Emily’s family never even left Minnesota to go on vacation. They always did something like rent a lake house with the cousins or go to a resort town within a several hour drive. Maybe they’d go to a theme park and do some roller coasters. But always in Minnesota. Emily guessed that had something to do with the cost of taking six people on vacation, but whatever the reason, they just didn’t leave Minnesota.
Emily had only ever been on a plane one time herself. In the second year of Edison, there was a field trip to Washington D.C. (Emily had to sell candy bars to pay for the trip, and this is where the Catholic family came in handy.)
Was it crazy that Emily considered going off to live in a place she had never visited? A plane ride away?
No. Emily decided it wasn’t crazy. It was necessary. She had to escape this dark reality that was bringing her down. And that is why she took several days to plan her plot. She didn’t want to risk a “no.”
It was a Saturday, as he had been doing every weekend since Andy died, Pepper was off on a job site for the day doing overtime. The three kids were alone with Marie. She fed them lunch. Once her siblings settled in front of a movie, Emily went off to her bedroom to mess around on her cell, Marie made her usual whisky and coke. And then another. After she had about three, she lied on the couch behind Katie and Joey and fell in and out of sleep while they watched their movie. Like clockwork. This had been their Saturdays for about two months now.
Emily peered around the doorjamb and into the living room. Marie was lying down on the couch and sitting almost directly in front of the TV were Katie and Joey. The Disney Channel sang out some bubble gum pop cartoon film.
Emily saw Marie had drifted off and seemed out of it, almost asleep, but kept jolting up occasionally when the volume on the television surprised her. During a lull in the movie, Emily tiptoed over to her mom.
She sat quietly down on an armchair next to the couch where Marie was lying down.
Emily whispered, not really wanting to startle Marie too much from her slumber.
“Mom,” she whispered, “Mom…”
Marie opened her eyes and mumbled, “Huh?”
“Mom, I got this thing at school this week. It’s an application for a high school.”
“Mmmmmhmm,” Listening, but not.
“It’s a boarding school…”
At this, Marie opened her eyes completely. They were bloodshot. She propped herself up on her elbow and faced Emily.
“What? You want to go to boarding school?” Marie asked.
Shoot. This wasn’t going as Grace suggested. She was supposed to murmur “yes” in her sleep.
“Yeah. Kind of. I mean, not really, Mom. I just want to see if I can get accepted. I mean, it’s pretty elite. Like seriously, one of the best schools in America kind of elite.”
Her mom looked at her with eyes that struggled to concentrate but really wanted to.
“Come on, Mom. It would be a real accomplishment for me.”
Marie studied Emily.
“Ok. Ok. Yes. You go for it, honey. Just let me know what I need to do,” Marie replied and patted Emily on the knee.
CHAPTER NINE
“NOW THE QUESTION is, do we get dessert or do we get dessert?”
Grandmas were always right. So Emily chose lemon meringue pie.
Energetic and loud groups of diners devoured chicken wings and signature grills around them as waitresses buzzed about. A group of teens burst out laughing. A toddler threw some food. The restaurant was alive with people enjoying themselves. Emily’s Grandma had a way of picking her up whenever she needed it most. Going out to eat was a rarity in her family. So many mouths to feed made even McDonalds a pricey affair.
Emily loved her Grandma’s company. She was a cuddly, plump woman with a cotton ball of snow white hair and her smile of straight, pearly teeth made her feel youthful despite her age. She was warm but feisty and loved to tell stories about the parties and mischief she used to get up to in the “old days.”
“I think I got a real bargain on those pots,” said Grandma, referring to the glazed pots she bought at the home goods store.
Emily had no idea how much pots were supposed to cost, but she was happy her Grandma was pleased.
“Thanks for my lucky bamboo, Grams,” said Emily, “I wonder what kind of great things are coming my way?”
Her Grandma widened her eyes and lifted her shoulders in feigned wonder. Emily made the same gesture back.
