[ Pobierz całość w formacie PDF ]Nells smiled and assured her daughter that she had a very good idea
where her friend David lived and that it wouldn't take them more than
ten minutes to get there. "You have to be at his house at one o'clock,
J.M. Reep | 131
right? Well, we've got plenty of time. If you want to get to his house
early, that's fine with me, but I promise you we won't be late." Leah
decided to wait.
At a quarter till one, Leah went to her mother again. Mrs. Nells
looked at her watch and insisted that it was still too early to leave, but the
expression of anxiety on her daughter's face argued otherwise. Leah, with
her notebook and a pen in one hand and David's address in the other, led
the way to the garage. She was already in the car with her seatbelt
fastened before Mrs. Nells even opened the garage door.
When they were on their way, Mrs. Nells remarked happily, "You
certainly look pretty today; we might as well be going to church. Are you
sure all you're gonna do over there is work on a report?"
Leah didn't quite know what her mother meant by that question.
It made her feel self-conscious though, and she wondered if maybe she
had tried to look too nice. As they drove, Leah glanced at her mother and
saw the big smile on her face. This was obviously a big day for Leah, but
it was a very important moment for her parents too. For them, this day
gave them hope that their daughter might soon start to lead a normal
social life, even if those hopes were just that hope. Leah's trip to
David's house allowed them to believe the illusion that Leah was at last
coming out of her shell and was ready to join the rest of the world. Leah
felt guilty because she feared her parents would be disappointed if
nothing more than a decent grade on a history report came from all this.
Leah would be disappointed, too.
She was distressed to discover her mother's knowledge of David's
neighborhood was not what Mrs. Nells claimed it to be. They spent a lot
of time driving up one street and down another, apparently lost. After
several minutes of this, Mrs. Nells asked to see the paper with David's
address on it. Leah handed it to her, and Mrs. Nells studied the address
as she drove, as if the size and shape of the numbers and letters on the
piece of paper might provide some clue as to which direction they
needed to go. Leah, meanwhile, kept her eyes on the car's clock and grew
worried as one o'clock approached. It probably wouldn't have mattered
to David and the others if she showed up five or ten minutes late, but it
132 | Leah
mattered a great deal to Leah; she wanted to make a good impression on
David, and showing up late, she feared, would leave a very bad
impression. At last, when the car's clock read 12:58, Mrs. Nells found the
street she had been looking for and from there it was just a matter of
checking the house numbers to find David's home.
Leah didn't need to pay attention to the address numbers to
know which house was David's, though. Parked in the driveway of a
white and gray bricked two-story house was an old black pickup the
one that belonged to David's brother. Leah was relieved to finally be at
David's house, but what bothered her now was that the truck was the
only vehicle in the driveway. There was no other sign that any of her
partners had arrived yet. When she had imagined her trip to David's
house, she thought there would be some sort of indication that other
people were there, such as several cars parked out front even though
none of her partners could drive. Leah hoped she wasn't the first to
arrive; she thought that would be almost as bad as arriving late.
Mrs. Nells parked next to the curb and asked, "Do you want me
to walk you to the door?" Leah could hear the excitement in her mother's
voice, and Mrs. Nells wanted to savor every moment of this wonderful
day in her daughter's life. Under different circumstances, Leah would
have liked someone to accompany her to the door. But this was David's
house, and she didn't want him to think that she needed her mother to
ring the doorbell for her. It was bad enough that Mrs. Nells had to drive
her here. Leah shook her head no; she would go alone. Clutching her
notebook with trembling hands, Leah stepped out of the car and shut the
door behind her. Mrs. Nells didn't drive away immediately, but rather,
she stayed and watched her daughter climb the porch steps. Leah felt
very nervous, almost as if she were going to present her report to her
class right now. Her legs were weak but they still managed to bring her
body to the front door. And when her unsteady finger pressed the
doorbell, and she heard it ring inside the house, it suddenly occurred to
her that she didn't know what she was going to say if some other
member of the Parks family opened the door and asked what she wanted.
She had expected that either David, or one of her group partners who
J.M. Reep | 133
arrived before her would open the door, but there was no guarantee that
would happen. And if she were indeed the first to arrive, maybe David
hadn't yet told his family that he had invited some of his classmates over
to work on a class project. She also had a frightening thought that
perhaps this wasn't David's house, in spite of all the evidence to prove
that it was. Wouldn't it be terrible to ring the doorbell of the wrong
house? Leah prayed that a familiar face would answer the door.
For a few seconds after Leah pressed the doorbell, it seemed as if
she wasn't going to have to say anything to anybody because no one
came to the door. Surely, there was someone home because she could hear
muffled voices from within. Finally, the door unlocked and Leah
watched it open. She saw David's face and all her worries vanished.
S i x t e e n
"HEY! You made it! Come on in." He opened the door all the
way and stood aside so Leah could enter. As the door closed behind her,
she could hear her mother's car driving away. "I wasn't sure if you'd be
able to find the house," David continued. "Did you bring your report?"
She raised her notebook slightly so David could see it and she
nodded. She realized she had a wide grin on her face, but she couldn't
help smiling, no matter how funny she must have looked. She was in
David's home. It was so incredible. David said, "Everybody's already here
so we'll get started in a few minutes." He gestured towards the rear of the
house, "The living room is back there just make yourself at home."
Before Leah could follow his direction, she heard someone
coming down the stairs behind her. She turned and saw another boy,
apparently David's older brother, heading straight for her. She got out of
his way and let him pass. He didn't seem to notice Leah at all and said to
David, "I'm outta here. Keep your kindergarten friends outta my room.
If mom and dad ask, I've gone over to Logan's house." David nodded in
reply and said, "Yeah, OK." Leah noticed that even though David was
almost as tall as his older brother, David lacked the same confidence and
command in his brother's presence that he had in history class when he
was among his friends. When his brother was out the front door, David
J.M. Reep | 135
went upstairs without saying another word to Leah. She watched him
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