Marigold by Heather Manheim (best books for 8th graders .TXT) 📕

your best interest to get to know a person in your midst, yet that person felt like an interloper. Davis was just grateful that it helped pass the time, though, and kept her mind off her future task. There were no two ways about it, though; no matter how slowly they chewed and sipped, a nutrition biscuit and glass of water didn’t last long. When they finished, Davis asked if she could help clear plates. They all looked at her like she was insane.

“No,” Sunshine replied, “Cox takes care of cleaning up for us.”

Davis nodded. “Oh, okay. Thank you, Cox. I guess I’ll just take a shower and go to bed, then. I’m pretty tired after such a long day.”

“We only take showers in the morning, after we exercise,” said Amanda.

Cox stepped in, saying that Delilah indeed had a long day; a one-time evening shower was not a big deal, especially since she would have to get up early tomorrow and have a long day prepping for the wedding. She then told Davis that except for the morning yoga, she would not do the exercise class tomorrow as she’d have a long day of preparations. Davis guessed that hearing “thank you” was unusual for her. Maybe that’s why she expressed a momentary kindness of allowing the evening shower and not talking to her in her usual harsh tone. Davis would have to get used to being called “Delilah,” though. As if she didn’t have anything to think about, she thought, now she had to focus on her new name, too.

After a quick timed shower, Davis lay down under the comforter and pretended to sleep. She didn’t want to be bothered at all, but there was no way she could sleep. Her heart was pounding in her throat as one by one, the wives lay down, and the room went dark and silent.

October 9, 2056 –

Early Morning

After what felt like several hours, Davis slipped out of her bed as quietly as she possibly could. She had decided that if she got caught, she would say she had to use the restroom. That was plausible. A little clock at the end of the room read it was a little past 1 a.m. Once Davis got to the bathroom, she did use it as quickly as possible. For once, she was grateful for the blue light as it shed just enough light for her not to have to turn on the brighter lights. She then went through the supply closet door and into the dressing room, retracing her earlier steps. When Davis got to the exercise room, she thought again about the instructions Namaguchi had given her and silently confirmed to herself that it was second to the left of the frosted glass front doors that she wanted.

After Davis went through, she found herself doing a reverse of the way she came in. First, she was in a dressing room, identical to the one for her room except for the names above—it only took her a second to spot the name “Ruby.” Davis didn’t want to waste time ruminating over it, although it gave her sentimental feelings. Nothing could stop her from being startled in the supply closet she entered next when she ran smack-dab into a fake leg equipped with a shoe. It conked her head painfully, and she rubbed it and looked at the leg in startled curiosity. Namaguchi had warned her that Anabelle, one of the older wives, had a prosthetic leg, but it still didn’t quite prepare her for the creepiness of it. Especially when she looked down the line and saw several prosthetic legs hanging from the ceiling, all with different types of shoes attached. After gathering her thoughts for a second, Davis continued until finding herself in the restroom of the older wives’ harem. She then silently wondered to herself if that disrespectful moniker was actually their title, even though she had used it herself a few times now.

After making her way out of the restroom and into the sleeping quarters, Davis’s heart started to beat harder than she knew possible. It sounded so loud to her; she worried the sound could wake someone up. Davis had to be very quiet and careful. She rechecked her mind for the information, and of course, her mom’s bed was across the room and right in the middle. There was a blue light in the bedroom, but it was in a dim night mode. It gave off very little light as Davis inched her way to the bed where her mom slept.

It felt to Davis like every step took her several minutes. She wished she had planned out what she was going to do more thoroughly. She should have brought a pillow to hold over her mom’s face until she could explain who she was and get her into the bathroom to talk to her. But that could have had obvious complications. Better yet, she had to find a way to quickly and quietly get her to the storage closet with all the creepy legs. That would give them more of a buffer to speak and not be heard. At one point, Davis had a sneeze coming on, and as she kept walking forward, she rubbed her nose to try and fight it off. The last thing she wanted to do was sneeze right now. Davis took slow, tentative steps, breathing slowly and taking in her surroundings. She was happy to see that in this room, they had thick curtain dividers between each bed. Anything that would help absorb the noise was a boon to her quest.

Finally, after what felt like forever, Davis got to the side of Ruby’s bed and tried to lean in and look closely at Ruby sleeping, to confirm it really was her. When she was confident, she took a deep breath and said a silent prayer. Before she could overthink it, she quickly clamped her hand over her mom’s mouth, trying to be