Free Specter (9780307823403) by Joan Lowery Nixon

they’re going to be married in the Clarewood Baptist Church next month, and Daisy wants daisies in her bridal bouquet, and I think Pamela is going to be her only attendant because Floyd’s mother is picking up the bills, and—”
    The wedding is in this room, and the bride wears a dress that matches the bedspread and curtains. “Ugly!” I whisper, and everyone stares. The wedding cake is pink, and around the top is written
Hi
,
Dina. Good-bye
,
Dina
. I don’t like this wedding, and I wish I hadn’t come. All the hollow places inside of me are filled with sadness.
    Through a faraway humming I hear Holley Jo saying, “She’s been asleep.”
    “But you’ve both missed lunch.”
    “I didn’t want to wake her up. She looks so—so—I just had to let her sleep.”
    “You’ve been sitting here with her all this time?”
    “Of course! I want to be with her!”
    I open my eyes. Mrs. Martin is standing at the foot of my bed, watching me. “Your friends have come to pick you up,” she says.
    I struggle to a sitting position and cry out, “Oh, no! I didn’t want to sleep!”
    “It’s okay,” Holley Jo says. She comes to sit beside me.
    “There was so much I wanted to talk about.”
    “Next time, when you’re feeling better.”
    Mrs. Martin’s face stretches into that toothy smile. “I’ll serve your friends some iced tea, and I’m sure there’s some of the cake left. That will give you and Holley Jo a chance to chat while you pack your things.”
    She closes the door as she leaves. I look around the unfamiliar yellow room again. “I had wanted everything to be the same.”
    Holley Jo tries to look cheerful, but I can see the traces of red around her eyes. “Nothing stays the same. Each year is different. Next year we’ll be seniors and graduate and—”
    “I’m a semester behind you now,” I say.
    “Oh. Well, you know, that we’ll probably be going to different colleges—wherever we can get scholarships—and we’ll be moving away from the home, and things won’t be the same. You know that.”
    She jumps up and drags a cardboard box from the closet. “I folded up your clothes and put them in here. And there are the things from your desk in a smaller box inside. I was very careful with them. I packed them so neatly you’ll be proud of me.”
    “I wish I had something of value to give you,” I tell her. “Something of mine that would last forever, so you’ll never forget me.”
    “How could I forget you? We’ve been sisters. We’ll always write to each other and have vacations together. Remember all our plans? We’re going to take a cruise through the Caribbean, and fly to London and visit all the castles that have ghosts in them, and go someplace where they have lots of snow and learn to ski.” She stops, and her voice quavers. “You have to get better, Dina.”
    “We’d better go down,” I finally say.
    “I’ll carry the box.”
    “Maybe Dr. Lynn will bring me back for anothervisit.” I try a smile. “Next time I won’t fall asleep.”
    “It doesn’t matter. I was glad to be with you, no matter what.”
    Down the stairs. It’s easier now. Some of my energy has come back. I follow Holley Jo into the dining room, where Julie stares at me over a mustache of pink frosting.
    Dr. Paull leaps up to take the box from Holley Jo. He looks surprised that it isn’t heavier.
    “We had hamburgers,” Julie says. “In Fredericksburg.”
    Everyone is introduced, and Dr. Lynn says, “We’ll have to leave now, or we’ll get to the city in time to be caught in the rush-hour traffic.”
    “Please come again,” Holley Jo says. “Please bring Dina back to us.”
    “Maybe in a few weeks,” Dr. Lynn says. “We’ll see how our schedules are set up.”
    There are all the little good-bye things to say and thanks for the rest of the cake, which Carlotta has wrapped for me to take and nearly squashes in her pillowed hug.
    Holley Jo’s good-bye is the last word I hear as the car swings