Read Diva for Free Online Page A

Caitlin… thought you were sleeping. The noi—singing stopped."
    "You told me to stop. What were you telling Dad you'd like to see?"
    She sighs. "Caitlin, when you get to be my age, you'll understand that sometimes, just occasionally, a
    person needs quiet."
    "I understand," I say. "Really."
    "I hope so."
    "So what'd Dad say?"
    "Dad?" She tries to look like she doesn't know what I'm talking about. It doesn't work. I notice a book on her dressing table. Find a Husband After 35 . Terrific.
    "You don't scream at anyone else like that," I say.
    She slathers makeup remover on one eyelid, then dabs at it with a tissue. "I wasn't screaming." I give her a yeah, right look. "Well, he just makes me so mad. He thinks he can just do… whatever, the usual stuff.
    His kids—his other kids are in private school that costs as much as a Honda Accord— per year, per kid , but he thinks I should sell this house and move us to the middle of the stinkin' Everglades if I need
    money."
    Sounds like Dad. He can definitely afford the child support, but I'm guessing he hates having his ex-wife
    and ex-kid sucking money out of him that he'd rather spend, buying out the entire stock of Limiteds One
    and Too, for Macy and the girls. I can't imagine not living in this house. We've been here forever. The
    way I see it, Dad owes me that money—he doesn't give me anything else.
    "Yeah, he's a jerk," I say and mean it. We share a rare moment of mother-daughter solidarity. One, two, three …
    "That's why you need to be careful, Caitlin. Once you have kids with someone, you're stuck with them
    forever." She tosses out the mascara-blackened tissue and starts on the rest of her face with Emma Leigh
    makeup remover.
    Love you too, Mommy.
    "I mean stuck with the man, not the kids."
    "Sure." I try again. "What did you mean when you said you'd like to see that?"
    She moves her fingers in circles along her cheekbones. "Hmm? Oh, he threatened to try and get custody if
    I kept nagging for money. As if."
    She likes to do that, use expressions she thinks sound youthful. But she's always behind, so by the time she
    discovers something, no one's saying it except people on TV. "You really should have a beauty routine,
    Cait. Moisturizer and night cream. Young people think they're invincible, but once those crow's feet show
    up, it's too late.
    "There's always Botox." I'm still processing the idea—me living with Dad. Obviously, he didn't mean it, not unless Macy needs a free babysitter. But maybe… "Mom, I really want to go to Miami High School of
    the Arts."
    "Caitlin, we've been over this."
    "No, actually, we haven't. You just said no, that it isn't safe."
    I know I could get her to let me go in a second, just by saying I want to get away from Nick. She'd have to
    let me go then. She went with me for the restraining order. But I hate to play that card. It makes me seem
    too pathetic.
    "I still think so," she says.
    "Rowena has a job teaching there. She says we could probably take the train together." Rowena didn't say that. But Mom doesn't know that. I try not to notice her nose getting all wrinkly when I mention Rowena's
    name.
    "Caitlin…" She finishes removing her makeup and tosses the last greasy tissue into the toilet. I watch it floating, making a film on the water. I think of Rowena, gone, and me, trapped here with Peyton and
    Ashley; trapped in this cheerless cheer-girl existence, when really, I want to be like that girl at the train
    station.
    Mom's rinsing her face, and when she turns off the water, I hand her a towel.
    "You know," I say, "If I moved in with Dad, I bet he'd let me go."

    I'm in here.
    Now what? 107 lbs. I've been Slim-Fasting for two weeks to make a good first impression.
    Everyone here's like Peyton and Ashley said, and they all seem to know one another—maybe they've been
    having secret meetings all summer.
    Right, Caitlin.
    At the front of the room, an African-American girl with great cornrows is playing the piano. A guy is
    standing