Chapter 4

Sister Anna was absent from the last class of the year and our substitute dismissed us with a wave of her hand, telling us to do whatever we wanted so long as we kept the noise level down. I reached into my bag for my Walkman and prepared to doze off for the next hour, but the sound of someone clearing their throat next to me forced me to pause. When I looked up, I found Connie gazing at me curiously, much as she had the first and only time we spoke. I offered her a thin smile and bowed my head before she began to shuffle her chair toward mine.

“So, I read that book you told me about.”

“Huh?”

She raised one of her perfectly sculpted eyebrows. “The one with Turkish Delight. The Narniaone.”

“Oh! Oh. What did you—uh—think of it?”

“Don’t tell anyone this,” she muttered, leaning in slightly. “But I actually liked it.”