Holly's Heart Collection Three
Holly’s Heart: Collection Three
Copyright © 2003, 2008
Beverly M. Lewis
Updated and revised for 2008 edition.
Previously published in four separate volumes:
Freshman Frenzy © 2003, 2008 Beverly Lewis
Mystery Letters © 2003, 2008 Beverly Lewis
Eight Is Enough © 2003, 2008 Beverly Lewis
It’s a Girl Thing © 2003, 2008 Beverly Lewis
Photographer: Mike Habermann Photography, Inc.
Cover design by Eric Walljasper
Unless otherwise identified, Scripture quotations are from the HOLY BIBLE, NEW INTERNATIONAL VERSION.
®
Copyright © 1973, 1978, 1984 by International Bible Society. Used by permission of Zondervan Publishing House. All rights reserved. The “NIV” and “New International Version” trademarks are registered in the United States Patent and Trademark Office by International Bible Society. Use of either trademark requires the permission of International Bible Society.
www.zondervan.com
All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted in any form or by any means—electronic, mechanical, photocopy ing, recording, or otherwise—without the prior written permission of the publisher. The only exception is brief quotations in printed reviews.
Published by Bethany House Publishers
11400 Hampshire Avenue South
Bloomington, Minnesota 55438
www.bethanyhouse.com
Bethany House Publishers is a division of
Baker Publishing Group, Grand Rapids, Michigan.
E-book edition created 2011
ISBN 978-1-58558-695-0
Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data is on file at the Library of Congress, Washington, DC.
About the Author
BEVERLY LEWIS, born in the heart of Pennsylvania Dutch country, fondly recalls her growing-up years. A keen interest in her mother’s Plain family heritage has inspired Beverly to set many of her popular stories in Amish country, beginning with her inaugural novel,
The Shunning
.
A former schoolteacher and accomplished pianist, Beverly has written over eighty books for adults and children. Five of her blockbuster novels have received the Gold Book Award for sales over 500,000 copies, and
The Brethren
won a 2007 Christy Award.
Beverly and her husband, David, make their home in Colorado, where they enjoy hiking, biking, reading, writing, making music, and spending time with their three grandchildren.
Books by Beverly Lewis
G
IRLS
O
NLY
(GO!)
*
Youth Fiction
Girls Only! Volume One
Girls Only! Volume Two
S
UMMER
H
ILL
S
ECRETS
†
Youth Fiction
SummerHill Secrets Volume One
SummerHill Secrets Volume Two
H
OLLY’S
H
EART
Youth Fiction
Holly’s Heart Collection One
†
Holly’s Heart Collection Two
†
Holly’s Heart Collection Three
*
* | † |
Table of Contents
For my cool niece
Amy Birch.
And . . .
for a very special fan
in Roseville, Minnesota—
Beth Alexander.
FRESHMAN FRENZY
My freshman year was doomed, thanks to the Dressel Hills, Colorado, school board.
“How can they do this?” I wailed, watching Mom prepare a casserole for supper.
“Well, try looking on the bright side.” She offered a comforting smile. “You get to go to high school a whole year early.”
“That’s exactly the problem!” I argued.
She continued. “And don’t forget, now you can see your tenth-grade friends every day.”
That’s cool,
I thought. Friends like Danny Myers . . . and Stan Patterson, my brousin—cousin-turned-stepbrother.
I could almost see it now, Stan sneering down his sophomore nose at me. Probably all year long, too! I couldn’t wait
not
to go.
Of course, my twin girl friends, Paula and Kayla Miller, would be there. An encouraging thought. But in spite of the togetherness aspect, it didn’t change the fact that I was being cheated out of my last, fabulous year of junior high. Top of the heap was an honor. Something to look forward to. Something to remember . . . forever.
Lofty freshmen had always ruled the corridors of Dressel Hills Junior High. Paula and Kayla were constantly talking about how cool it was last year. Now, just when it was my turn to be in the highest class on campus, I was being shoved out—off to high school, returning to the bottom of the barrel.
I stared at Mom’s creamy chicken-and-rice casserole.
It smelled perfectly delicious, even with the broccoli bits not-so-subtly mixed in. But my appetite had vanished. How could the voting public possibly think this was a good move? So what if the junior high was too crowded? I mean, come on—it was a rip-off for us freshmen. Didn’t we deserve our rightful privilege?
I must’ve sighed or something. Anyway, Mom glanced at me. “You’re taking this too hard, Holly-Heart.”
“I don’t know how else to take it, Mom! I just can’t deal with it. It’s just so . . . so . . .”
The sparkle faded from her cheerful eyes. “What?”
“It’s so unfair!” I blurted.
“Life’s not always fair. You and I both know that.” She turned around to set the oven timer.
I shrugged and headed upstairs to my room. Mom was too glib. Sure, she’d been through her teen years and lived to tell about it—eons ago. How could she possibly remember how it felt to be my age?
I hurried upstairs to my desk. I owed someone a letter. A very special someone—sixteen-year-old Sean Hamilton. The boy I’d met last Christmas while visiting my dad in California. Sean was the sweetest guy I’d ever met. Best of all, he was a Christian.
I’d surprised myself and faithfully answered each of his letters since returning home five weeks ago. In fact, my correspondence with Sean was very interesting. His letters were friendly, and he was open about his life goals and other things.
I reached for a box of pastel pink stationery and picked up my pen.
Thursday, August 29
(Four days of freedom before school starts!)
Dear Sean,
Hey. How’s everything out there? Did you get your car fixed? If not, are you still jogging to your summer job at the radio station?
I guess there’s not really much to write about. I mean, there is—it’s just that I’m not sure if you’d be that interested. Okay, I can hear you saying, “Go ahead and tell me.”
Well, to begin with, the schools here are overcrowded, and sixth graders are being moved up to the junior high, now the middle school. That pushes the freshmen like me up to high school. And, you guessed it, I’ll have to deal with initiation and stuff. Worse than that, I’m going to miss being top dog in junior high. Being on the low end of the totem pole doesn’t sound like much fun. But, oh well, I guess I’ll survive. I have no choice, right?