills or geography knowledge from friendly conversations? No one else really noticed though. And Carmen sure didn’t want to draw attention to it.

As the day drew to a close, Carmen stretched her back and cracked her knuckles. She had to admit, schooling this way was pretty awesome. She got to work at her own pace and see immediate accomplishment. It was like the system was made for her. She worked through two entire workbooks that first day and passed the tests to move on to the next one. At that rate, she’d finish high school on schedule without a bit of trouble. Thank heaven for small favors.

Tammy walked up to Carmen’s side. “Great job today.” She laid a memo on top of Carmen’s papers.

C
armen peeked into the window that ran up the side of Donna’s office door. Was she in there? Oh, there she was. Kneeling at her chair. Was she praying? Probably for Carmen and their first counseling session. Or maybe there was something else that Donna needed to pray about. Was there a Mr. Donna? A boyfriend? An ex? Carmen would have to dig a little to find some details to add to the mystery book she intended to compile as soon as she could get her hands on a notebook.

“I’m here, Donna.”

“Hey there.” She stood up from her crouch, her knees popping and cracking. “Feel like walking? I’m sick of being inside, and pretty soon the snow is going to start piling up—not like this inch or two we have now.”

Fresh air sounded good—and a more casual counseling session even better. “Can I go get my coat?”

“Yep. Meet me at the back door in five minutes. Okay?”

Carmen scurried back to her room, found her winter coat and gloves in the pile on the floor of her closet, then reversed her path to go meet Donna.

Of the three counselors at Diamond Estates, why had Ben assigned her to Donna? Maybe the choice was purely random, or maybe there was some reason that he expected them to relate well. If only she could figure that out so she could play into that a bit when they had this first meeting.

Or she could try being herself. No lies. No pretenses.

Nah.

She huffed a steam patch on the back door and traced a heart through it. Nate. She’d tried to keep him from her thoughts since leaving home, but every once in a while she had an unsuccessful moment, and thoughts of him crept in. Where was he? What was he doing? Did he have a new girlfriend already? Did he hate Carmen?