“I haven’t seen a copy in her room before.”

"And I bet you’ve seen her room a lot, huh?" Easy asked with a waggle of his eyebrows. Ashley scoffed and threw the book at him. Instead of being hit, he caught it. “She probably keeps it in her book-sack. It’s just one of those things, y’know? You gotta, like, take it everywhere.”

Ashley nodded. She knew what he meant. She wished she could take Spencer everywhere, but it’s not like the girl could shrink and fit in her pocket. “It’s a good book.”

“Yeah, I guess. How far into it did you get?”

“Like page 80 or so.”

“When did you start reading it?”

Ashley looked at the clock, “Uhh… like a half hour ago?”

Easy stared at her in disbelief.

“What? Okay, I don’t know what you’ve heard, but I’m not as stupid as everyone thinks. I read a lot in my down time, and I read fast.”

Easy nodded with a small chuckle. “Well, all right, then.”

—

Spencer inhaled deeply. She had just got done explaining everything to her aunt, and Cecile was just staring at her. Not saying anything, just staring… it was driving Spencer mad. She didn’t care what Cecile said, just so long as she said something. For all the girl cared, the woman could damn her to Hell, and she’d be glad that Cecile had at least spoken.

It was becoming too much.

“For the love of God, Aunt C., say something!” Spencer pleaded. She let her head drop on the table top and sighed. They had left the store they were in, and they were now at the food court, sitting in a barely populated section.

“Thank God…” Cecile said finally.

Spencer turned her head, so she could look up at the woman. “What?” she croaked.

“Thank God, I said! Thank God.”

Spencer picked up her head and started at her aunt in shock. “What the hell do you mean ‘thank God’?!”

“Jesus, Spence, what do you mean what do I mean? I’m so happy right now that I bet I could do back flips!”

Spencer’s mouth dropped open, and if she didn’t know any better, she would have thought her jaw was somewhere rolling on the ground.