The chaperone, p.30
The Chaperone, page 30
“I know some of you might be wondering why I’m here. Why would someone who can go to college attend conservatory? Well, as strange as it sounds, I didn’t really learn anything in high school.”
Some of their eyes grow bigger, but I keep going.
“I mean, I learned how they want us to act, but I didn’t learn anything about the world. And I know college won’t be any different.”
Leann nods every other second. Like she hears a drumbeat in her head. I take this as a sign I should keep going.
“I want to help girls the way my chaperones helped me.” I lift a finger to my pendant. “I want to help girls learn to be themselves. Not who the Minutemen think they should be.” I hesitate and consider their faces.
Everyone is staring with wide eyes now.
“And I want to do that even if it comes at a cost. Even if I lose my life the way my first chaperone did.”
No one says a word. My eyes drift around the circle, hoping for at least one smile, but no one returns my gaze. Not even Leann. They’re all studying the ground, unwilling to meet my eye. When I finally land on Sister Cre, her eyes are closed, her hands in the prayer position at her chin.
Have I given too much away?
Sister Cre’s eyes flash open.
This is it. This is the moment when I’m found out.
Sister Cre tilts her head and utters a single word—“Wow”—before dropping her head into her hands. When she lifts her head again, she looks directly at me. “Sister Stella.” She shakes her head.
Am I supposed to respond?
“That was truly beautiful.” She switches from shaking to nodding her head. “I believe you put into words what many of us are thinking. Am I right, sisters?”
Several girls look up and nod.
“Thank you so much for your honesty.”
I let out a long breath, and everyone in the circle does the same, lifting their eyes from the earth and returning my gaze. Some of them even smile at me.
As their approval washes over me, relief floods my body. I finally understand what’s different about this place.
There are no men here.
It’s just us.
There’s no one watching. No one telling us what to do. No one telling us what we do wrong. We can be ourselves here. We are different here. Everything is different.
My eyes sweep over the other girls in the circle, and my body fills with warmth.
I’m not alone anymore. I’m part of something bigger now.
I’m one of them.
I’m a chaperone.
STELLA’S LIBRARY
“The Allegory of the Cave” by Plato
Bird by Angela Johnson
Bless Me, Ultima by Rudolfo Anaya
I Capture the Castle by Dodie Smith
The Collected Poems of Langston Hughes by Langston Hughes
The Complete Poems by Emily Dickinson
The Color Purple by Alice Walker
Darius the Great Is Not Okay by Adib Khorram
Deenie by Judy Blume
The Diary of a Young Girl by Anne Frank
Fahrenheit 451 by Ray Bradbury
The House on Mango Street by Sandra Cisneros
Incidents in the Life of a Slave Girl by Harriet Jacobs
Inferno by Dante Alighieri
In the Time of the Butterflies by Julia Alvarez
Jane Eyre by Charlotte Brontë
Little Women by Louisa May Alcott
Lord of the Flies by William Golding
Love in the Time of Cholera by Gabriel García Márquez
“The Lottery” by Shirley Jackson
Of Mice and Men by John Steinbeck
“The Ones Who Walk away from Omelas” by Ursula Le Guin
The Outsiders by S. E. Hinton
Pride and Prejudice by Jane Austen
A Room of One’s Own by Virginia Woolf
A Room with a View by E. M. Forster
The Scarlet Letter by Nathaniel Hawthorne
Their Eyes Were Watching God by Zora Neale Hurston
To Kill a Mockingbird by Harper Lee
Uncle Tom’s Cabin by Harriet Beecher Stowe
A Wrinkle in Time by Madeline L’Engle
ACKNOWLEDGMENTS
The race is not always to the swift but to those who keep on running.
My father had a poster with these words on it that hung in our home when I was growing up, and it’s this belief that has kept me writing for twenty-eight years. I’m incredibly sad my dad will never see this book in print, but so glad he was sitting next to me when I found out it would be published. He was not only a wonderful father, but also a tireless cheerleader. I miss him dearly. My mother is an equally supportive cheerleader, giving away copies of my books to anyone who will have them. She holds me to high standards and simultaneously tells everyone how much I exceed them. I cannot possibly put into words how invaluable it has been to have these two people in my corner since the day they adopted me.
