“I don’t mind studying,” Meg said. “I like Latin.”
“How nice for you. In case you didn’t know, Latin is a dead language. Who do you think you are? Mary Fox? Don’t bother. I doubt you’ll get into Yale.”
“I’m not applying there.”
Claire had come into the room. She got a banana and some peanut butter. It was her favorite sandwich combination. Their mother was usually up late waiting up for Elv to come home, so Claire and Meg had made a vow to let her sleep in in the mornings.
“And here’s your shadow,” Elv announced as Claire got out the loaf of bread. Lately, she felt jealous of Meg. Elv sat down next to her. She made sure she was a little too close. Suddenly, she was famished. “Are there any more English muffins?” she asked Meg.
Claire laughed as she prepared two sandwiches.
Elv turned to her “What?”
“You’re mean to her, but you want her to make you breakfast.”
“You’ve just turned against me because you used to be my slave and now you’re hers,” Elv said smartly to Claire.
Claire stuck out her tongue and Elv laughed, amused. “Am I supposed to be insulted?”
“Claire is not a slave.” Meg said quietly. She packed up her books and got her coat.
“I guess you’re not eating that.” Elv grabbed what was left of Meg’s English muffin and stuffed it into her mouth. “Bye, slave,” she said to Claire, who was following Meg out of the room, carrying the two sandwiches in a lunch bag for later. “Bye, Curly Sue,” she chirped to Meg, who cringed, ever conscious of her hair.
“Bye, bitch,” Claire shot back.
Elv laughed out loud. Claire had spunk. “Ouch.” Elv clutched at her heart, grinning all the while. “That hurt.”
“I was kidding!” Claire protested.
“Come on,” Meg said, pulling on Claire’s arm. “I told you. Don’t talk to her.”
Claire thought about Elv all that day. She thought about her while she should have been paying attention in her classes, and again during soccer practice, which was held in the gym where Elv used to work on routines with the gymnastics team and the dance club, and then again at her piano lesson. Ever since the bad thing had happened, Elv had hid her true self away. People thought they knew her, but they didn’t know the first thing about her.
IT STARTED SNOWING late in the afternoon, big wet flakes, the first snow of the year. Everything smelled fresh, like clean laundry. Claire walked home because the bus had already left while she was at piano lessons in the music room. She was wearing sneakers and her feet were freezing. In some ways it was liberating not to have any friends. Ninth grade was rife with petty jealousies and cliques. Claire had nothing to do with any of it. The Story sisters were on the outside.
As she headed through town, Claire saw her father’s white Miata parked behind the grocery store, in the far lot that nobody used. He took such good care of that car, Claire was surprised he would drive it in the snow. He had a Jeep that was his everyday car. The Miata, their mother had said, was his midlife crisis car. Claire had seen Alan and Cheryl driving through town in the summer, the top down, looking like the couple in Two for the Road, her mother’s favorite movie. Maybe their relationship would fall apart for them the way it had in the film. Maybe they’d get what they deserved.
Claire walked around the market in the falling snow, past the trash barrels. It was already getting dark and the sky was inky. The snowflakes had taken on a blue cast. Claire went up to the car and knocked on the window. The glass was foggy and she couldn’t see inside. “Dad?”
The window rolled down and there was Elv. “I can’t get this fucking thing in gear.”
“Are you crazy?” Claire took a step back. She felt a wave of excitement. “What’d you do? Break into his house?”
“Get in,” Elv said. “I need you to help me.”
Claire stared at her sister. Elv wasn’t wearing a coat. Her hair was pushed back with a black velvet headband that Claire recognized as Meg’s.
“Get in! I just wanted to have some fun, so I borrowed it for a little while. But I can’t shift and drive at the same time. Hurry up.”
Claire went around and got into the car. It smelled like smoke. She and Elv looked at each other and laughed. They had missed each other.
“You are crazy,” Claire said.
“Crazy like a fox.” Elv grinned.
“Crazy like a loon,” Claire added.
“Crazy about you.” Elv got down to business. It would be so much easier getting back and forth to see Lorry if she could drive into the city. She needed to practice. “You see the picture on the gearshift? Follow that. Do what I tell you and we’ll be just fine. Okay?”
“Okay,” Claire agreed. She took her sister’s hand. “I shouldn’t have let them do it,” she said. She’d been wanting to say this ever since that day when they went to New Hampshire. “We thought they would find a place that would help you.”
Elv withdrew her hand and looked away. “I can help myself.”
“I was afraid you would die from using drugs.” Claire blinked back tears.
Elv handed her a Kleenex from a box in the back of the car. “I don’t blame you. I know it wasn’t your idea.”
Claire began to cry in earnest.
“It’s okay.” Elv wrapped her arms around her little sister. “I know you’d never do anything to hurt me.” That’s when Claire knew they didn’t have to talk about it anymore. She felt lucky and free and utterly grateful to be with her sister, who was more beautiful than anyone else in the entire stupid town.