sample chapter:

make me a home

MAKE ME A HOME

by Tamra Norton

Chapter 1

Mud and Ivy 

Mud sucks—seriously. With every step I took

down Grandma’s long driveway, I wondered if

I’d be able to pull my shoe back out of the brown

muck. Yuck! My six-year-old brother, Spencer,

seemed to love our muddy morning walk to Edna

Elementary School no matter how dirty his shoes

got. But he’d convinced me long ago he was half

pig—the kid has no manners at the table—so I

guess I wasn’t surprised.

Once we made it to the main road, I figured

we were out of the danger zone. Wrong. We were

out of the thick mud, but Spencer still managed to

stomp through every puddle he could find.

“Your toes are going to turn into prunes,” I

hollered as Spencer jumped, both feet together, into a

small pool of grayish-brown water that looked a little

too much like Grandma’s black bean soup. I didn’t

like to eat the stuff, and I really didn’t want my little

brother splashing it, or something that looked like it,

all over my school clothes. We were only half a block

from school, and the kid’s shoes were as wet as our

baby brother’s diaper first thing in the morning. As

he walked, all I could hear was squish, squish, squish.

“What’s a prune?” Spencer asked.

“Something gross that Mom and Grandma

eat. It keeps them normal, or regular, or sane, or

something. I can’t exactly remember.”

Spencer laughed. “You think Mom and Grandma

want to eat my feet?” He held up a dripping tennis

shoe toward me, and I could imagine his shriveledup,

stinking toes wiggling inside. This thought—

not to mention the disturbing image of Mom and

Grandma nibbling on his toes—made me want to

gag. Sometimes having a great imagination isn’t

such a great thing.

“You know what I think?” I replied. “I think

you’re going to make me late for school if you don’t

hurry up. Now come on.” I started walking faster

and didn’t even look behind to see if Spencer was

following. I could still hear his shoes squishing,

and I almost felt sorry for his stubby first-grader

legs trying to keep up.

As we reached the school, the bell sounded and

every kid began to move a little faster. I turned to

face Spencer, who was struggling to keep up. “Meet

me at the flag pole,” I reminded, like I’d done every

day of school that year. Today would no doubt be

another round of puddle-jumping. I was learning

to keep my distance.

“Bye, Allie.” Spencer waved and headed to the

door at the far end of the building. I turned and

started walking toward my class, the only sixth

grade class at Edna Elementary.

If I still lived back in Killeen, Texas, I’d be

in middle school by now—lockers, gym clothes,

yearbooks, even cheerleading! But here I was,

still with the little kids in elementary school.

How fair is that?

But then I guess a lot of things in life can be

unfair—like not being able to see your dad for

a year because he’s halfway around the world in

Iraq doing his soldier duty. It would all soon be a

memory, though. Dad would be coming home in

May—only a month away. I could hardly wait!

When I walked into the classroom, my thoughts

shifted. Something seemed to be different. What

was it? Willy Simms was doing his usual howannoying-

can-I-be-today routine, this time filling

up his cheeks with air and squishing his hands

together on his face, making disgusting noises.

Disturbing.

Celeste, Aubrey, and Tiffany, the popular girls,

seemed to be huddled even tighter than usual.

Those of us watching from the outside wished we

knew what could be so funny for them to make all

those giggles and gasps. The truth was, they were

probably talking and laughing about the rest of us.

It was easy to tell—point, look, giggle. Point, look,

gasp. More giggles. Irritating!

Personally, I didn’t want to know what they

were gossiping about. But I did wonder what it

would be like to have such close friends. The other

kids in my class were nice to me, but it wasn’t the

same as having a really close friend. A best friend.

Something I didn’t have.

“Good morning, class.” Mrs. Kaneko walked to

the board at the front of the room and wrote the

word Ivy. I wondered if we were going to start the

day with a lesson on plants, but the thought didn’t

last long. “We have a new student.” Mrs. Kaneko

motioned her hand toward her desk, where a girl

with short, blonde hair was sitting.

That was it! I knew something was different

when I walked into the class. We had a new student,

and hallelujah for that. I’d been “the new kid” for

seven long months. I guess people don’t often move

to Edna, Idaho—go figure! Either way, I was just

glad to give up the position.

“Ivy has moved here all the way from California.”

A new buzz erupted throughout the room. All eyes

focused on the new girl, and her cheeks turned as

red as one of Grandma’s tomatoes. I could relate.

“Willy and Chase, will you two go get that

empty desk against the back wall?” said Mrs.

Kaneko. “Let’s see, Ivy. Where should we have you

sit?”

I quickly crossed my fingers and toes. Please,

please, please. Let her sit here! I sat up tall in my desk

and tried to make eye contact with my teacher. I

even stuck my chin up and continued to mouth the

words “please” in hopes that Mrs. Kaneko might be

able to read lips.

When Mrs. Kaneko’s eyes met mine, a smile

spread across her always-pretty face. “Why don’t

we put you here with Allie, Matt, and Ben.”

Yes! I let out a deep breath I hadn’t realized I

was holding.

Mine and Matt’s desks were already facing

each other, and Ben’s desk joined ours to form a T.

So Ben pulled his desk over next to Matt’s, leaving

a spot for the new girl’s desk next to mine. I was

suddenly in a very good mood—chocolate-chip-

cookie good mood! Maybe now—finally—I’d have

a really good friend at Edna Elementary. Maybe

even a best friend.

As Ivy walked across the classroom to her new

desk, Celeste whispered, “I heard that in California

they have Poison Ivy.”

Aubrey and Tiffany both tried to stifle their

giggles. One even snorted.

