Page 42 of Torn In Two

But then, unlike me and Josiah, Ice had a choice about whether he wanted to be here or not. He could walk away at any time.

That was not my experience. So Ice and the other prospects mustn’t have minded being the brunt of Hawk’s bad moods. Even still, I hoped for Ice’s sake that they made him a full member soon.

Hawk glanced at his phone. “School day starts in an hour. If we’re going to do this, let’s do it.”

Butterflies picked up in my belly at the thought of leaving Hayley Jade in an unfamiliar place for an entire day, but I forced my feet across the common room and knocked on her door before letting myself in. “Hey, sweetheart. Are you awake?”

She sat on the floor, already dressed and her hair brushed, a book on her lap.

I blinked, surprised she wasn’t still in her pajamas. But then I remembered where she’d grown up, and it wasn’t actually that unusual she was already capable of getting herself ready in the mornings, even though she was only five.

Shari was a good, Ethereal Eden woman. She’d started teaching Hayley Jade young. Laziness wasn’t tolerated, and women especially were expected to rise early in order to bake bread for the man of the house’s breakfast.

I’d bet Hayley Jade already knew how to do that.

I knew then I was making the right decision. While there was nothing wrong with a child her age being able to dress herself, or help with the baking, there were other things she needed to know as well.

How to read the book on her lap being one of the biggest.

I knelt beside her and pointed at the words on the page. “Mr. Crocodile was having a bad day. His tummy was sore.”

I paused, shifting so I was sitting cross-legged on the rug with her, facing each other. “Would you like to be able to read those words yourself?”

Hayley Jade looked up, her eyes big with interest.

She didn’t say anything, but saying nothing wasn’t a no, so that was a start. I was going to have to get her into school whether she wanted to go or not, but her wanting to go, and feeling safe there would make all the difference. “You know how Remi and Madden go to school? I know they’ve told you about all the fun things they do. Drawing and coloring and singing and playing.”

She gave a small nod.

“Well, there’s a school you can go to as well. They’ll teach you how to read that book all by yourself, and there’s other kids there to play with. Would you like to come see it with me and Hawk today?”

Shock spread through me at the giant smile that split her face. It was so wide and full of pure joy that it broke my heart.

She’d wanted this, and I’d been keeping it from her, with my own fears too thick in my head to see what she needed.

I wanted to sink beneath the sense of grief that brought up in me, but I wouldn’t.

Like Queenie had said, Mama Kara was back. I didn’t want to let her go again.

A middle-aged woman took Hayley Jade’s hand and led her into a classroom filled with other kids running about the place and causing general chaos from the moment the woman had stepped outside to greet us. She let out a whistle and then called out, “One, two, three!”

Like a miracle, the kids stopped and chanted back, “Eyes on me!”

Hawk blinked in surprise as the kids all plonked themselves down on a big mat in the center of the classroom, staring up at their teacher and Hayley Jade in interest.

The teacher, Miss Winters, smiled at the students. “Everybody, this is Hayley Jade. She’s new to our class. Do you want to know something special? Hayley Jade has a secret superpower. Do you know what that superpower might be?”

The kids gaped and shook their heads.

Miss Winters crouched so she was closer to their heights. “Well, Hayley Jade’s superpower is her listening ears. She hears everything we say and understands every word, even though right now, she doesn’t speak. Who else has super listening ears? Can you turn them on?”

The kids fiddled with their ears, miming turning on switches like robots.

Hayley Jade did it too, and I smiled from where Hawk and I stood in the doorway, watching on quietly.

“Good job! Now can everyone welcome Hayley Jade to our class?”

“Welcome, Hayley Jade,” the kids chorused.

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