Seventeen-year-old Lark Singer
only has two things going for her, her music and her best friend Bean. While
entering a competition she hopes will launch their music career, Lark searches
for answers that will make her whole. Her quest reveals some secrets that those
around her would rather keep hidden. As the competition looms closer, Lark
discovers not only who she really is, but also who her real friends are. Then
tragedy threatens everything she has worked so hard to accomplish. Can she pick
up the pieces and move on?
Chapter One
I want to be
like Gideon Lee.
My lips move as I read the title of my essay. They twitch as I stifle a
snicker. Looking around the room, I make sure no one has seen my facial tic. My
eyes light upon the Presidents’ pictures lined up on the wall. They face me,
each with a unique expression, and I wonder what they were thinking while they
posed. They are above the clock so my gaze naturally falls on it. It’s almost
time for lunch.
I
settle back in my seat and my lips twitch again. A feeling of defiant
exhilaration washes over me like a tidal wave.
Montgomery’s
going to freak when he reads this.
Despite
my best efforts, a giggle escapes and the boy in front of me turns around and gives
me the evil eye. I return the glare. He is slumped over, and sweat beads on his
upper lip. I think this is odd — it’s rather chilly in the room — but dismiss
it before I turn back to my essay.
I bet old man
Montgomery doesn’t even know who Gideon Lee is. This thought
sends another giggle to the surface, but I quickly squash it by biting my lip.
I
picture him searching Gideon Lee’s name on the Internet. I see his expression
changing from confusion to disgust. I imagine him taking off his black,
thick-rimmed glasses and shaking his head. I hear him mutter, “Lark Singer,
what are you doing?” He rubs his face. I can actually hear the rough sandpapery
sound as his hand finds his day old stubble. He sighs and puts his glasses back
on. “What am I going to do with you?”
I
remember when Mr. Montgomery first told us about the assignment. We were
supposed to write an essay on someone we admire, someone who has contributed to
society in some way. I know when he says this he wants us to write about an a
historical figure. After all this is history class, but I raised my hand
anyway.
“Lark,”
he called out as he stood at his lectern.
“Do
they have to be dead?”
He
cocked his head as he studied me with his piercing blue eyes. Then he ran his
hand over his military style crew cut, and I watched as his salt and pepper
hair flattened then popped back into place as if each hair was standing at
attention. I could tell he wasn’t sure where this was going.
“Well… I guess
not.” That’s when he froze, as if he realized he had just opened a door for me
and he wasn’t going to like what was on the other side. He shifted his weight,
and looked down at the floor before he backpedaled. “But they have to have made
a positive contribution to society. It can’t be about a mobster or anything like
that.” Pursing his lips, he stared at me, fiddling with those glasses. “This is
one half of your semester grade, Lark. I wouldn’t pull any funny stuff.”
“Oh,
I won’t. Scout’s honor,” I answered sweetly, placing my hand over my heart and
giving him the scout salute, while inside I planned my rebellion.
I have him. I’m
going to write about Gideon Lee, and there’s nothing he can do about it.
Lisa Orchard grew up loving
books. Hooked on mysteries by the fifth grade, she even wrote a few
After graduating from Central Michigan
University with a Marketing Degree, she spent many years in the insurance
industry, pining to express her creative side. The decision to stay home with
her children gave her the opportunity to follow her dream and become a writer.
She currently resides in Rockford Michigan with her husband, Steve, and two
wonderful boys. Currently, she’s working on a Coming of Age Young Adult series
called The Starlight Chronicles. When she’s not writing she enjoys spending
time with her family, running, hiking, and reading.
