Maybe One Day Read Online Free PDF Page B

told me. I’d slept at her house Saturday night. She’d been fine. I’d talked to her this morning . Eight hours later she was in the hospital and getting medicine? How could they even diagnose what she had that fast?
    “It’s true, Zoe.” Olivia’s voice quivered. I heard a voice in the background, and Livvie said, “My mom wants me to get off the phone. The doctor just came in. Can you come? I need to see you.” It sounded like she was starting to cry.
    “I’m on my way,” I said, my voice fierce. Then I said it again, as if maybe she would doubt me. “I am on my way .”
    “Okay,” said Livvie. “Love ya.”
    We always said Love ya . We ended every phone call, every chat, every conversation the same way.
    See you tomorrow. Love ya .
    Gotta go. Love ya .
    My mom’s calling. Love ya .
    I have leukemia. Love ya .
    “I love you, Livs,” I said, my voice nearly breaking on her name.
    “I love you too, Zoe,” she answered. I could hear that she was crying. And then she was gone.
    I stood on the edge of the lawn, the phone still pressed to my ear. Cars pulled in and out of the parking lot, and kids tumbled from the building, taking the stairs two at a time as they raced into the liberty of the afternoon. The sky over my head was almost painfully blue, the grass a bright and vivid green. It was a crisp, beautiful, perfect fall day.
    All that beauty was completely wrong. The sky should have been black, the grass withered, the students wailing with grief. Olivia is sick! I wanted to howl. What are you people doing? My friend is sick! It was impossible—the sky, the cars, the kids walking around as if it were a day like any other day. Nothing made any sense.
    Before I could start screaming, I turned and raced for home.

UNCORRECTED E-PROOF—NOT FOR SALE
    HarperCollins Publishers
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    5
    My dad was in Washington on assignment, but I didn’t even think to be relieved when I saw my mom’s car in the driveway—what if she’d been at the gym or a meeting and I’d had to wait for her to return my call and come home, had to sit there on the front porch cooling my heels and losing my mind while Olivia stared at the door of her hospital room, expecting me to walk through it any minute? I flew up the wooden steps of our front porch and into the house. Flavia barked as I entered.
    “ Mom! Mom! ” I could hear the hysteria in my voice.
    My mom was an architect, and her office was in the back of the house, but she must have been in the kitchen, because she appeared in front of me about a second after I threw open the door. “What is it? What’s happened?” She was holding the coffeepot, like maybe she’d been pouring a cup when sheheard me yelling.
    Still panting from my sprint home, I managed to choke out, “Livvie’s . . . she’s sick. She’s in the hospital. We have to go.”
    “Olivia’s sick?” My mom’s eyes popped wide with concern.
    “We have to go, Mom. She’s at UH. We have to go right now.” I started pulling on her arm, like when I was a little kid.
    “She’s in the hospital ?” My mom grabbed my elbow.
    “That’s what I said .” Why was she not moving? “Now let’s go .”
    “Zoe, sweetheart, you have to explain what’s going on.” Instead of racing for her keys and shoes, she put her hand on my shoulder. “Calm down. What’s wrong? What’s wrong with Olivia?”
    “Mom, I told you! She’s sick. She has leukemia. She’s in the—”
    “She has leukemia ?” She dropped my arm and pressed her fingers to her lips. “My God! When did this happen?”
    “When do you think it happened?” I slapped my forehead. “Oh, yeah, it happened last week, only I forgot to tell you about it.”
    “Zoe, there’s no need to get—”
    “Why aren’t you hurrying ?” I ran over to the stairs and grabbed a pair of shoes. “We have to go .” My voice was shrill, and my eyes stung.
    For a second, my mom stared at me from