Waves of Light Read Online Free

something. Who is Annabelle?
    From: Sadie Douglas
To: Pippa Reynolds
Date: Friday, April 6, 6:22 PM
Subject: RE: Just ask him
    We dropped off Higgins at Andrew’s house tonight, and I tried to ask him about Annabelle. I really did. It’s just that I got this lump in my throat every time he said her name. He couldn’t stop talking about how much I’m going to like her, and how he’s so glad she’s coming early this year. Maybe I don’t have to ask. Maybe it’s obvious. He likes her, right?
    He gave me an envelope and made me promise not to open it until Sunday. He said it’s an Easter surprise. I know what you’re thinking: Why would Andrew give me an Easter surprise if he’s crazy about Annabelle, right? I don’t know what to do, Pips.
    Mom’s all packed. She and Dad are leaving for California early in the morning. Vivian will pick me up around 10:30, so I have a little more time to pack tomorrow. I’m trying to be excited. And I am excited. If only I wasn’t so worried about this Annabelle thing. Teaching Sunday school sounds fun, especially the part where you act out the stories with the kindergarteners. How long have you been going to church with your Grandma? Is your family going with you, too?

Chapter 4

Pictures in the Dark
    W e’d left midmorning for our drive to New York and had skipped lunch; by three, we were starving and needed to stretch our legs.
    “Tacos or burgers?” Vivian asked us.
    “Tacos,” I answered.
    “Burgers,” Frankie said.
    “We’ll drive through both, then,” Vivian said. We collected our food and found a picnic table at a park. The cool breeze tickled my neck, and I didn’t mind that my food was sloppy because we were eating outside. After we threw away our trash, Frankie and I went over to the swings and tried to swing as high as the bar.
    “Vivian, I want to learn how to draw this. The air, I mean,” I called out as I swung backward, my stomach dropping in that way that gives you shivers to the very roots ofyour hair. “You can feel it all around you, but you can’t see it. I think you should be able to see it.”
    “What would it look like?” Frankie asked.
    “I don’t know. All different colors, like the way prisms make rainbows. But it would be all thick and shimmery — mixed together.”
    I wanted to hold on to this fluttery, happy feeling while Frankie was still around, Mom was on her way to getting healthy, and an unopened note from Andrew sat in my pocket. Right now, this minute — life couldn’t get much better.
    “Okay, girls. Time to hit the road,” Vivian called.
    We counted to three and then leapt from the swings. Vivian planned to drive until ten o’clock, and then we’d stay in a motel. We’d drive the rest of the way to New York in the morning. Frankie’s mom had arranged for us to have a special Easter dinner, so we had to be in town by two o’clock at the latest.
    When we finally parked at the motel, my legs felt like Jell-O. I dragged myself upstairs, and fell into bed.
    “Uh-uh. No way I’m sleeping in the same bed as you if you don’t brush your teeth first.” Frankie dragged me to my feet and into the bathroom.
    I half-slept through the teeth brushing and face washing and putting on of pajamas, and then I slipped into one side of the queen-size bed. Frankie took the other side, and Vivian took the rollaway bed. I was asleep before my head hit the pillow.
    I awoke with a too-full feeling, thoughts pinging around inside my head like marbles knocking against one another. The room had an air-conditioner chill and smelled of strawberry-scented air freshener. My mind started to piece together where I was — not in my own room, but a motel room — dark, but not too dark.
    A light illuminated the small desk by the door, and pencils scratched across paper, stroke after rhythmic stroke. I propped myself up on my elbow to watch Vivian draw. Her black hair fell loose around her shoulders, and she wore a polka-dotted tank top with striped