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relieved to let Chloe and Allie take over the conversation. I just sat back and listened.
    “Where Laura?” Marissa asked.
    “Laura went to school,” Allie said. “Remember?”
    “School over.” Marissa pointed to me. “Maya school over?”
    “That’s a different kind of school,” Chloe clarified. “Laura went away to a college. Remember, college is where you go after high school.”
    “That’s where Kim is too,” I offered. “At college.”
    “Call…” Marissa tried.
    “College,” Allie said clearly. “College is
after
high school.”
    “College,” Marissa said slowly. “College
after
high school.”
    “You’re doing really great,” Chloe said cheerfully. But there was sadness in her eyes. We all know that Marissa’s chances of going to college are probably pretty slim now. Still, miracles can happen. And I’ll keep praying.
    In fact, I find myself praying for a number of miracles these days—like that somehow I’ll patch things up with Dominic and that Wyatt and Vanessa will eventually figure out that they need God as much as I do. But first and foremost on my mind is Shannon. Oh, I try not to think about it, but I know her appeal is just a week away. So mostly I just pray about it. And it’s not that I want God to keep my mother in prison. I mean, that’s pretty harsh. But I just don’t want her to make trouble for me. I don’t want to be derailed by her…again.
    Maya’s Green Tip for the Day
    We all enjoy our electronic devices, whether it’s a cell phone, computer, DVD player, television, or MP3 player. But what do you do with those “old friends” when you upgrade to the latest and greatest? For starters, you might consider giving any usable item to a friend, or you might donate it to an organization that will repair, reuse, or recycle for profit. What you don’t want to do is toss an electronic device into the garbage, where it will end up in a landfill. Most electronics contain hazardous materials that can threaten the environment. For more information on what to do with these items, check out this great recycling Web site: http://earth911.com . And you can donate functioning but outdated cell phones to women’s shelters. (Any working cell phone can call 911 even without a wireless plan.)

Four
September 25
    I t seems that miracles still happen. Okay, it’s not going to make the local news, but it feels miraculous just the same. My plan for getting Dominic back on speaking terms actually worked! Here’s how it went down.
    At lunch I found myself sitting with Wyatt and Vanessa once again. This time a couple of their friends joined us as well—I think out of curiosity more than anything. Like what were Wyatt and Vanessa doing hanging with the new girl? Then, as Dominic passed by, I slapped the seat next to me and called out to him. “Hey, Dominic, why don’t you sit with us?”
    Okay, he looked so stunned that I worried he would drop his lunch tray and totally humiliate himself. But being the cool dude that he is, he just turned around, nodded, and sat beside me.
    “So, Dominic,” said Wyatt all friendly like. “What’s up, buddy?”
    Dominic’s clear blue eyes flashed, like he wanted to lay into Wyatt. “Not much.”
    “Hey, Dominic,” I began quickly, “I really need to ask you a huge favor.”
    His brow creased. “Like what?”
    “Well, I wanted to do open mike at the Paradiso and—”
    “No way,” said Vanessa. “You’d actually
do
that, Maya?”
    “Sure. Why not?” I nodded and tried to look more confident than I felt. The truth is, I hadn’t even signed up to do open mike and hadn’t been sure that I would. It wasn’t until I opened my big mouth in front of everyone that I actually decided I would. Maybe it was my last-ditch effort to revive my friendship with Dominic and hopefully bury the hatchet for good.
    “What are you going to
do
for open mike?” asked Vanessa’s friend Becca Johnson.
    “Just a song,” I said.
    “She plays guitar,”