“There were so many plants there. I wish I had a green thumb. I’ve always loved orchids but they’re really hard to grow. My friend Dorothy could grow anything. She was like the plant whisperer… Ah, that really makes me think of a funny story,” Grandma spoke with a smile on her face and eyes searching the depths of her memories.
“It was the sixties and Dorothy, the green thumb… do you remember my friend Dorothy?” asked Grandma.
Emily shook her head as she had met Dorothy at her grandparents fortieth wedding anniversary party many moons ago.
“So Dorothy had a daughter, Bridget is her name, a bit of a wild child. She is a really nice girl and was back then, too… you know she actually lives in Alaska now and does salmon fishing and everything. Very adventurous.”
Grandma thought back, Emily could see her visualizing faces of the past.
“So, anyway, back to this story. I walked into Dorothy’s house one day and she had some new plants on the windowsill in her living room.
I say, ‘Dorothy, when did you put those plants up?’ They were in a few bright pots, right on her main sill. She had this beautiful bay window, the kind where you put up nice photo frames and that.
Anyway, she says, ‘Aren’t they nice? Bridget asked me to look after them.’ and I say…”
Emily’s Grandma got a cheeky smile on her face, holding back tears of laughter.
“I say… ‘Dorothy, you know what those plants are, right?’
She says, ‘No, haven’t seen this variety…’”
Grandma shakes her head and throws it back, wanting to burst out laughing but containing herself for the punchline.
“Well, Emily, she had these… these…”
Grandma threw her forehead into her hand and shook her head. Emily could see her smile peeking out from the edges. Then, she looked up at Emily with raised eyebrows and wide eyes.
“… she had marijuana plants in ornate pots right on her sill for the whole world to see. I mean, I say, ‘Dorothy, those are pot plants, you know.’
She says, ‘Oh… well, I ever…’
But she was just too nice, I tell you what. She kept those pot plants on her sill until Bridget wanted them back and they were enormous by the time she did. She never moved them from that spot… curtains wide open for the whole world to see.”
Emily and Grandma both shared a giggle now.
“Oh my gosh… that’s funny Grams, I love that she just left them there… I guess, who would suspect, right? I mean, so she just left them there for real?”
“Well, back in those days marijuana wasn’t really thought of as a huge deal. The seventies were really where it started to be seen the way people view it now. People were pretty relaxed about it on the whole, but it was technically illegal. Anyway, Dorothy just said she promised Bridget she’d look after them and that was that. But Dorothy always seemed to give us one of those laughs. You know, when someone is just a bit gullible but so lovable at the same time. I do miss her… she was a gem.”
The waitress arrived with the desserts they had ordered. Grandma picked up her knife and fork and cut into her molten lava cake.
“You’ve had some great friends,” Emily said as she tucked into her lemony delight.
“Your Grandpa and I have been very blessed. Very lucky. We’ve had so many good times.”
And Emily knew her Grandma had always been the last one standing. She loved imagining her dolled up in a dress with jewelry and her hair coifed stylishly. Emily often went through the old albums in her grandparents' sp
are room admiring her what a good-looking couple her grandparents had been.
“You know, Emily,” her Grandma continued, “It can be hard to think about the past sometimes. Sort of bittersweet, you know? But it’s important to keep the memories of those who aren’t with us anymore alive.”
The pair went quiet. They didn’t have to say what they were both thinking. Emily felt the lemon tingle on her tongue.
“Andy sure did love lemon meringue pie. You know he would ask your mom to make that instead of cake for his birthday?”
Emily pursed her lips and looked at the elaborate pie, then up at her Grandma.
“He did? Why didn’t she make it for him?”
“Oh gosh, she did a few test runs but could never seem to get the meringue to fluff. I told her to just buy one, the Chancery on 99th does amazing ones, but she always insisted on making birthday cakes. He didn’t seem too bothered though… he seemed to like marble cake just as much.”
