Free Don't Let Me Go by Catherine Ryan Hyde Page A

that nobody brushed her hair for weeks?”
    “Maybe she did,” Bella said, still holding the scissors paused. “After all, you still don’t know who called the county.”
    “Hmm,” Rayleen said. “Right. I hadn’t thought of that.”
    • • •
    Walking home with Rayleen, Grace couldn’t stop looking at her fingernails. She held them out in front of her, both hands at once, and admired them. It made her trip over a crack in the sidewalk twice. Well. Three times.
    “You might want to look where you’re going.”
    “But they’re so beautiful!”
    After the haircut (which looked funny, in a way, probably just because it was something Grace wasn’t used to, but also kind of stylish and nice at the same time), Rayleen had given Grace nails. They were the kind you paste on, and they were a really pretty shade of pink, and they had sparkles and other little charm things pasted on. Like, one little paste-on charm was on her middle finger, and it was silver, and shaped like a tiny flying horse. She couldn’t stop looking at the flying horse.
    “I’m glad you like them,” Rayleen said.
    “I know how to speak Spanish,” Grace said, still looking at the nails.
    “Since when?”
    “Just since today.”
    “You learned Spanish just today?”
    “Some. I know
como
you
dice en Español
…dog. It’s
perro
. You
dice
‘dog’ in
Español
by saying ‘
perro
.’”
    “OK, I stand corrected. That’s a lot of Spanish to learn in one day. I’m impressed. Oops. Look out, Grace. Look where you’re going.”
    Grace looked up just in time to zig-zag around two young women walking toward them on the sidewalk.
    “Sorry,” she said to them. Then, to Rayleen, “Maybe when we get home we can order a pizza.”
    “Maybe,” Rayleen said. “But it’s not going to be like the last pizza. I could barely carry that thing into the house. I didn’t know a pizza could even cost that much. When the guy told me the bill, I thought he was kidding. Who orders pepperoni
and
sausage
and
Canadian bacon
and
meatballs all on one pizza?”
    “Me.”
    “And triple cheese? I mean, I’ve heard of double cheese, but…”
    “I’m sorry if it was too much money. But you said to order what I wanted.”
    “Right,” Rayleen said. “I did. So, live and learn. But this time I’m making the call. And this time I’m telling you in advance that you want cheese and pepperoni. Period.”
    Grace smiled to herself. Because it was still pizza. And it was still a million times more pizza than she was about to get from anybody else besides Rayleen.
    “Have you thought of what you like about me yet?”
    “Yes,” Rayleen said. “As a matter of fact, I have. You’re a survivor. And you don’t complain. Now, that’s just off the top of my head, and it’s just so far. Like I said before, I’m sure when I get to know you better, there’ll be tons more.”
    “It’s good for now,” Grace said, sneaking a quick look at her nails again. One had a little crescent moon charm stuck on — her right pinky one. “That and a pizza’s plenty good enough for today.”

Billy
    Billy swung his apartment door wide and leaped out into the hallway, landing right in front of Rayleen and Grace.
    “Why did you not tell me Grace wasn’t coming today?” he bellowed, alarmed by the sound of his own anger. “I was beside myself with worry. I mean it. I had a miserable afternoon. Absolutely abysmal. I thought something had happened to her. I was a mess. My fingernails are bitten right down to the quick. And beyond. Every single one of them. Look at this.”
    But he didn’t literally offer them for inspection.
    Rayleen stood a moment — her mouth open wide — while he spoke. Then she looked down at Grace.
    “Grace,” she said. “You didn’t tell him. You promised you’d tell him.”
    Grace looked up into Rayleen’s face. “Oooooops,” she said.
    Then all Billy could do was stand there like a fool, all the passion and fire drained out of him, because