BETA READ by Teen Mom Kelly
Matilda didn't look up from the book she was reading when she walked from the living room into the dining room, nor when she carefully placed the heavy book next to her plate and pushed the chair back to sit down on it. Miss Honey smiled as she put down the pot of spaghetti Bolognese onto the dining table. "What are you reading, Matilda?" She asked, in that same soft tone that she always used with her adopted daughter.
The brown haired girl looked up at Miss Honey with a little smile on her lips. "Paradise, by Toni Morrison. I went into our department library after the introduction talks, and brought some books that I thought would be interesting."
Miss Honey slowly shook her head smiling. This child always succeeded in getting a smile on the young teacher's face. The child had brought happiness into her life. "I hope that you're hungry, because I made a tad too much I'm afraid..."
"I'm always hungry when it's spaghetti," Matilda smiled. Miss Honey slowly picked up the brown haired girl's plate and slowly poured two spoons full of spaghetti into it, before putting it back down in front of Matilda. The girl with the red ribbon in the hair silently pushed the library book aside so it wouldn't get stained by spaghetti sauce or anything else of that kind, and picked up her fork and knife to cut up the spaghetti Bolognese Miss Honey had given her, making it easier and less messy to eat. "Oh, I have brought White Noise, from Don DeLillo, and Wise Children, by Angela Carter, too. And A Bend In The River, by VS Naipaul. I kind of have my doubts about that one, since the cover is so... well... cold, but prejudice is no good thing, so I took it anyways."
"It is a very famous novel," Miss Honey stated.
"Very famous isn't necessarily very good," Matilda replied.
"Smart girl." Matilda smiled slightly, taking some cut up spaghetti on her own fork as Miss Honey used hers and a spoon to take some of the pasta on her plate as well. Miss Honey sat herself down on the opposite of the brown haired girl and started cutting up her own food. "Matilda, I'm so proud of you," Miss Honey whispered. "I'm so excited about it all. You're actually starting university, and you're barely eight."
The brown haired girl carefully put down her cutlery and looked up at Miss Honey in silence. She only spoke after a few instants. "Ma?"
"Mmm?" Miss Honey replied, putting down her cutlery as well, leaning her head on her hands, and looking at her daughter with concern. Matilda's brow crinkled, and she could easily see that the young girl was worrying about something. "What's wrong, Matilda?"
"What happens if I don't succeed?"
"You will. And if you shouldn't, which I really highly doubt, you just try again if you would like that." Matilda smiled, taking up her cutlery again and continuing to eat. Miss Honey quietly followed her daughter's example, whispering, more to herself than to Matilda, "I'm sure you will, though."