All three of us went to our rooms, but not before I saw Marla and Ava whispering in the hallway. I tried to read to keep myself busy and not think about all the changes that would soon be thrust upon me, but I did not stop. Ava was right. I was the worrier in the family. I even worried that worrying too much would, as Daddy warned, prevent me from doing what I had to do and being who I had to be.
A few hours later, as I was beginning to prepare for bed, Ava came to my room. She rarely knocked on my door, but this time, she seemed to slip in with deliberate silence, as if she had expected to catch me doing something wrong. I had no idea how long she had been there staring at me when I looked up and saw her.
"Must you sneak up on me like that, Ava?"
"I wonder why you don't sense me there. I certainly would have sensed you when I was your age," she said instead of apologizing. "Your mind must be otherwise occupied."
