A couple of weeks later, all the Sprites were sitting around in the backyard drinking lemonade with me. The weather had been hot, and we were talking about things to do for the summer.
“This is going to be the most fun summer I’ve ever had!” Sandy said. “I’m really glad you guys asked me to join. And I’m sure glad you’re better, Ariel.”
“You know,” I said, “you guys don’t have to stay with me forever. I’m through with drugs, I really am.” But the truth was, I really loved them being around. It was sort of like having the sisters or brothers I never had, without the rivalry. I was starting to realize there was a part of me that was very lonely. As I thought about my life, which I did a lot now, I could see that the loneliness had been there for years. It had only hit me when Penny and Michael became lovers.
“What do you guys think? Should we switch to just pestering her during the day?” Penny asked the group.
“You don’t pester me! It’s just . . . you don’t have to do so much for me anymore.” I felt guilty, so I stared at the ground and pulled some grass.
Michael said, “You taught us so much, and you did so much for the Grove the first three years. We’ll help you for as long as you need it. It doesn’t matter how long. And the new people just have to trust us if they want to be Sprites.”
I started quietly crying. Practically anything could make me cry since I quit drugs. I didn’t really know why, but everything was so much safer in the
Grove than out in the real world. I wondered . . . was that part of our magic?
I touched my healing amulet.
“Maybe another week,” I said, “and then seeing one of you each day for a while?”
Everyone smiled at me. I felt warm and cozy inside.
Issa and I went on a walk almost every day, or sometimes we would ride somewhere on his motorcycle. When we were riding, the wind blowing my hair would remind me of my last ride on Tara. I held onto Issa and tried not to cry, but I usually did anyway.
I forgot about the loneliness when I was with Issa. We held hands a lot, but he didn’t push me about anything. I was glad — everything in my life seemed to go slower now, and I was sure that if anyone moved too quickly, they would just leave me behind.
“Are you going to go back to school?” he asked as we were strolling one day in July.
I didn’t answer for a while. School? I hadn’t done too well last year. As I thought about my reasons, they seemed different now. Before I had gone to school and gotten good grades because that’s what little girls are supposed to do. But now . . . I needed a different reason. “Do you think I should?”
“You’ll have to decide. What do you want to do in the future?”
Future? It was almost a shock to realize that I might have one. I couldn’t see it, but . . . unlike a few months ago, now I knew there would be one. “I guess I should get a job someday. It would help to finish high school, wouldn’t it?”
“For most jobs.”
I knew what I had to do. When I got home, I looked at the school calendar, and learned that I could register for fall classes any weekday during the summer. On Monday, I hopped out of bed early, ate breakfast with my dad, and was at school by 8:00. I strode into the counselor’s office and stood in front of her desk.
“Ariel! What a surprise!”
“I’m over my drug problem, I want to come back to school, and I think I
need to take the ninth grade over again.”
She looked at me for a moment with disbelief in her eyes. “I . . . I think that would be wonderful.”