I am equally grateful to my exceptional agent, John Cusick, for not only believing in me and this story, but also for making it even better than it was when he first saw it. Your patience, persistence, and warmth are deeply appreciated, John.
Thanks as well to my incredibly insightful editor, Annie Berger, who saw Stella’s potential before anyone else and pushed me to make her story the best it could be. And she did all that while having and raising a baby. Thanks, too, to editor Wendy McClure for stepping in to help us hone the manuscript while Annie was away. How many writers are lucky enough to have two excellent editors?
A big thanks to everyone at Sourcebooks, especially Aimee Alker, Cristina Arreola, Rebecca Atkinson, Susan Barnett, Laura Boren, Gabriell Calabrese, Cana Clark, Liz Dresner, Emily Engwall, Ashlyn Keil, Chelsey Moler Ford, Keri Haddrill, Kelsey Kulp, Caitlin Lawler, Karen Masnica, Madison Nankervis, Valerie Pierce, and Molly Waxman as well as Dominique Raccah for creating such an amazing publishing house. I feel like I won the lottery the day Annie offered me the chance to work with this outstanding team.
I’m indebted to everyone in the kid lit community for welcoming me into their world and teaching me how to write a book like this one, especially Hope Bissell, Sharon Cameron, Denise Deegan, Caroline Dubois, Susan Eaddy, Meg Griswold, Rita Lorraine Hubbard, Rachel Kenyon, Alisha Klapheke, Rae Ann Parker, Shauna Reynolds, Erica Rodgers, Kris Sexton, Corabel Shofner, Diane Telgen, Kim Teter, Kristin O’Donnell Tubb, Mary Uhles, Ismée Williams, and Jessica Young. An extra big shout-out to Debbie Dadey who invited me to her cabin for a writing retreat where I outlined every chapter of this book.
Thanks, too, to Laney Becker, Beth Browne, Roy Burkhead, Danielle Chiotti, Scott Douglass, Alyssa Jennette, Julie Kingsley, Jen Klonsky, Bess McAllister, Danielle Perez, Craig Renfroe, Jessica Sinsheimer, and David Hale Smith as well as all of the librarians and booksellers who have supported me over the years.
I feel incredibly fortunate to have so many additional friends and writers to thank for their support. Thanks to Kelcey Ervick for being on this journey with me every step of the way, to Tracy Williams for having my back ever since that day at the Fun Center, to Cyndi Crocker for being my eyes and seeing things I don’t see, to Ben Crocker for keeping everyone grounded, to Michelle Losekamp for helping me construct my sets, to Craig Losekamp for his expertise in all things medical, to Tomitha Blair for holding us all together, to Bonita and Ryan Dearbone for making something beautiful with me, to Jeff and Cristy Weems for giving me a place to crash, to Kara Thurmond for being my sounding board, to Linda King for playing the believing game, to James Weems for making me look good, to Ginger Cleary for letting me finish my stories, to Joey Coe and Mount Saint Elias for creating music that makes me want to be a better writer, to Katie Brandt for being by my side for forty-nine years, and to Skylar Baker Jordan for helping me take my writing to the next level. Thanks also to Sara Ann Alexander, Shelly Arndell, Al Bardi, Kristin Czarnecki, Peggy Davis, Susann Davis, Pam Eisert, Julie Ellis, Laura Beth Fox-Ezell, Sherry Hamby, Rachel Hardwick, Meredith Love, Sandy McAllister, Alex Montenegro, Katie Pickens, Barry Pruitt, and Sara Volpi Woods, all of whom helped get this manuscript across the finish line. And a big thanks to my Gen Z consultants: Melanie and Emma Brandt, Jennifer King, Sophia Koppensteiner, Samantha McAllister, and Madeline Williams. Finally thank you to the Parran/Parenti family for welcoming me with open arms.
I can never thank David Bell enough, but I will try: thank you for working tirelessly all these years, thus making it possible for me to write and take care of my dad when he was sick. Thank you, too, for all you did for him and continue to do for my mom and me. I’m well aware this book would not exist without you giving and sacrificing so much for all of us. I will never forget it.
AUTHOR BIO
M Hendrix is the author of two previous books. She lives in Bowling Green, Kentucky, with her husband, novelist David Bell. The Chaperone is her first novel. Learn more at mhendrixwrites.com.
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Books. Change. Lives.
M Hendrix, The Chaperone