Emily remembered her brother taking seconds of cake every birthday. He would have eaten half of it if you let him.
Grandma watched Emily’s mood shift. She poked her dessert.
“You know it’s okay to talk about him, Emily. I know that Pepper seems to want to avoid the topic because your mom does still burst out in tears. It’s normal… well, I can’t think we should expect anything else at this point. But just because he wants to hide these conversations to save your mom from crying doesn’t mean you should have to swallow your feelings down. He was important to everyone. He was really important to you and I know that.”
Grandma took a bite of her cake. She looked at Emily, quiet and chewing, it seemed as though she was waiting for Emily to say something.
“I’m okay. I mean, I don’t need to talk about it,” she finally conceded.
She put another bite of pie in her mouth, but it didn’t taste nice anymore.
“Well, your mom said you refused to go to the bereavement group she found. Why did you do that?”
Emily swallowed, and even though the dessert was moist and gooey, it felt like a dry rock having a fight with her esophagus.
“I just… I mean, if I go and cry with a bunch of strangers, or even talk one on one with a therapist, it’s not going to bring Andy back.”
Grandma cocked her mouth to the side. Emily could see that she wanted to say something comforting and wise, but all she had was the truth instead.
“No, no, it isn’t going to bring him back.”
Her Grandma crossed her knife and fork on her plate. She looked sad. She sipped her water.
The pair sat in silence for a moment. Emily worked the last piece of pie down and put her fork down, too. She looked up at her Grandma’s face and suddenly felt badly for shooting her down.
“Sorry Grams. I don’t mean to be rude or whatever. I just don’t want to go to therapy.”
Grandma perked up.
“You’re not being rude. I understand. At the end of the day I never went to see anyone or talk to anyone in my life, and I’ve seen a heck of a lot of people die in my time. I’m not sure I’d want to chat with anyone about it. But you’re young. And your mom is worried about you.”
“She didn’t tell you to bring me out to lunch, did she?” Emily asked, trying not to sound annoyed and ungrateful.
“No, she didn’t. I just, it’s really this Harlow thing, Em. I can’t help but wonder if well…Emily I know that you are a really, really smart cookie and I would be so proud of you… I’d miss you but I would be proud… but, it just feels a little bit like you’re running away.”
Emily took a sip of her drink. She didn’t want to lie to her Grandma. She had always been there for her. Always loved her unconditionally. She was only trying to help. But she also couldn’t admit that she was sort of trying to run away. She wanted to be miles and miles away from the grief that consumed her house.
“Grams, I mean, I guess I can see how you’d think that. But even if it is running away, going to Harlow would only be a good thing for my future.”
“Yes it would, but like you said about grief counseling… Harlow won’t bring Andy back.”
Grandma’s last words came out dry and abrupt. She took a sip of her water and cleared her throat, which still sounded like a foot crunching on gravel. Her Grandma was right. But Emily was leaving behind so much more than just the pile of uncleaned Andy memories that still occupied his room months later. Her whole ecosystem was broken and Harlow was a chance to build.
Emily reached out her hand and put it on her Grandma’s.
“Thanks for lunch, Grams,” she said affectionately, “I really love spending time with you and I know you care and you are worried about me and all that. But I’ll always be fine. I can take care of myself. I really can.”
Her Grandma cracked a smile.
“I know you can, sweetheart. Your Grandpa said you’re swinging for the fences. We’re really proud of you and I don’t want to sour this Harlow thing by making it about Andy. We’re really proud of your gusto.”
“Thanks Grams…”
But for the next month or so Emily replayed this conversation many, many times. Did she really want to go to boarding school or was it just some elaborate escape plot?
CHAPTER TEN
SIX O'CLOCK ON the dot. Grace was always on time.
“Army brats always are,” she had once told Emily.
“Hi!” Emily said excitedly, opening the door for Grace. She had looked forward to this sleepover all week.
Grace and Emily had had many sleepovers. But this one was different because something exciting and new was about to happen and Emily had been waiting since she was about eleven to cross this milestone: Apps. Apps. Apps.
