The Original Ginny Moon. Benjamin Ouvrier Ludwig

      He gets a funny look on his face. “No, she didn’t bring your Baby Doll. Ginny, I know you don’t like us to even say it, but if you want a new doll, we’ll get you one. Do you want to go to the toy store this afternoon?”

      “No, thank you, I don’t want to go to the toy store.” I use my friendly voice even though it makes me really mad when people ask that question. “When is she coming back?”

      “She isn’t coming back. She scared your mom pretty badly and made quite a scene. She even ran over our mailbox.”

      I don’t know what quite a scene is but I know that when Gloria is angry she yells a lot and fights. She breaks things and hits.

      I look at the mailbox. It is lying on the ground with its side all bent and its door open. Like a mouth, not moving.

      “Ginny?”

      I come up out of my brain. “What?” I say.

      “I said she isn’t coming back. The police came to tell her she isn’t allowed to visit.”

      But I know that Gloria never does what the police tell her. She is very sneaky. I know she wants to come back and I know I have to help her. I have to find out if I’m too late. Even though I’m scared. Even though Gloria gets really violent and is completely unreliable which is what one of the social workers said. I have to know what happened to my Baby Doll.

      I hear the bus coming from around the corner.

      “We can talk about this some more after school,” my Forever Dad says. “Would that be good?”

      I see the bus so I start counting.

      “Ginny?”

      “I see the bus,” I say.

      “Yes, I see it, too,” my Forever Dad says. “We’ll talk some more after school, if you want.”

      The bus takes thirteen seconds before it pulls up to the side of the road. My Forever Dad gives me a squeeze on the shoulder. I don’t recoil because it’s okay for him to do that. Because once he asked me if he could give me a hug and I said no so he asked if a squeeze on the shoulder would be all right and I said yes it would be. My Forever Mom can give me a hug if she asks but my Forever Dad is a man so it has to be a shoulder squeeze.

      My brain is moving too fast. The pictures in it are like hands flying up at my face.

      “Ginny?” he says.

      “Goodbye,” I say. And then I get on the bus.

       7

       7:04 IN THE MORNING, FRIDAY, SEPTEMBER 10TH

      When I get to school Mrs. Lomos is there waiting on the sidewalk right next to the bus. Today her earrings look like silver pears. “Good morning, Ginny,” she says when I step down off the bottom step.

      “Good morning,” I say because that’s what you say when someone says Good morning to you. Sometimes I also like to say How are you today? after I say Good morning but I am thinking about when I can ask Larry to get on the internet again so I can tell Gloria where to meet me. Because she didn’t come to school like she was supposed to. I need to help her get it right. I’m guessing the library is a good place for me to get on the internet because sometimes there aren’t any teachers there.

      “I want you to meet Mrs. Wake,” says Mrs. Lomos.

      I look up from my hands to see a lady standing next to Mrs. Lomos. She is an old lady with glasses and a white sweater. She isn’t wearing a Michael Jackson shirt. I love Michael Jackson because he isn’t like other men. He isn’t big and loud. He isn’t scary. He’s the nicest person in the world and when I hear his music I feel like I’m standing in a circle wearing small white shoes and when I feel that way I want to jump high and kick my feet back and spin when I land and put my shoulders up high and say, “Oooh!”

      But I have a hard time talking about how I feel. Patrice says it’s part of my disability.

      “Mrs. Wake is going to walk with you to all your classes,” says Mrs. Lomos.

      “Is she going to go with me to the library?” I ask.

      Mrs. Lomos gets a funny look on her face. “I don’t think your class is going to the library today, Ginny. What do you have to do in the library?”

      “There are books in the library,” I say even though there are computers there too.

      “Yes, there are. Maybe Mrs. Wake can help you pick one out.”

      Mrs. Wake smiles at me. I do not smile back. “Hello, Ginny,” she says. “I’m very pleased to meet you.”

      Period One is language arts again. Mrs. Wake sits next to me the whole time and tries to help me with questions about a man named Nathaniel Hawthorne. Then at the end of Period Two I go to Room Five with Larry and Kayla Zadambidge and Alison Hill. When I get to the table and sit down Mrs. Wake finally leaves to go to the bathroom so I say, “Okay, Larry. I need to get on the internet.”

      And he says, “Dude, there’s a computer right there,” and points and starts singing a song that says if I want it, here it is, I can just come get it. “But won’t you get in trouble?” he says when he finishes.

      I am about to tell him that he can get on the internet for me but then Ms. Dana walks in. She sits down at the table and starts reminding us how to use an agenda book. I decide not to tell Larry right now that I won’t get in trouble if he goes on the internet instead of me. Later I’ll tell him that I can just look over his shoulder while he looks at Facebook or Manicoon.com. But Ms. Dana keeps talking and talking and then Mrs. Wake comes back so I keep my new secret plan in my brain and shut my mouth so no one will see it.

      At 9:42 I go to homeroom for Break. Mrs. Wake comes with me.

      At 9:55 I go to band practice. Mrs. Wake comes with me.

      When I get to the band room she sits down near the door and I go to my music stand and take out my flute. Mr. Barnes the band teacher says that the Harvest Concert will be on Monday, October 18th. He says that we’ll play two songs about autumn and one about Halloween and one about the harvest moon.

      At eleven o’clock it’s time for social studies. Mrs. Wake follows me down the hall past the cafeteria and the lockers. She follows me all the way to the social studies room and sits down next to me on my left.

      I make sure my mouth is closed so no one can see what I’m thinking.

      Ms. Merton the social studies teacher is writing notes on the board. She does that every day. We’re supposed to copy down the notes in our notebook.

      I look at Mrs. Wake. “I don’t have my notebook,” I say. And it’s true because my science notebook isn’t with me.

      “Where is it?” she says.

      “In Room Five.”

      Mrs. Wake looks at the board. Ms. Merton has already written three sentences. All the other students are copying them.

      “Do you have to write the notes in your notebook?”

      “Yes,” I say.

      “All right,” she says. “I’ll run back to Room Five to get it. For now, copy the notes on a blank piece of paper. We can staple it into your notebook when I get back. Can you tell me what color it is?”

      I think hard again. “Green,” I say. “It’s on my shelf.”

      Mrs. Wake leaves. As soon as she’s gone I raise my hand. Ms. Merton sees me and says, “Yes, Ginny?”

      “Can I go to the bathroom?” I say.

      “Go ahead and sign out,” says Ms. Merton.

      So