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For six, long weeks, I’d avoided Henry’s calls and left his texts unanswered. I replayed Visitation Day over and over in my mind, trying to figure out how someone I thought I knew as well as Henry could change in a moment. I still wasn’t ready to talk to him because there were only a few weeks until final exams, and I’d already wasted too much time on his grades and not enough on mine.
I made up a few white lies to convince my counselor I was too stressed to go to class, and she put me on independent study until the end of January when our semester ended. As long as I avoided the courtyard, the library, and—most importantly—the basement, there was no way I would run into Henry. Although, Lexi said he hadn’t really been leaving Billionaire’s Block except to go to classes, so maybe he was avoiding me, too.
“Sticking to his kind?” I asked her, pretending to gag.
“Grace, be nice. He’s giving you space.” She smiled. “If no one’s ever told you before, you are kind of intimidating, you know?”
“He owns half the state, and he’s not even eighteen, Lexi. He’s not scared of a girl in glasses who solves math problems for fun. Trust me, Henry is fine.” I rolled my eyes.
For another two weeks, I buckled down in my dorm room, assigning myself extra homework to keep my mind off Henry Walton. I heard a rumor he was going back to Brixton when the semester was over, so I was almost in the clear—forever free of him.
“You know, Miss O’Connell,” Headmaster Waltz said, eyeing me over his glasses the way he always did. “You might win the top math prize, again.”
I scooted to the end of his leather chair and tried to get a peek at the paper on his desk. “Is that the winner there?” I asked, pointing to what appeared to be a name written on a dotted line. It was in cursive, so I couldn’t read it upside-down.
“Now, Miss O’Connell, I... I mean, don’t look at that,” he stammered and stacked a book on top of the paper. “Not for your eyes, I’m afraid.” He slid his glasses up the bridge of his nose and grinned. “But I do think you’re going to enjoy hearing that name when I call it during the ceremony.”
I half-expected him to wink, signaling that I was right, and it was my name. Grace O’Connell—Top Prize for Math.
The auditorium was decorated in dark green and white, Riverview Academy’s school colors. Banners hung from the ceiling with the years and names of students who’d received both academic and athletic honors. My name hung at the bottom of the math banner—Grace O’Connell, Grace O’Connell. Two years in a row. Today I was hoping for a third.
My mom couldn’t make it because of work and made me promise Lexi would get a video of me on stage if I won. “Where should we sit?” Lexi asked, giggling, because she knew I only sat in the front row.
We took our seats, and I smoothed out my blouse and my bangs, not bothering to look around for Henry because he’d never come to something like this. Besides, he was probably packing to leave soon, anyway. We hadn’t spoken to or seen each other in fifty-nine days. But who was counting? I laughed at my math.
“What’s so funny?” Lexi asked.
“I just love math.” I smiled.
Kids filed in, and rows filled. The band played off-tune through a few songs before Headmaster Waltz motioned for them to stop and took his place at the dark wood podium, center stage. “Hello, everyone. Thank you for coming to Riverview Academy’s Mid-Year Awards Ceremony.”
He droned on for several minutes, saying things like esteemed, prestigious, renowned, and other snooty words that made everyone feel good about paying as much as we were to attend Riverview. After handing out a handful of awards, he announced, “And now, we are giving the Top Math award to the student who’s not only achieved the highest academic honors in math but also gone above and beyond to help others achieve their own success in the subject.”
“What is he talking about?” I nudged Lexi.
“Sounds like you’re getting an award for knowing trig and for helping Henry!”
“Oh, jeez, I hope not. That’s embarrassing.” I scooched myself to the edge of my seat to get ready, just in case Lexi was right.
“From the junior class, Grace O’Connell takes top honors for the third year in a row!” Headmaster Waltz announced to the audience, sounding almost as excited as I was.
“Go! Go!” Lexi pushed my arm as she stood up and clapped louder than anyone else. “Woohoo! Go Grace!”
Making my way to the stage, I couldn’t help but search the audience for Henry—my eyes darted quickly from one side of the auditorium to the other but no sign of him. Headmaster Waltz handed me the certificate. “Congratulations, Ms. O’Connell,” he beamed as we turned to face the crowd and smiled for the photographer. Then, I saw her—my mom—standing in the back.
“Mom?” I mouthed to her, shaking my head in disbelief. “What are you doing here?”
She smiled and waved.
Getting off the stage, I made a beeline straight into her arms. “I can’t believe you came! Thank you so much, Mom!”
She wrapped the ends of her long sweater around me and squeezed tight. “Wouldn’t miss it for the world!”
I wiped tears from my eyes, feeling overwhelmed to not only see her but to feel the sense of calm I always did being around her. My twisting stomach and dizzying thoughts had been competing to see which was going to take me down first since we got back from our holiday break and seeing my mom was exactly what I needed. “How long can you stay? I mean, when does you train leave?”
My mom grinned and raised her eyebrows, “Let’s just say, I can leave whenever I want.”
Confused because we both knew the train’s strict schedule, I didn’t push for an answer. “You can stay the weekend, if you want? I’ll hide you in my dorm room!” I giggled, feeling six instead of sixteen.
