I nod, grateful not to feel forced to fill this silence. I sneak a glance toward the living room, but Peach isn’t there. That’s weird. She’s usually here by now. A small part of me feels guilty for the relief that eases in my chest.
“Right, so you first have to make sure the equations are set to zero before you can solve.” Saylor takes my pencil and begins writing down the first problem. “Also, keep in mind that the square of a negative will always be positive. Here, let’s walk through this one.”
I watch as he successfully completes the first equation, but then he lets me take the reins on the second problem. He has to remind me of a few steps, but once I do them in the correct order, I’m able to plot the right intercepts on the graph.
“See? You got this,” he says, and I’m even more relieved that he helps me through every problem until my assignment is done.
“I wish stuff like this came naturally to me like it did to Grams,” I say, surprising myself with the mention of her name.
I’m thankful he doesn’t take this as an opportunity to talk about her. Instead he says, “Well, I bet other people wish they could dance as well as you can.”
“That’s different. I’m decent at best, and that’s only because we have practice every week.”
Saylor grins, tapping a finger on my textbook. “So if you practice more of this, you should be decent at best.”
I roll my eyes, but I feel a smile come through anyway. I walked into that one. “Mrs. Donaldson makes sure we getplentyof practice, as you can see.”
Saylor stands up, stretches, then looks back at me. “Well, if you need any more help, you know where to find me.”
“Thanks,” I say, my voice small. I know he didn’t have to help me in the first place.
Saylor grabs his book from the table—The Spiritual Journey of Yoga’s Healing Powers—and flips through to his dog-eared page. His dozens of leather bracelets collapse upon each other from the movement.
“Why do you wear so many?”
Saylor looks down, then smiles. “They’re intention bracelets. I branded them myself, but I don’t know… I guess they’ve been good reminders for me.”
A few of the words catch my eye.Focus. Strength. Trust.
My gaze lingers on the last one a little longer. I take a deep breath. “Where’s Peach? Isn’t she usually here by now?”
When Saylor’s eyes meet mine, there’s a certain sadness in them. “Uh, your dad drove her to get some of her belongings. Her daughters aren’t really… well, they’re not ready to forgive her yet. I guess.”
I expect to feel angry—that means Peach is going to stay here longer, which is not part of my twelve-steps plan—but I don’t. Instead I feel sort of bad that I yelled at her yesterday. The last thing I want is to make things harder on her.
“Oh,” is all I can think to say.
“Well,” Saylor says after a beat. “I’ll see you in the morning.”
I nod. “Yeah, okay.”
The back door closes, and I begin gathering up my books. That’s when my eye catches something sitting near my extra pencil, and I realize it’s one of Saylor’s intention bracelets. When I turn it over, I read the word that’s been branded into it:Forgive.
I’m not sure if he purposefully left it here or if it fell off, but before I can think about it too much, I fasten the thing around my wrist. I don’t know what draws me to it, but even so, I have a feeling Saylor won’t mind if I keep it.
TWENTY THREE
BECAUSE I REALLY DO WANTto raise my algebra grade, I end up in the library with Ana on Thursday. She’d agreed to stay an hour later than usual because of my Wavettes practice, which is nice of her. I find her sitting near the reference desk when I push through the double doors.
I’m a little intimidated as I walk over to the table she’s claimed for us. Ana has always been effortlessly gorgeous. Her dark-brown hair hangs down in a braid over her shoulder, and she sits upright with perfect posture.
When she spots me, she smiles. “Kira! It’s great to see you. It’s been too long.”
I’m reminded why she’s popular in her grade. She can easily make anyone feel welcome.
“It really has.” I take a seat next to her, setting my book bag in the chair beside me. “Thanks again for helping me out.”
“It’s no problem. Alex caught me up on what’s going to be on your test next week.”
