BooksBarbecue
Back Verona Comics
Chapters (58)
  1. Cover
  2. Dedication
  3. CHAPTER ONE
  4. CHAPTER TWO
  5. CHAPTER THREE
  6. CHAPTER FOUR
  7. CHAPTER FIVE
  8. CHAPTER SIX
  9. CHAPTER SEVEN
  10. CHAPTER EIGHT
  11. CHAPTER NINE
  12. CHAPTER TEN
  13. CHAPTER ELEVEN
  14. CHAPTER TWELVE
  15. CHAPTER THIRTEEN
  16. CHAPTER FOURTEEN
  17. CHAPTER FIFTEEN
  18. CHAPTER SIXTEEN
  19. CHAPTER SEVENTEEN
  20. CHAPTER EIGHTEEN
  21. CHAPTER NINETEEN
  22. CHAPTER TWENTY
  23. CHAPTER TWENTY-ONE
  24. CHAPTER TWENTY-TWO
  25. CHAPTER TWENTY-THREE
  26. CHAPTER TWENTY-FOUR
  27. CHAPTER TWENTY-FIVE
  28. CHAPTER TWENTY-SIX
  29. CHAPTER TWENTY-SEVEN
  30. CHAPTER TWENTY-EIGHT
  31. CHAPTER TWENTY-NINE
  32. CHAPTER THIRTY
  33. CHAPTER THIRTY-ONE
  34. CHAPTER THIRTY-TWO
  35. CHAPTER THIRTY-THREE
  36. CHAPTER THIRTY-FOUR
  37. CHAPTER THIRTY-FIVE
  38. CHAPTER THIRTY-SIX
  39. CHAPTER THIRTY-SEVEN
  40. CHAPTER THIRTY-EIGHT
  41. CHAPTER THIRTY-NINE
  42. CHAPTER FORTY
  43. CHAPTER FORTY-ONE
  44. CHAPTER FORTY-TWO
  45. CHAPTER FORTY-THREE
  46. CHAPTER FORTY-FOUR
  47. CHAPTER FORTY-FIVE
  48. CHAPTER FORTY-SIX
  49. CHAPTER FORTY-SEVEN
  50. CHAPTER FORTY-EIGHT
  51. CHAPTER FORTY-NINE
  52. CHAPTER FIFTY
  53. CHAPTER FIFTY-ONE
  54. CHAPTER FIFTY-TWO
  55. RESOURCES
  56. ACKNOWLEDGMENTS
  57. ABOUT THE AUTHOR
  58. What’s next onyour reading list?

I flop down onto my bed, dropping my hands over my eyes as the music floods my room.

“Look at you,” Nikki says after the second one.

“Jubi, these are incredible, seriously incredible,” Jayla says after the third piece.

“I missed a note on that last one. Delete it.”

“Are you kidding me? These are awesome.”

I start to protest, but movement in my doorway catches my eye. My mom is there, a wistful look in her eyes, listening to the music. “I miss that sound,” she says when she notices me watching her.

“Pretty soon, Mrs. J,” Jayla says, “she’ll be back to playing so much, you’ll be sick of it.”

My mom smiles, but her eyes still look sad. I know this has been rough on her too. She’s cheered me on at every competition since the third grade, carted me to every lesson, spent money on my music even when there was barely any money to spend. She’s been almost as much a part of this process as I have.

I know this isn’t the end of the world—it’s one summer program—but I can’t help feeling like it is. I’ve worked toward this for so long. And now—

“Will you please play the Bach? I don’t have it yet.”

Hearing his voice again, even through my computer speakers, cuts deep. I try to play it off but don’t do a very good job.

“I’ll stop it,” Jayla says, rushing to shut my laptop.

“No, leave it,” I say. “I want to hear.”

•  •  •

Hours later, when Nikki and Jayla are both asleep on an air mattress and my parents have long shut their door, I open an email and I write.

CHAPTER FORTY-NINE

Ridley

THERE ARE TWO kids on boards when I get to the skate park, if you want to call it that—it was maybe slightly oversold in the brochure. It’s more like a small area of concrete with a few rails and some wooden ramps, but it’ll do. Earning board privileges at Greenwild feels like a huge accomplishment, and I’ve been chomping at the bit—pardon the horse pun, but—to finish my journaling work this afternoon and actually get out here.

I push off, picking up speed to slide a rail to shake off the day. It was a tough one, even with the horses serving as a distraction. My therapist met me at the barn for my morning session, and we talked a lot about my relationship with my father while I brushed Westley and Buttercup and cleaned out their stalls. I think she knew that wasn’t a conversation I could handle sitting still.