Page 52 of Room to Breathe

“What was my real fortune?” he asked. “The word under the two.”

“Yes,” I said. “It was yes.”

He pressed me tighter against him. “That’s what I thought.”

Chapter 22

Then

“Hi, uh, I need anew calculus textbook.” I stood in front of the checkout desk at the library.

“What happened to your old one?” Ms. Garcia asked, turning her attention to me from scanning books into the system.

“I can’t find it.” I did not add that it may have, for some unknown reason, been taken by an FBI agent. I already felt like the whole school knew that, knew about the raid, even though nobody had said anything to me. But whenever there was a lingering gaze or two people talking in whispers, I was sure they were talking about me. My dad. Those thoughts were making me jumpy or grumpy in public. Probably both.

“That’s not how this works. I don’t just hand out new books when you misplace your old one.”

“But the midterm is coming up soon and I need it.” A potted plant sat on the desk in front of the computer, its leaves beginning to yellow. It wasn’t getting the proper amount of water. The soil in the pot was wet, so maybe it was being overwatered.

“You’ll need to pay the lost book fee, and then I can issue you a new one,” she said, bringing my attention back to her.

“Okay, how much?” I dug my wallet out of the front pocket of my backpack and opened it up.

“Let me see…” she said, pushing a few buttons on the computer. “Seventy-five dollars.”

My eyes went wide as I held up the single twenty-dollar bill I’d found in my wallet. “Seventy-five?”

“Yes, we have to replace the one you lost.”

“Right,” I said. “I’ll come back tomorrow.” Hopefully my mom would give me that money even though I’d overheard one too many fights over that subject. “You’re watering your plant too much.”

“What?” she asked.

“Nothing.”

I left the library and headed to the courtyard, where I ate with my friends at lunch. Ava and Caroline were already sitting at one of the wrought iron tables near the entrance. I plopped down across from them.

“Where have you been?” Ava asked.

“Library,” I said. “I lost my calc book.”

“How do you lose a calc book? That thing traveled from the school to the desk in my bedroom the first day it was given to me and it hasn’t left my desk since.” Ava tossed me a bag of potato chips.

Caroline held up her bag of hot Cheetos, lifting her eyebrows, asking permission to trade. I pushed the chips toward her.

“I don’t know how I lost it,” I said, spinning the bag of Cheetos that Caroline had just handed to me around and around on the table. I couldn’t eat them. My chest was already burning. “It’s not at either of your houses, is it?”

“I haven’t seen it,” Ava said. “Have you ever done homework at my house?”

“I’ve done homework everywhere,” I said.

“So it could beanywhere?” Caroline asked, crunching into a chip.

I waved my hand at her. “You know what I mean.”

“It’s not at my house either,” she said.

“Great,” I said.