Finally Heard: Chapters 14-29

“Another perfectly good lesson plan ruined,” Mrs. Carter laments.

I peer at her tired, spent face, sleeping soundly in the empty tub.

Millie rubs her hands together, giddy with excitement.

Millie’s stuffed animal game is basically group therapy for inanimate objects.

I muffle a chuckle as Millie grabs her stuffed bunny.

But I don’t have time to reprimand my sister about her Cheetos-eating habits right now—I need to know more.

“Absolutely! You’d be doing me a favor—I need the content for my channel! I think they’re onto me at IKEA!”

“But how much is it going to cost?” I ask.
“It wasn’t too bad. Besides, it’s a business expense. An investment. So we can pay off the credit card bills, faster!” she says, pointing to the stack of bills in her purse.

The more I ramble, the quieter Carla gets.

That song is the GOAT!
I furrow my eyebrows.Goat? What goat? I scratch my head, looking around for a furry creature with a goatee.

There’s Nora with her mini fridge just for her skin care. And Preston with his Ping-Pong table in his air-conditioned four-car garage! And Tonya with her two puppies. And Eleanor with her own private library! And Jon Butterkatz with a life-size replica of R2-D2 that he got from Disney World!

“Do you think I should go with understated chic?” she asks, holding up a tanned blazer and khaki pants.

“Another woman in my class opened a hotel in Japan and has rubbed shoulders with Hollywood movie stars! I remember gawking at her post.”

I close my eyes and imagine myself chasing a giant Siberian tiger. A voracious beast filled with all my doubts and worries.

With one single tap of her finger, she catapults her taco truck into the internet with the fire of a thousand habaneros!