Save Me - Lisa Scottoline [63]
“Really, when?”
“At lunch. She gets a veggie burger out of the freezer, puts it the microwave, then she puts a Stackers pickle on top, and ketchup.” Melly made a motion with her hand. “Stackers pickles are flat. She said we can buy them at the Giant, and the veggie burgers, too. She showed me the box, and it says Amy’s Burgers, but I said they were Kristenburgers, and she laughed.”
Rose still didn’t understand. “Why were you eating with her?”
“She saw me going to the handicapped bathroom and she said I could.” Melly turned, her eyes hopeful. “Can we get Stackers pickles at the store? And Kristenburgers?”
“Sure.” Rose wanted to know what had happened, though. If it was what had prompted Kristen’s email to her, about lunchtime, she didn’t know the details. “Why were you going to the bathroom? Was there a problem? I’m not going to do anything. I just want to know.”
“Ms. Canton said I needed a break. She calls it ‘me time.’ She says she eats alone on Friday, like me. She doesn’t mind, because that’s her ‘me time.’”
Rose knew the weekly schedule, but that wasn’t the point. On Friday, the teachers ate in the classrooms, because they made folders that got sent home with the kids, containing work from the week prior. Kristen, as a gifted teacher, wasn’t responsible for making any folders, but that still didn’t explain why she was eating with Melly. “So why were you eating with her? What happened?”
“She says I needed ‘me time’ from Amanda and Emily.”
“Were they teasing you?” Rose tried to put it together, like a puzzle.
“They were saying that Harry Potter is for boys, and I said, he’s not. They only saw the movies, so they don’t know. He saves Hermione from the bathroom. Remember, Mom? Like you saved me. I knew you’d come.”
Rose felt a twinge. “I love you, Mel.”
“I love you, too.” Melly twisted to the backseat and waved to John, who was asleep. “I love you, John!” she whispered, then turned back to Rose, cheered. “He’s cute, isn’t he?”
“He’s very cute.” Rose brightened. “I have an idea. How about we get some lunch, go over to the park, and have a picnic?”
“It’s not a sunny day.”
“You don’t need the sun for a picnic. It won’t rain.”
“Okay.” Melly nodded. “Then can we get the Kristenburgers?”
“Yes.”
“Yay!” Melly cheered, and Rose steered the car into the turn lane.
Two hours later they’d had a picnic at Allen’s Dam, found the reddest fallen leaf, and gone to the grocery store. Rose wanted to make one last stop before home, in one of the strip malls. She pulled into the lot, cut the ignition, and turned to Melly. “I thought we’d get some books.”
“Goodie!” Melly turned to John, who was babbling away in the backseat. “Johnnie, books!”
“Careful, it’s a parking lot. You have to hold my hand.” Rose grabbed her car keys and purse, and Melly was already in motion, climbing out of the car and closing the door. Rose went around to the backseat, unclipped John from his car seat, found his pacifier, and lifted him into her arms. “Hey, buddy, how’re you?”
“Bababsbsbsb,” he answered, and Rose kissed his cheek as Melly came around and took her other hand.
“Mom, can I lock the car?”
“Sure.” Rose handed her the car keys.
“Colloportus!” Melly pointed the key fob at the car.
“Good job.” Rose knew the basic Harry Potter incantations, since it was Melly’s second language. She dropped the keys into her purse and took Melly’s hand. “I want to get a book for me, and you can pick some out, too.”
“There’s a new one about Quidditch. My friend on Club Penguin told me. She’s Harryfan373 and I’m HarryP2009. She loves it!”
“Mel, do any of the kids in your class like Harry Potter? I would think there’d be a few.”
“William does.”
“Nice. Did you talk to him about it?”
“No. I only know because he has a Gryffindor beanie, too. It’s maroon like mine.”
“So maybe we can make a playdate with him.”
“Mom.” Melly rolled her eyes. “He likes the video games, not the books.”
Rose walked her toward the store. “A woman at assembly told me her daughter loves the American Girl books. She said they’re good.”
“They’re