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It makes reet me as I turn into our cul-de-sac and park the car behindThe clinic is dark, so no one’s working late Hesitantly, I hike the steps of the connecting house and warily open the front door of our apart area to greetold, but she’s still sweet and pretty No one can resist her dual-colored brown and blue husky eyes I stick ood scratch while kissing the top of her head
"Hey, sweet thing," my mom says She’s stretched out on the couch under a blanket, reading a azine under a diround "Hoas astronomy club?"
"Fine" I hand her the car keys "Where’s Dad?"
She nods toward the balcony off the kitchen, where I spot a dark shape "On the phone"
My gut twists when I hear his voice, too low forHe’s always on the phone, and those phone calls usually are taken behind closed doors after he steps away I assu polite;on cell phones in public
Noonder who’s on the other end of the line
Hoping she doesn’t notice my anxiety, I briefly tell Mom about Dr Viraazine pages She’s lance toward the balcony door, and a little line appears in the middle of her forehead
Or ination
All I know is that I can’t fake a convincing s weariness, I kiss Joy good night and make an escape upstairs, Andromeda at my heels
My bedroom is in a converted attic space My parents’ master bedroom is downstairs, so I have the entire upstairs to myself Just e room filled with overflow supplies froed a lot since I was a kid The ceiling is still covered with glow-in-the-dark stars--the "glow" ran out years ago--painstakingly arranged to asus lost the stars thata minor earthquake The only decorative room additions from the last couple of years are my oversize handmade wall calendars, or "blueprints"--I have one for each season of the year, and they are all systealaxy photos I’ve had my best ones printed and framed My Orion Nebula is particularly beautiful I took it at the observatory with a special equatorial mount borrowed from Dr Vira software
After locking my door, I move past framed star charts and duck beneath a s over my desk I stashed the photo book in a deep desk drawer earlier, and when I double-check, it’s still there, under a neat stack of graph-lined planning journals and a rainbow bin of highlighters, gel pens, and rolls of washi tape My parents don’t touch anized--so I’uilty