Authors: S. E. Campbell
How to Get Dirt (8 page)
As Pickles
gazed
around the room, she realized she had five whole minutes in which to introduce herself to the girls sitting next to her. The idea frightened her.
She
turned
and
glanced
at Lily
, who
continued writing in her notebook with a purple, feather-topped pen.
“
Hello, my name is Pickles
.
”
Saying
nothing
, Lily
continued to scribble in her notebook.
“
Do you like to write?
”
Pickles asked.
“
I do. It looks like you
'
re doing something pretty serious.
”
Giving her a dark frown
, Lily picked up her chair and edged it two inches to the right. Lily then
turned
,
and
began speaking to a brunette across the aisle
,
who Pickles was pretty sure was named Francesca. Face burning, Pickles
stared
straight ahead.
No
.
I can
'
t let one snooty girl keep me from making friends, or else I
'
m going to be unhappy the entire year. I can just talk to somebody else.
Pickles turned around and
glanced
at Mary Lou
,
who
was examining her
manicure
.
“
I like your nails,
”
Pickles said.
Mary Lou
peered
at her
, raising
an eyebrow.
At least I
'
m not being ignored this time.
Pickles tried again.
“
I
'
m Pickles
,
”
she offered,
extend
ing
her hand.
“
Nice to meet you.
”
Completely ignoring
the
hand, Mary Lou continued to stare at her. Her lips pulled back over her teeth
,
revealing
a dark smear of red on
one
front tooth. Pickles knew better than to point it out,
and
she knew even more to not pursue a conversation with Mary Lou.
The girl
looked like a tiger about to strike.
Feeling sick to her stomach, Pickles
turned
and
stared straight ahead as a
plump, bespectacled teacher with flyaway hair
came into the room with a history book tucked under her arm. Pickles didn
'
t
think she
would be enjoying this class much, either.
****
Lunch was a blessing as much as it was a curse. When the bell rang to release them from class, Pickles had no idea
who she was going to sit with.
She clambered to
her
feet
with
her knees clack
ing
together
, grabbed her back
pack
,
and
prayed the
day would get better. She
had just started walking
down the aisle when somebody kicked her leg from behind
, sending her on a flying trajectory forward.
T
he carpet
rose to meet her
.
Pickles
gasped
,
blinking
in
hurt,
surprise
, and confusion
.
“
Oh, look at the fatty,
”
Mary Lou said.
“
Maybe you should lay off those pickles, Pickles, and then you could do more than roll around on the floor.
”
With her face burning, Pickles struggled to her feet
to run
from the classroom as fast as her legs could carry her. She went inside
a bathroom
, selected a toilet, and drew up her knees
to cry
. She
wept
until she
felt puke
might just come out her nose.
No way would she eat anything now
or go to the cafeteria to get some food.
She stayed in
the
bathroom stall all the way
until
she heard the bell through the
bathroom
door
. Unfortunately, she had to leave her sanctuary.
She unlocked the stall door
and eased out
. When she
stared
in the mirror, she
sighed. H
er
eyes were red
, making it obvious she had been upset
.
The other girls are going to
know they
got to me
. Maybe I should skip my next class
.
Yet she couldn
'
t stomach the idea of getting in trouble the first day and having Miranda get a phone call. She shuddered,
spun
, and walked out of the bathroom. When she went
into the hallway
, she kept her head down and walked with her jacket about her ears. A couple of girls giggled
as she passed them
,
so
she
knew they
were making fun of her. She wasn
'
t sure what they were saying, but she knew, deep down
, sometimes
it was better not to
know
.
****
Miranda dr
o
ve up to the curb
.
Pickles
trembled
and
her
queasy
stomach threatened to spew
. She felt as if she was about to burst from all of the bad, icky feelings inside of her. She couldn
'
t remember feeling this sad
or
angry, not even when she thought about her parents leaving her.
Sadly,
she didn
'
t even have anyone to tell about it. She didn
'
t want to be a trouble to David or Miranda.
Pickles opened the car door and sat down.
“
Hello, Pickles.
”
“
Hello,
”
Pickles said, shooting
Miranda
a nervous look.
Luckily, Miranda didn
'
t appear to notice anything.
She was grinning at the sidewalk as if a
shower of gold had burst from it
.
Maybe it will be easier to pretend nothing is wrong than I thought.
But Pickles wasn
'
t sure whether that was a good thing.
Â
Â
That night, after finishing her homework, she lay on the bed with the door cracked open
.
She heard someone softly call her name, and the door creaked so she sat up.
Both of her foster parents came in to see her
.
Forcing a smile on her face, she pretended everything was okay.
It would have been easier for her to have swallowed a bowling ball.
Miranda came over and sat by her
on the
bed.
“
Pickles, I realize today I seemed distant to
you. I
wanted to apologize. It was your first day of school, and I should have been more attentive to your needs. I
'
m sorry.
”
David came in too and sat by Miranda. He took her hand.
Worry clawed its way up her throat, fueling the tears that pricked the backs of her eyelids.
Don
'
t cry. Don
'
t cry.
“
How was school?
”
David asked.
“
How were your classes?
”
“
The classes were interesting,
”
Pickles said. That much, at least, was true.
“
Interesting,
”
David said, a smile crossing his face.
“
Oh, how I miss school. Time of my life. Interesting classes, g
ood friends, beautiful women.
”
Miranda
fake punched
David in the stomach
. He
massaged it
, feigning a wince.
“
Ouch.
”
Pickles smiled and Miranda play hit her too. The next
thing Pickles
knew, she was being tickled wildly from both sides
.
U
nder the attack of
their
fin
gers, she started to
giggle
.
Soon she was laughing so
hard she
couldn
'
t stop,
tears of mirth pouring
down her cheeks. Miranda and David were both laughing too.
David and Miranda collapsed into each other
'
s arms and Pickles flopped backward onto her bed, gasping for breath
. David and Miranda
laid
down
too. David
grabbed one
of her
hand
s
and then Miranda grabbed the other.
“
I
'
m so
glad you
'
re
here, Pickles,
”
Miranda said.
“
Me too,
”
David said.
“
But we do have
something we
need to tell you.
”
Her blood ran cold. What was it? Were they going to tell her that her time here was up?
She
'
d had such an awful day already. She couldn
'
t handle the thought of losing her family, too. She gripped their hands harder, as if doing that could keep her with them. Already, she loved them so much.
“
Are you okay, Pickles?
”
Miranda asked.
“
Yeah,
”
Pickles said,
“
just tell me, please.
”
Both Miranda and David exchanged looks.
“
I
'
m pregnant,
”
Miranda said, her face splitting into a grin.
“
Isn
'
t that great? That was why I was so out of it today. I wanted to take the test, but I was nervous.
”
Miranda was going to have a baby. Happiness mingled with
sadness
.
Pickles
wasn
'
t sure how she could feel two opposite
emotions
at the same time, but she could. She was
glad Miranda
was having a baby, but she knew something else too. In a case like this, she was a replacement child. The moment the baby came, she was going to be moving out.
“
I
'
m so happy for you,
”
Pickles
forced
out
, her heart feeling as though it was going to crack in two
.
“
I have wanted a baby for so long,
”
Miranda said, hugging her close.
“
Both of us have. We tried and tried. Then we gave up and decided to adopt, which led us down the road to you. Now we
'
re finally getting what we
'
ve
always wanted. A family.
”
With a smile, Pickles allowed both
of her foster parents
to hug her. It
became official, then
.
T
oday was the worst day ever. She had to talk to Mrs. Beazley. She had to get all of these feelings off of her chest, before they crushed her.