by Bruce, Lexi;
He gets his order
and then sits down.
I’m glad you texted me,
he says, smiling.
I missed you,
and. .I was worried about you.
I look him in the eye
and tell him,
I’m sorry
for blowing you off.
I was afraid you’d hate me.
I was so moody at the dance.
And such a drunken mess that other night.
I have a lot of baggage.
But. .I like you a lot.
He grins even wider
when I tell him I like him.
185
I can feel my fear
melting into a smile.
Anna,
he says,
I don’t think I could ever
hate you.
And somehow I believe that.
186
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If you liked this book, check out another book from West 44 Books:
THE WICKED EDGE
BY NICOLE ELIZABETH
NICOLE ELIZABETH
ISBN: 9781538382554
MOM GOT THE JOB FIRST
Smoholla Indian School
on the Colville Reservation
in Omak needed teachers. And
Amanda Robbins had a degree.
She started teaching
fourth grade
in the K-12 tribal school.
Drove across the river
from Okanogan,
where we lived
and I went to school,
to Omak every day.
SOON SHE MET THE BOYFRIEND
which seems like
the wrong word
for the 46-year-old guy
whose trailer we live in now.
Damon Adams is a tutor
in Smohol a’s reading program.
I guess it’s hard to resist a man
who teaches kids to sound out words.
They fell in love across
sight words and stories
or whatever. It was his charm
and commitment, Mom says.
It was my muscles and
my dreamy Native eyes.
Damon flexes. And then he
started showing up to everything.
SOCCER GAMES AND
BIRTHDAY PARTIES
When he stuck his pull-up bar
in Mom’s bedroom doorway,
I knew he was going to
be around for a while.
It bothered me and my brother at first.
Someone around who wasn’t Dad.
But we knew
that Damon was a good guy.
Mom was
suddenly happy.
He brought her joy.
She teased him
about being a meathead.
And he pretended to get sad
until she gave him a kiss.
They’re always talking
about the stars.
MOM AND DAD NEVER FIT TOGETHER
Something I couldn’t
understand for a long time.
The divorce happened fast.
As a kid, it seemed very sudden.
A twisted, wide tree,
splitting in a lightning strike.
After four years,
it’s still hard to let go.
Dad moved to the East Coast.
As far as he could get, it seemed.
And we stayed in Washington.
We get to visit in the summers,
but I miss him. How can your dad
be your dad over a phone?
After, Charlie left too. He graduated high school the year before last.
Mom decided she and I needed
something fresh.
Wal s without her old memories
stuck in the trim and the paint.
SO WE MOVED TO DAMON’S TRAILER
Charlie left for Seattle.
Making his way at University of Washington with a loud girlfriend and
all of his Dave Matthews CDs.
He was gone and,
like Dad, I knew
he wouldn’t come back.
Why would he?
I am getting used to it.
The trailer is smal ,
but I have my own room.
For Mom, it’s a half hour
closer to Smohol a.
It’s also out of
Okanogan school lines.
So my mother decided
I would come to school with her.
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ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Lexi Bruce is from Buffalo, New York, and received a degree in English and creative writing from Canisius College. She enjoys bicycling around her city and hiking whenever she can get out of the city. Lexi knows firsthand the toll divorce can take on a family, and on a young person hoping to find a healthy relationship.
She wants this book to be a sign of hope for anyone who is going through this.
ISBN: 9781538382646
www.west44books.com
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