Flecks of Gold Read Online Free

disappointment aside and settled down to do pointless English worksheets.
    Mom didn’t come home until six. The dinner I’d made was cold, and I was considering calling the number on the fridge when she walked painfully through the front door.
    “Are you okay?”
    “Yes.” She sat down on the recliner with a groan. “No. I didn’t think it would be so hard. My arms feel like jell-o, and my back aches, and look,” she warbled miserably, holding up the end of her beaded shirt. Several strands had been torn out.
    “Oh, Mom, I’m sorry. Maybe you shouldn’t wear a beaded shirt tomorrow.”
    “I don’t think I have any without beads,” she said helplessly. I could tell that her exhaustion was making her melodramatic.
    “You can borrow mine. Why don’t you eat and then head to bed early?” I microwaved a plate of shepherd’s pie and took it to her in the living room.
    “So today was your first day at a new school. How’d it go?” She tried to put energy into her inquiry.
    “I’ll tell you about it tomorrow. Just go to bed, okay? I don’t want you collapsing on the job.”
    “All right, but I want to hear all about it tomorrow.”
    I cleaned up dinner and then went to curl up in the easy chair. By the time I started reading my chemistry textbook my eyes were drooping. Without realizing, I drifted off to sleep, the book sliding from my fingers to the floor.

Chapter 2
    W hen I woke, a wild orange rose with pink tips rested atop my homework on the coffee table. It was already wilting from lack of water, and its fragrance tickled my nose. I was surprised that Mom had gotten up so early. I just hoped she would fare better at her job today.
    I quickly dressed, shouldered my backpack, and lurched through the door. Kelson was walking slowly past my house when I came out.
    “Hey,” I said.
    “How’s it going, Mary Margaret?”
    “Fine, I guess.” Talking to him seemed easier now. The pressure I had felt yesterday was still there, but less intense, like a phantom touch compared to the strong push from before.
    “So why’d you move here in the middle of the school year?” Kelson asked.
    “It’s because of this guy,” I said. “It turned out he was only dating my mom to steal her paintings, and then he threatened us. Anyway, we moved here because we weren’t sure what else to do.”
    I wanted to pull the words back into my mouth. Why did I tell him that? When we reached the school, I still felt disconcerted.
    “Well, I’ll see you around,” he said.
    Right. No comments, nothing. I’d said too much, and I could tell he just wanted to escape. Part of me was glad, but another part, one that was growing alarmingly fast, was miserable. I tried to wipe away my feelings as I went to my first class of the B-day schedule. It was called adult roles, and I was only taking it to learn some budgeting skills so Mom and I wouldn’t starve. Scanning the room, I was shocked to see Kelson waving at me. I wondered why he was in the class.
    I hesitated before sitting next to him, but there was nothing else I could do. If I sat somewhere else, he’d be offended, and so far he was the only person who’d been nice to me.
    The class was intriguing, but I could tell Kelson was bored. He kept glancing at me like he wanted to talk, but I buried my nose in my notebook.
    He caught me on the way out of class. “So, Mary Margaret, where are you off to next?”
    Did he always have to use my full name? “Computer graphics.”
    “Hey, really? Me too. I’ll walk with you.”
    We arrived just as the bell rang. The only free computers were across the room from each other so Kelson and I separated. I felt like I had a split personality. I wanted to get away from him, but I also wanted to be near him. Every time I saw him, I felt a sweep of warm fog and my stomach flipped. When the bell rang, Kelson came up to me, smiling.
    “You want to go to lunch?” my mouth blurted without my consent.
    “Yeah, let’s go.”
    We sat down at an