Free So Much to Live For by Lurlene McDaniel Page B

“The doctors make these decisions, not me, dear.”
    “Grams, please don’t let them cut on me anymore.” Marlee sounded close to crying.
    Grandmother Hodges’s voice sounded quivery as she said, “Now, now, Marlee . . . we have to do what the doctors recommend.”
    “That’s why you’re having another specialist come in, isn’t it? They want to cut on me again! What do they want to take out now? My stomach?”
    “Please, dear. I–I can’t bear to see you this upset.” Marlee’s grandmother looked so stricken that Dawn wondered if she should call a nurse.
    Marlee must have seen it, too, because she hastily said, “It’s all right, Grams. Don’t get worked up. I’ll be okay.”
    “I’m sorry I can’t spend more time with you, dear. I feel poorly still and my doctor wants me in bed today.” She reached for the call button. “I’ll have one of the nurses come stay with you.”
    “That’s okay. I’ll stay with her.” The words were out of Dawn’s mouth before she could stop them.
    Grandmother Hodges turned toward Dawn, as if surprised that she was still in the room. “That’s very thoughtful of you. I hate to leave my poor Marlee alone, but I’m not well myself. If I’m feeling better later, I’ll come again this evening.”
    “Don’t worry,” Dawn insisted. “We’ll play some board games, watch some TV. We’ll have a good time.”
    “You wouldn’t mind staying?” Marlee asked, her expression both frightened and hopeful.
    “I’ll just call home and tell my brother to pick me up around six.” Silently, she added,
And call Rhonda and let her know I won’t be at work today.
    “I–I’d really like that. You sure it’s no problem for you?”
    “Nope,” Dawn said crossing her fingers behind her back. “No problem at all.”

Fourteen
    D AWN and Marlee played Monopoly most of the afternoon, and Dawn learned more about Marlee Hodges in those few hours than she had during the entire week at camp. She learned that Marlee was smart—into the stratosphere smart. She told Dawn, “They wanted me to skip third and fifth grades, but Grams thought it best that I go ahead and go through fifth grade. What a drag
that
was.”
    “So you’re starting eighth grade this year?”
    “Yeah.” She named one of the area’s most exclusive private schools. “I hope it’s better than my old one.”
    “How?”
    “I hope the kids are nicer to me.”
    “Are you nice to them?”
    Marlee jutted her chin. “Of course.”
    “Come on, be honest.”
    “Well, I try to be, but everybody’s always mean to me.”
    “Like how?”
    “They’re just not nice, that’s all. Last year, my teacher assigned a group project that I could have done in my sleep, and everybody was so
slow
about it. And I got in a big fight with them, and then they all hated me.” Marlee crossed her arms and flopped back against the pillow. “Nobody understands me.”
    “I understand you, and I don’t hate you,” Dawn told her.
    “You’re different.”
    “No, I’m not. It’s just that when a person acts friendly, it’s easier to like her.”
    “Are you saying that I’m unfriendly?”
    “Hey, I’m the girl you tried to throw out of her bed at camp, remember? I’d call that pretty unfriendly.”
    A sheepish smile appeared on Marlee’s mouth. “I don’t know why I did that,” she admitted. “I didn’t want to come to camp in the first place, and when I walked in the cabin and saw all those welcome signs and flowers, well . . . I hated being there even more.”
    “I know.” Dawn’s tone turned matter-of-fact. “You were scared, that’s all.”
    “I wasn’t scared—I didn’t want to go.”
    Dawn studied Marlee intently. “We’re all scared, Marlee. I didn’t want to go to camp my first time either. I didn’t want to be away from my doctor and my folks. I
was
afraid I’d get sick and embarrass myself in front of all these strangers. The only reason I went is because my friend Sandy said she’d