Circle the Soul Softly by Davida Wills Hurwin Page A

on,”David says, and takes the book away from me. He reads by himself as I poke him with my finger.
    â€œNo fair, man,” I protest.
    â€œNo, no …shhh. Just a sec.”
    â€œCome on, we’re supposed to—”
    â€œKatie, just a sec, okay?” His tone is just this side of Not Very Nice. He sighs and hands me the journal. It’s all way too dramatic and I make a face at him before I start to read.
    October 17—sometime around midnight Yeah, well, that was fun—especially the part where I got my stomach pumped—what a rush. I lost three pounds and my mother is furious. I should do this more often.
    â€œThat was the party?” I ask.
    â€œYep. Keep reading.”
    October 18
He says he’s going to sue the school. Typical. If it’s not about
him, it’s not about anything. L says I need to say something. I say she needs to realize I can handle it. Besides, I’m outa here in three more months and he has to pay for my college. All of it.
    October 27
Oh my God. My mother wants to get me a shrink—so I can WORK ON LETTING GO OF MY FANTASIES ABOUT MY STEPFATHER! How funny is that? I can’t wait to tell L.
    Halloween
Grounded. Shit.
    November 3
Opening night was amazing except for the scene after where my mother told me that I’d better concentrate on my acting and stop messing up her life. If I do anything else stupid, I’m going to boarding school and pay for my own damn college. Fuck her. Oh sorry. Everyone already has.
    â€œOkay,well, call me blond, but what are you seeing besides your basic dysfunctional family?” He takes the book, flips pages, and hands it back.
    Christmas to New Years
Little benefits—he got me the coat I wanted. Told me not to show Mom. Maybe he should tell her to stop snooping in my stuff. God bless L and J for getting me out of the house most of break. And for the hot guy I met in Aspen.
    January 7
One month, three weeks, one day, and seven hours but who’s counting. Maybe he thinks Mom knows something. Maybe she does.
    January 29
Shit shit shit shit. He caught me. I forgot it was Mom’s conference in San Diego. When did I get this stupid? By the time I realized she was gone, he was already drinking and it was too late to get out of the house. I hate him more than is humanly possible.
    I close the book and we stare at each other. David speaks first. “You think…?”
    â€œI don’t know. It could be.”
    â€œCheck this out.” He flips to a new page.
    March 4
In my dreams, I saw off his dick, slowly, with a dull, rusty blade. Then I stick it in his mouth, shove it down, and he dies. I laugh.
    â€œThat was a few days ago.” He sighs.“What do we do?”
    â€œThere’s nothing we can do,” I say. “Right? Is there?”
    â€œWell, we sure as hell can’t put it back and pretend we never saw it. She’s obviously in trouble.”
    â€œThen she should tell someone.”
    â€œI think we should give it to Tess.”
    â€œDavid, if Stacey finds out—”
    â€œIt doesn’t matter.”
    â€œShe already hates me.”
    â€œThis isn’t about you. I think we have to tell.”
    Tess reads the page we show her and doesn’t ask how we got the book. She thanks us and tells us to go on home and that she’ll take care of things. She also tells us she’s going to say she found it herself. She asks us not to discuss it anymore, because that could make it harder on Stacey.
    As we close the door, she begins to dial the phone.

EIGHTEEN
    What’s your soul supposed to learn when you come back and molest a kid? I can’t sleep because I can’t get Stacey out of my mind. Everything about her takes on a different meaning—a subtext I didn’t even consider. Of course she’s arrogant and aloof. Of course she drinks and takes drugs and doesn’t care who she sleeps with—it all makes sense.
    I think