I made no attempt to hide the glare aimed right

at Celeste. It was no big secret that Celeste Holt was

not my favorite person. I wondered why everyone

else in the class acted like it would make their day

to kiss her popular, stinkin’ feet. She was big stuff

around Edna Elementary. She was to Mrs. Kaneko’s

sixth grade class what a white Christmas is to most

Americans—beautiful to look at, and most people

really want it there for some reason. But cold and

unpleasant if you’re face to face with it for too long,

especially if you’re not wearing the right clothes,

which I guess I never did. Whatever.

Mrs. Kaneko hadn’t heard Celeste’s comment.

Figures. I could only hope Ivy hadn’t either. I knew

what it was like to start a new school. I’d done it

three times in the past seven years, a fact of life

when your dad’s a soldier. It’s not easy.

I hadn’t realized how short Ivy was until I

stood up to adjust our desks. She only came up to

my ear, and I’m not what anyone would consider

tall. Just normal—regular—and thank goodness

for that because I didn’t want to start eating prunes

anytime soon.

When Ivy looked at me, I could see something

very familiar in her face, or maybe it was in her eyes,

and yet I didn’t even know her at all. It was a little

weird. And a little cool, like one of those déjà vu

things. My arms got goose bumps so I folded them.

I didn’t want anyone to notice.

Matt asked her right off if she knew any movie

stars in California. Right.

“I’m from northern California,” Ivy said. “Elk

Grove.”

“Yeah?” Matt’s eyebrows were raised, ready for

some big names. He obviously wanted to hear that

Orlando Bloom was her next-door neighbor and

Hillary Duff, her best friend.

I jumped in to help. “Movie stars live in southern

California.” I only knew this because two years ago

we went to Disneyland in southern California, then

drove all the way up the coast to Oregon—a very

long drive. I hoped Ivy would be impressed with

how much I knew.

Matt shrugged. And Ben hadn’t even looked

up from his workbook. We all went back to work,

but it was hard to concentrate with the thought

of making a good impression and possibly a best

friend swirling through my brain.

When Mrs. Kaneko announced morning

recess, books were flung into desks. In less than

sixty seconds the room cleared out, except for Ivy

and me. I wanted to stick close to Ivy. I figured she

needed me.

“Allie,” asked Mrs. Kaneko, “why don’t you

show Ivy around the playground?”

“Sure,” I replied. I was glad she’d asked. I was

going to anyway, but this made it easier.

“So, how do you like Edna?” I asked as the two

of us walked toward the playground.

Ivy shrugged. “It’s okay, I guess. Small. Rainy.

Muddy. At least today it is.”

I wasn’t sure if Ivy was trying to be funny, but

I laughed. “Yeah. I know what you mean. I moved

here from Texas last summer.”

I looked over at Ivy, expecting her to say

something. But her face looked like a blank page in

a book. Nothing to say. We walked along in silence

for a bit. The air was cool, and neither of us had

grabbed our jackets.

What the heck, I thought. I’ll keep myself

company. “We’re living here with my grandma

while my dad’s in Iraq,” I said. “He’s a soldier.”

Again, I looked at Ivy. Waited. The girl must

have something to say. But she kept looking out at

the empty potato field behind the school. What could

be so interesting about those stupid rows of dirt?

Maybe this friend-making stuff was a mistake.

When Ivy finally spoke, her voice was soft.

“How long has your dad been gone?”

“Too long,” I replied. How long had it been

anyway? It felt like a million years. but I decided

to figure it out. “I guess it’s been eleven months

because he’s coming home next month.”

“Do you miss him?” she asked.

This surprised me a little. Whenever I told

anyone that my dad was a soldier and in Iraq, it

seemed like they never wanted to talk about it.

Probably because on the news they always show

pictures of Iraq that are kind of scary. At least to

me. Sometimes I wondered if Dad was ever scared.

“I miss him a lot.” I could feel my throat starting

to ache, like when I’m going to cry. That was the

last thing I needed to happen. I took a deep breath

and blinked a few times.

For the first time, Ivy looked at me, and I felt

embarrassed. “I got some dust in my eye,” I said,

which was totally lame, and totally a lie. It had

been raining for three days. Any dust in Edna had

turned into a mud puddle of Grandma’s black bean

soup a few days ago, just waiting for my brother to

splash in it.

“Don’t worry,” said Ivy. “I have that problem

all the time.” I’m not positive, but I don’t think Ivy

was talking about dust.

A familiar ringing of girls’ laughter reached

my ears. We both turned our heads at the same

time. There was Celeste, standing with her arms

folded and looking like she’d just taken a sip of

sour milk. Aubrey and Tiffany stood on each side

of her like a pair of bookends. Made me wonder

if the girl could actually stand on her own. With

her eyes still fixed on us, Celeste tilted her head

and whispered something that brought on another

round of giggles from the bookends.

Ivy shifted her eyes down to the ground, then

back to that field. I wasn’t sure what she was

looking for, but I had a feeling it wasn’t an empty

potato field.

I raised my chin and glared into that face—the

one that some call pretty—for as long as I could

stand it. Then I nudged Ivy’s shoulder with mine.

“Hey, c’mon. Let me show you around.”

Ivy was still looking away and I barely heard

her say, “Okay.”

I couldn’t resist glancing back one last time at

Celeste and her friends. But the three had turned

their attention to a group of seventh grade boys

playing baseball in the junior high school’s field

across the street. Typical!

Maybe I’d been spending too much time

around my little brother because at that moment I

did what every kid wants to do when they’re really

mad at someone—I stuck out my tongue. I did.

And it was pointing at Celeste Holt and her dumb

bookend friends.

Before I even had a chance to consider how

stupid and babyish I was looking, I heard another

laugh, this time a beautiful laugh.

It came from Ivy.

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