Free Hummingbird Heart by Robin Stevenson Page A

he’d gone home already. Maybe I’d never see him again. My thoughts were spiraling out of control. Polar ice melting, I told myself. South Pacific islands being slowly submerged. Tsunamis. Bee colonies collapsing. Global food shortages . It didn’t work. It didn’t put my own worries into perspective or help my panic to subside. Even if the world was on the brink of catastrophe, I still wanted to see Mark. Even if he turned out to be a drug dealer or a child molester, I still wanted to know why he had come.
    We rode in silence the rest of the way, and when we finally got off the bus, my legs felt shaky. Karma slipped her small brown hand into mine, and I made a face at her as we walked toward the hotel.
    â€œChanged your mind?” she asked.
    â€œNo. We’re here now. Anyway, I want to see him. I’m just nervous.”
    â€œWant me to come in with you? Or should I wait out here?”
    I hesitated. I could use the moral support, but what if Mark told me something I didn’t want her to hear? “Wait out here. If you don’t mind?”
    She shook her head and plopped down on a sidewalk bench. “That’s okay. I’ve got a book.”
    I walked up the curving driveway, through the revolving doors, and up to the reception desk. “Is Mark Wheatcroft still staying here? Can you call him and tell him Dylan is here to see him?”
    The woman—round-faced and as freckled as Toni—smiled, nodded and dialed Mark’s room number. I held my breath. What if he’d already left? But the hotel staff would know that, wouldn’t they? They wouldn’t call his room if he’d checked out.
    â€œHello, Mr. Wheatcroft?” the woman said. “Um, Dylan is downstairs in the lobby?” She made it sound like a question.
    I watched her face carefully, trying to read Mark’s response in her expression.
    The woman smiled at me and smoothed her fair hair with one hand. “Have a seat. He said he’d be right down.”
    â€œThanks.” I wandered over to the display case that Karma had been looking at the night before and stared at the carvings. I wondered if Mark would be angry that I’d come on my own. Just forget about him, Mom had said. As if I could.
    Finally the elevator doors opened and Mark stepped out.
    â€œDylan.” He smiled widely. “I’m so glad to see you. I knew Amanda would come around once she’d had time to think about it.” He looked around the lobby. “Where is she?”
    I shook my head. “I came on my own.”
    â€œOh.” He looked confused. “But…she did tell you?”
    My heart was pounding hard and fast. “She didn’t tell me anything.”
    Mark’s face fell. “So you’re not here because…”
    â€œI’m here because I want to know what’s going on.” My voice was shaking and my eyes were suddenly wet. I brushed the back of my hand across them quickly.
    â€œOh.” Mark frowned. “I should probably call your mother.”
    â€œDon’t.”
    We stared at each other for a moment. A muscle in Mark’s jaw was twitching.
    I wondered if he ground his teeth like I did. I used to wear a tooth guard at night so I wouldn’t wear my teeth down to stubs. I watched him making up his mind. Finally he nodded decisively and gestured to the doors.
    â€œLet’s go for a walk, okay? And I’ll tell you what’s going on.”

    It had clouded over. The sky was a thick damp gray streaked with dirty white clouds. I could see Karma’s small figure, her back to me, still sitting on the sidewalk bench, and I wished for a second that I’d told her to come with me. Not for her sake—she never minded being alone—but for my own. I’d feel better if I was still holding her hand. I clenched my fists inside my pockets and followed Mark in the opposite direction, away from the street and along a paved path down