Total pages in book: 102
Estimated words: 96454 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 482(@200wpm)___ 386(@250wpm)___ 322(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 96454 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 482(@200wpm)___ 386(@250wpm)___ 322(@300wpm)
“I just want to get my mom out of the crappy building we’re in,” Anika said. “The landlord is creepy, and I’ve started naming the rats. Ivy, do you want half my sandwich?”
Ivy felt a flush go through her system. There hadn’t been anything for her to pack for lunch this morning, and her mom had forgotten to leave her cash. Her mom probably thought she had some since she was working part time now. But Ivy had spent every dime she’d made on a new SIM card. She’d hoped no one would notice when she skipped lunch. “I’m fine.”
She sometimes wondered how different her life would be if her father hadn’t died. She wondered if her mother would smile more if he was around, if she would be one of those moms who was always up in her kid’s business. If she would still be making her lunches and checking her homework.
Not that she needed that or anything.
Anika’s brows rose. “I can hear your stomach rumbling. Did you eat breakfast?”
Harper pulled out her lunch box. “Sit with us. I’ve got plenty. I figure we have at least half an hour before Mrs. Charles realizes we’re gone. She’s been flirting with the docent.”
It was how they’d managed to slip away. The teacher in charge of their group was fairly young and hadn’t developed the Spidey-like senses of the more experienced ones.
It didn’t make any sense to pass out from hunger, so she settled in and accepted half of Anika’s PB&J and some of Harper’s chips.
“So I would live in this room if I was back in those times.” Ivy leaned against the brick wall, sliding down until she was sitting.
Anika shrugged. “We would all be right here.”
But that wasn’t the world Ivy wanted. She didn’t want to constantly fight for every dime, worry about every meal. “I’m going to write that Cecilia person and get her to mentor me.”
“The tech lady?” Harper asked.
Ivy nodded. A few weeks back a woman named Cecilia Foust had come through to give a talk about women in STEM. That had been a lecture Ivy had paid attention to. “Yeah. She’s mostly on the investment end, but she could teach me a lot. She could tell me what to do so I don’t end up in the servants’ quarters.”
It was where she lived now, and it was hard. This life had dragged her mother down. It made her hard and untouchable.
Ivy didn’t want to be untouchable.
“I think that’s a good step,” Harper said. “Maybe I should take one of my own. Dad is only willing to teach me what he knows. He thinks renovation is useless. I’m thinking about taking some classes this summer when I’m not working.”
Anika grinned. “And I have an internship this summer at Rockefeller Center. I got the news yesterday. My mom is angry because it doesn’t pay, but I want to get into entertainment. I have to pay my dues and make connections.”
They all had found a potential path out of the lives they seemed stuck in. This summer would be about putting those plans in motion, and sometime in the future all their hard work would pay off. That was the lesson she’d gotten from the STEM lady’s talk. “One day we’re going to buy this place and we’re going to live on Park Avenue and we’ll show them all.”
“Uh, this place is a historical landmark,” Harper explained. “I don’t think we can buy it.”
She wasn’t thinking positively. “Bet if we had enough money we could, and then you could make all the rooms beautiful again, not just the ones they show the public.”
“That would be so cool.” Anika took a swig from her water bottle. “The city is so different here. It’s only a few blocks, but it’s a totally different world.”
A world Ivy wanted to be a part of. “We’re going to make it.”
Just not without her friends. It wouldn’t mean anything if she didn’t have Harper and Anika. They’d become her family.
Harper started talking about architecture, and Ivy let the conversation flow around her.
All she needed was a shot. She could show everyone what a poor kid could do.
The day suddenly didn’t seem so dreary.
Chapter One
“I think you need to start dating again.”
The words hit me like I suspect a baseball bat to the head would. They make me a bit nauseous, and when I really think about the implications of following through with that particular suggestion, the world threatens to go fuzzy.
It’s like my body’s instinct is to shut down to protect itself.
“Ivy, are you okay?”
I look over the brunch table at my two best friends in the world and roll my eyes. Anika asked the question, but I turn Harper’s way since I’m sure she’s the one who made the suggestion that threatened to send me into a spiral. “Seriously? Do you remember what happened the last time I gave dating a shot? Should I call up any of the numerous articles detailing my downfall, or would you like an oral report on the current condition of my life and career?”