Falling Like Leaves (Bramble Falls, #1)(11)

“Thanks.”

Sloane is only a junior, so I’ll be on my own this week if Bramble Falls High is anything like my old school, where the grades are in different halls and rarely interact.

The doorbell rings.

“Come in!” Aunt Naomi shouts.

My head whips to her. People just invite people into their homes here without checking who’s at the door first?

A short, plus-sized Black kid with fun blue hair, a nose ring, and a THEY/THEM button pinned to their red Cheesylicious uniform walks in carrying two pizzas.

Their eyes wander over the boxes and decorations until they find Aunt Naomi hidden among the mess. They grin. “You want this in the kitchen, Naomi?”

“I’ll take them,” Cooper offers, grabbing the pizzas. “What’s up, Sterling?”

“Just living the dream,” they reply with a wide grin.

Sloane steps forward and hands them money. “You want a piece for the road?”

“Thanks, but naw, I’m pizza’d out,” they say with a wave of their hand.

“There’s no such thing,” Sloane insists. “But okay.” Sterling tries to hand her change, but Sloane pushes it back toward them. “Keep it.”

“Thanks,” they say.

“Sterling, this is my cousin Ellis. She’ll be going to school with us,” Sloane tells them. “Ellis, this is Sterling. They’re a junior.”

I offer them a smile. “Nice to meet you, Sterling.”

“You too.” Sterling sticks their hands in their pockets and turns to the group. “Well, I gotta get going on the next delivery. Good luck with the decorations, everyone. See you next weekend, Naomi.”

“Thanks, Sterling,” Aunt Naomi says.

“So, what event is happening next weekend?” I ask after Sterling leaves and everyone is making their way to the kitchen for pizza.

“Saturday is apple picking at the Vanderbilt Orchard,” Aunt Naomi says with excitement.

I nod as I place two pieces of cheese pizza on my plate. “Cool.”

“Are you going to come?” Sloane asks. “We can always use more volunteers to work the registers, give tours, help people pick apples, load cars, or show attendees where the bathrooms are….”

I stop with my pizza halfway to my mouth. “Oh, um, I don’t know. I mean, starting at a new school is a lot. I might need to see how this week goes first.”

Mom’s face oozes with disappointment.

“Makes sense,” Sloane says. She takes a bite of her pizza.

“We totally understand,” Aunt Naomi adds with an empathetic smile. “This is a big change for you.”

Cooper stays quiet but looks deep in thought. With his mom being on the tourism board and him being here tonight, I can only assume he volunteers at the events. So he’s probably relieved by my answer.

A half hour later, Cooper heads home without so much as a goodbye in my direction, and I head to the shower. But just before I hop in, someone knocks on the bathroom door. I swing it open and find my mom standing there.

“You will help next weekend,” she says, her voice low and stern. The sternest I’ve ever heard from her, actually.

“Mom—”

“Your aunt is letting us stay here for free. She filled her fridge and went out of her way to set up rooms for us, and she asked for nothing in return. The least you can do is volunteer at weekend events.”

“So, I’m being punished for your decision to move us here?” I ask, fury building in the pit of my stomach. This isn’t fair. Isn’t it punishment enough that I’m here at all?

“It’s not a punishment, Ellis,” she says, annoyed with me. “Volunteering your time is a kindness, and it’s the right thing to do. They’re family, and they’re helping us. You can hate me and treat me like I’m the worst person in the world, but I didn’t raise you to act spoiled and entitled. Frankly, I can’t believe I have to have this conversation.” She turns, but as she walks away, she adds, “You’ll be there next weekend. It’s not up for discussion. But if it makes you feel better, think of it this way: helping the local government will be a great activity to add to that high school résumé you’ve been so concerned about.”

She disappears down the steps, shaking her head, and I close the bathroom door.

For the next twenty minutes, my tears are washed away while the sound of the shower drowns out my sobs.

Nothing is how it’s supposed to be. I’m surrounded by family in a town where everyone knows everyone. Yet I’ve never felt so alone in my life.





Chapter Five




Sloane drives us the two miles to Bramble Falls High, where the original brick structure with two large white pillars sits on a lawn dotted with trees both big and small. Sprawling acres of infinite woods sit behind the building, the early morning sun captured in a thick mist overhead, giving the picturesque illusion that the trees are glowing.

Sloane parks in the student lot, and we climb out of her junky brown hatchback. After spending the final day of summer break holed up in my room yesterday, working on my Columbia application while everyone else celebrated Labor Day with a cookout and friends in the backyard, I tossed and turned all night, my brain a never-ending carousel of thoughts—about my fight with Mom, about my dad still not calling me back, about my first day of school. When my alarm went off this morning, I’d just fallen asleep.