Taking Chances Read Free

In his hands he held one of my favorite books, a novel by Nicholas Sparks that Grandma had sent me for my birthday the year before.
    “Um…” I struggled to find my voice, failing miserably and speaking only in a whisper. I was nervous. I wasn’t really ready to talk to anyone at the new school. I was afraid I wouldn’t fit in. “Yeah, thanks.” He handed me the book, and I put it on the shelf with the others.
    “Hey, um…you’re Maggie George’s granddaughter, aren’t you?” he asked.
    “Yeah. She passed away last week, and I just moved down here with my family.” I looked back over at him and he looked down at his feet, as if he was embarrassed.
    “I heard there were relatives living there now,” he muttered. “I’m really sorry about your grandma.” He looked up and smiled sweetly.
    “Thanks.” A boy I didn’t even know felt bad, when Michael, Grandma’s son-in-law didn’t even care. “About time,” Michael had said. We got in a fight over that, too. It always made it worse that he was so much stronger than me. I winced and suddenly the flashback came quickly into my mind.
    “You don’t talk back to me!” Michael had said as he pushed me to the ground.
    “Maybe if you cared, we wouldn’t be in this mess,” I said with tears coming from my eyes.
    Michael had taken empty beer bottles off of the counter next to me and threw them at me in anger. I covered my face from the flying glass, but I could still feel the little shards cut into the skin of my legs and arms. Michael had continued to yell at me, but I couldn’t make out the words. I wasn’t focusing on what he said. I was trying to drown him out. I shivered involuntarily as the flashback ended. I could never win.
    I looked back up at the boy, and he said, “I’m Spencer, by the way. Spencer Stevenson.”
    I smiled politely. “I’m…wait…Stevenson? You live down the road from me, right?” I knew I had seen him somewhere before.
    “Yeah, I think I met you at the bonfires your grandparents used to have in the fall.”
    “That was you,” I realized. “We used to hang out with my cousins behind the silos,” I said.
    “Cindy?” he asked.
    “Sydney,” I corrected. I pictured him the way he used to look, with jean overalls and colored button up shirts. I smiled at the memories and then looked back up at him.
    “Oh, sorry. It’s been so long. It’s nice to see you again.”
    “Yeah, it’s nice to see you too.” I agreed as he opened his locker next to mine.
    “Maybe we could hang out again sometime.” He turned towards me again and gave me a completely heartbreaking smile. You know, the smiles that you only see boys give girls in movies.
    “Um…” I sighed and looked away from his perfect movie smile. “Yeah, that’d be cool.”
    Spencer smiled again, and said, “Now, how many brothers and sisters did you have again?”
    “Violet and Clayton are older and moved out. But I have two younger half-sisters, Lillian and Rebecca living with me.”
    “That’s nice.” I heard him sigh quietly as his smile fell. It was like he was remembering something sad, but didn’t think to ask what was wrong. I didn’t want to pry.
    “And you had your Aunt with you a lot, right?” he asked, not looking at me anymore.
    “Yes. My Aunt Megan lives in town, down on Navaho Avenue.”
    The bell rang, signaling that we had ten minutes before we had to be in our A-day first hour class.
    “I have to go, I’m sorry. I need to stop in at the office for a map.” I said with a sigh. I didn’t really want to leave when he seemed so upset. I wanted to keep talking to him. Not just because I didn’t want to seem like a jerk, but also because I felt somewhat comfortable talking to him. He knew me, or at least he thought he did.
    “Okay, I’ll talk to you later, then,” he said. “Hey!” He called out as I moved down the hall. “You won’t have too much trouble finding your way around. It’s a small school.”
    “Thanks.” I smiled