Southern Lights

“Looks like you’re lost. Can I help?” Like everyone else except Sava

“I think I have history next. Thanks,” she said as she handed the pretty redhead the map.

“You’re on the wrong floor,” the girl explained. “The class is straight up, right over our heads where we’re standing, and Mr. Armstrong sucks. He gives too much homework and has bad breath. Where’re you from?” She was still smiling and Sava

“I was from here originally. I was born here. But I’ve been living in New York for ten years.”

“Welcome back.” The girl smiled broadly. “I have to go upstairs anyway. I’ll walk you up. I have chemistry. I always flunk. I can’t wait to get out of school. I’m taking a year off.” Sava

“I came to stay with my dad till the end of school. I live with my mom in New York.” She didn’t want to say that she was there because her life was at risk. That was too heavy to share with other kids, particularly one she didn’t know.

“If you’ve been fighting with your mama, I know alllllll about that,” the girl said with a grin. “My mama and I fight like cats and dogs, but I love her to pieces anyway, bless her heart. I can get around my daddy, but my mama is a bitch,” the girl said, and Sava

“No, mine is pretty good. Great actually. We just thought it was a good idea if I visited my dad for a while.” It sounded suspicious even to her, but she didn’t know what else to say.

“What’s your name, by the way?” She was curious about the girl from New York. She had style even in her sweatshirt and jeans, and a spark in her eye.

“Sava

“Julia

Julia

“Thanks for the help. See you later,” Sava

She had two more classes after that, English Comp and a social studies class, and a break. And then it was lunchtime, and she found her way to the cafeteria, but didn’t see her new friend. Two boys asked her to sit with them, but she felt awkward since she didn’t know them. She was helping herself to a yogurt and fruit salad and a bottle of orange juice, when Julia

“You were right,” Sava

“I told you. I just got a D in chemistry again. My mama’s go

They found a table and sat down, and a flock of girls and boys joined them. Apparently, Julia

Everyone at the table was making plans for the weekend, talking about the basketball game on Friday night, asking about friends, exchanging phone numbers and trading gossip. It was a lively group, and Sava

She was feeling somewhat dazed by the time her father picked her up at three o’clock. Julia

“How was it?” her father asked as she got in. He thought she looked tired and ill at ease.

“Kind of overwhelming, but okay. I met some nice people. There are just a lot of them, and it’s hard having all new classes and new teachers. Most of the material is familiar, and not much different from what I’ve been doing in New York, except for the civics class, which talks only about the south and southern history. The Confederacy is definitely still alive and well in Charleston. I guess it wasn’t bad for a first day,” she said fairly, and he nodded, as they headed home.

“A lot of homework?” he asked with interest. He was being very attentive to her, far more than she had expected, and it touched her.

“About the same as at home. We’re all kind of in the homestretch, waiting to hear from college. You’ve got to screw up pretty badly to blow it in the last term. It’s pretty much coasting from here.”

He laughed as she said it.

“I’m sure they’d be happy to hear that.”

“They know it. We don’t even have final exams at the end of senior year at home. You just have to get passing grades in your classes.” She wasn’t going to hear about her acceptances till the end of March, some of them even April, so she wasn’t worried about it yet.

They were at the house five minutes later, and her father dropped her off and went back to the bank. He said he’d see her later. She went out to the kitchen for a snack, and there was no one there. The two ladies who usually sat in the kitchen had left a note that they’d gone grocery shopping. And there was no sign of Daisy or Luisa. Sava

“How was school?” she asked, following Sava

“Kind of scary,” she admitted. It was easier saying it to her than her father. “Lots of new people.”

“Mean teachers?” Daisy asked sympathetically, as she tossed herself onto Sava

“No. Just different.” And then she remembered something she had wanted to ask Daisy, who was now her official counselor on local customs. “What’s this ‘bless her heart’ thing everyone says? They’re always saying ‘bless her heart.’” It had seemed a little weird to her, and Daisy laughed out loud when Sava

“That means they hate them. First, you say something really mean about someone, and then you say ‘bless her heart’ right after. My mama does it all the time. So does my grandma. We call that ‘nasty-nice’ here.” Sava