Pepper had forbidden Emily to download or use much social media. Apart from video calling and watching SpiderWeb videos (but not uploading) he gave super strict orders. This left Emily feeling uncool and Grace had been in the same boat. Her parents didn’t even give her a phone until she was twelve and went off to middle school. Much like Emily’s parents, Grace’s thought cell phones were meant to be lifelines, not social obsessions.
This sleepover was about to save them from being wallflowers. Grace had turned fourteen and her parents said she was finally old enough to be trusted with social media when that happened.. She downloaded TikTok immediately after blowing out the candles. And this was the best friends’ first chance to experiment.
Emily let Grace in and stepped out onto the front steps to wave off Ji, who was in the car peering up at the house. Ji waved goodbye to Emily and blew a kiss to Grace, who had turned around to the do the same.
“Come in, come in…” Emily ushered Grace in to the living room but straight through it. Emily’s family was already a few minutes into “Tiny House Nation,” one of the few shows that the entire family could watch together.
“Hiya, Grace,” said Pepper.
“Hi Honey,” said Marie, “You girls need anything?”
“Hey guys,” Grace said to everyone, “Don’t get up, Marie… we’re cool. I brought supplies.”
She patted her backpack, and everyone could hear the crumple of candy packages and potato chip packets. One thing that Emily’s parents were okay with was junk food.
They skittered through the house with excitement and to the back stairs leading up to the Attic. When the Murphys moved into the house, it was hardly big enough to squeeze in the six bodies. There were three bedrooms, so everyone had to share. But as Andy and Emily outgrew both the feeling and the idea of bunk beds, Pepper started to renovate the Attic.
Not long after the drywall went up Andy got sick, so the Attic was still incomplete. It meant to house two extra bedrooms. Pepper had gotten the walls and lighting up in one of them, but outside of the room still lurked the exposed beams and darkness of a cavernous storage space. It was creepy when Emily thought of being up there alone, but with Grace by her side, it felt like a cool, private camping space. Like going on a field trip. Emily had never moved her things u
p to the room, but when Grace came to stay over, they put blow up beds on the floor and Emily packed a backpack of goodies just like Grace. Indoor camping.
Plopping herself on a mattress, Grace threw her backpack on the floor in front of her. She opened a front pocket and pulled out her cell. Holding it up as if a treasure from an excavation, she said, “The moment we’ve all been waiting for.”
Emily laughed.
“Have you uploaded anything yet?” asked Emily.
“No. Just watched a bunch. There are so many amazing vids. Like, there are tons of edits you can do. Some of the same things we’ve been doing, but also filters and stuff.”
Emily perched herself next to Grace on the floor. Grace opened up the app.
“So, I’ve been wondering what we should do?” I mean, I want it to be good because it’s like our debut, you know?”
Emily did know. Most of the kids at school were connected and followed each other on TikTok. Grace’s presence wouldn’t be missed. Emily was grateful that Grace was willing to give Emily a corner of her social real estate.
Grace continued, “At first I wanted to do some singing…”
Emily shook her head violently. No way.
“… but I knew that you’d do that and shoot it down! Even though you’re being stupid because you have such a nice voice and I personally think that the whole world would like to hear it but whatever… and never mind…”
Emily smiled, “You know me so well. Not budging on that one.”
“So,” Grace said, “My other idea was to do like an admissions video application type of thing for Harlow. Like a pretend boarding school application. We could make it really awesome and I really can’t imagine anybody at school has thought to do that kind of thing before.”
The thought of being original and unique always appealed to Emily. But if everyone found out that she applied to Harlow, everyone would also know if she didn’t get in.
Grace knew her friend inside and out and could see her wheels turning.
“You’re worried about not getting in, aren’t you?” Grace asked.
The End Defines the Beginning : A Boarding School Coming of Age (Harlow Academy Series Book 1) Page 4
