Free This Changes Everything by Denise Grover Swank

Chapter One
    “Higher, Claire!
Higher!” Ellie squealed, her long auburn hair flying behind her. She’d had a
bad day at school, and swinging always made her feel better. Daddy told her
that her troubles in third grade were nothing compared to the real world, but
that was easy for him to say. He wasn’t in Mrs. Hinkler’s class.
    The swing arced,
then swung down. Claire had to jump to push the swing again, her small fingers
digging into Ellie’s back. “It’s my turn, Ellie!”
    “Not yet. I want
to reach the stars!” She stretched her feet so the tips of her loafers pointed
higher. Obviously she’d never reach them, but when she was little she used to
believe she really could. At eight, she was smart enough to know it wasn’t
true, but it didn’t stop her from wishing it were. “If you keep pushing,
I’ll tell you a secret.”
    “You’re going too
high and you’re gonna fall out. And I still haven’t had a turn.” Claire stepped
back as the swing lowered. “Besides, you never tell me your big secret.”
    Ellie twisted her
face around the rope to look down at Claire. “This is a good one.”
    Claire crossed
her arms, her brow lowering into a glare. “What? That Drew ate dried glue
before recess?” She shrugged with a scowl, flipping her pigtail over her
shoulder. “Who cares? He’s gross.”
    Ellie let the
swing slow, sucking her top lip between her teeth. When had Claire heard about
that? “Fine, you can have a turn.” She jumped out of the swing, landing on her
feet and falling to her knees. The compacted patch of earth scraped her bare
knee, but she turned her attention to her best friend.
    “I don’t want to
swing anymore.” Instead, Claire sat on the ground, her back to the giant oak tree,
tilting her head to look up into the brown leaves.
    Claire had been
acting weird all day. Confused, Ellie sat in front of her, crossing her legs
and tugging down her skirt hem so her underwear didn’t show. “Do you want to go
inside and eat some chocolate chip cookies? Momma and I made some last night.”
    Her friend shook
her head, tears filling her eyes.
    Claire never
cried, so Ellie must have really hurt her feelings. Ellie twisted her hands in
her lap. “I’m sorry I didn’t let you have a turn.”
    Claire shot her
an angry glare. “I don’t care about the stupid swing.”
    “Then why are you
mad at me?”
    She released a
loud sigh. “I’m not mad at you .”
    “Then who are you
mad at?”
    Her dark brown
eyes locked on Ellie’s. “My daddy said he wants a divorce.”
    Ellie’s mouth
dropped open in shock.
    Claire wiped a
tear from her cheek with a dirty fist. The wind picked up, blowing the loose
hair from her messy pigtails in her face. She brushed them away absently, but several
black strands stuck to her damp cheeks. “I heard Momma and Daddy yelling last
night after I went to bed. Daddy said if Momma didn’t stop nagging him he was
gonna go back to Greenville and get a divorce.”
    Fear caught
Ellie’s breath. Deep in her heart she felt badly that Claire was upset, but all
she could think about was herself. Would Claire move back to Greenville with
him? She was Ellie’s best friend ever , and she didn’t want to lose her.
Several of her friends’ parents had gotten a divorce and then her friends had
to split their time between their mommas and daddies, sometimes even moving
away and not seeing their other parent for months. Ellie couldn’t imagine not
living with both her parents. It was hard enough when her daddy left on his
occasional business trips. But Ellie never questioned if her parents would get
a divorce. They were happier than any other parents she knew. They were always
kissing and hugging, and while Ellie’s friends thought it was gross, it only
made Ellie more sure that when she got married, her husband would love her just
as much as Daddy loved Momma.
    Still, not
everyone was so lucky. Claire’s family had only moved to Manteo this past
summer because her