Ethel smirked. No one could make her comfortable like Julia, and they sat with each other sharing stories until their tea was stone cold.
CHAPTER 49West Oak Forest Academy, January 1966
SOPHIA
Sophia was at her wits’ end on how to make it up to Willa for kissing Max. Willa had given Sophia the silent treatment for a full week, even going so far as waking up an hour early so that she would be gone from their room before Sophia opened her eyes. When Sophia ran into her around campus, Willa pretended not to see her. “Awful” wasn’t a strong enough word to describe how Sophia felt. Crushing Willa was never her plan, their friendship meant the world to her, but it had been impossible to ignore the connection she shared with Max.
Sophia and Max were from the same place, and they had found each other across the distance and against the odds. It was a miracle, really. But on the other hand, Sophia had never had a friend outside of her brothers. Let alone a friend as kind and giving as Willa. If Willa had never invited her home, Sophia wouldn’t have read those articles in the library that had connected her to Mrs. Gathers. There had to be a way to remedy things.
“Cafeteria is now closing,” called the woman removing tin pansfrom the hot-food station. Sophia grabbed two sugar cookies from the dessert station and headed out.
Willa was lying across her bed facing the wall when Sophia entered the room. The new radio that she had brought back to school after Christmas was on low.
“Can we please talk? The silence is killing me.” Sophia sat on the edge of Willa’s bed and dug her nails into the down comforter.
“There’s nothing to discuss. Max already told me.”
“I want you to hear it from me, Willa.”
Willa sat up and turned her face toward Sophia. “What?”
“For starters, I’m not who I thought I was.”
“What does that even mean?”
Sophia took a deep breath. If she was going to get Willa back, she had to be honest. But she had to do it without incriminating Max.
“I found out that I was adopted,” she said slowly, and then told Willa about the Brown Baby Plan, going to Mrs. Gathers’s home and discovering the mix-up with her identity. When she was finished, Willa’s mouth hung open wide enough to catch a fly.
“That’s bizarre. Why didn’t you tell me you were going through all of this?”
Sophia shrugged. “I just had this gut feeling but no proof. I didn’t know for sure until I met Mrs. Gathers over winter break.”
“What have your parents said about all of this?”
“I haven’t told them that I know.”
“Seriously? This is a lot for me to take in. I can’t imagine how you feel.” Willa’s face softened.
“And then with Max… our connection to basketball… it just happened. I’m sorry for hurting you, Willa. I truly am.”
Willa pulled her knees to her chest and was quiet for a long time.Then she said, “Do I feel like you betrayed me? Yes. Am I hurt? Absolutely.”
“I’ll do anything to make it up to you.”
Smoothing her hair back from her face, Willa took a hair tie from her wrist and made a ponytail. “It’s fine. If I’m honest, Max never seemed that into me anyway. He’s a guy that my parents would like for me, so I pursued him.”
“You are my one and only friend. I would never intentionally hurt you.”
“I said it’s fine.”
Sophia looked up at the ceiling. “Our chemistry… it’s just been—”
“Ugh, spare me the details, please,” Willa blurted. “Just don’t be all mushy about it. That’s a surefire way to make me puke.”
“Deal,” said Sophia.
“But do you want to talk about the other thing? I mean, finding out that you were adopted? It’s gotta be rough.” Her green eyes were kind.
