He’s really tall for a sixth grader. His hair is almost black, and his eyes are super green. He smiles at me, and I peel my eyes away. Staring isn’t kind.
We pass a house with a noisy lawnmower, and Jesse’s mouth moves, but I don’t hear him.
“What did you say?” I ask, brushing annoying grass clippings off my ankles.
“What homework do you have?” Jesse repeats himself, kinda shyly. “It’s the first week of school.”
I pull on my backpack straps and shrug. “I have a report to write on one of the books I read over the summer.”
Danny flips his long blond hair—Nan’s been threatening to buzz it off if he doesn’t stop twitching his head to the side. She said his neck will get stuck like that.
“My sister is in theadvancedclasses,” he taunts, rolling his eyes. “She read, like, all of the books on the summer reading list.”
“Shut up, Danny.” I shove him out of the way so I can walk between him and Jesse on the sidewalk. “I did it for the gift card prize, which I used for my new backpack. So who’s the loser now?” I stick out my tongue at Danny.
“I actually read them all, too,” Jesse chimes in, and I gape at him. “Well, all the ones the library had.”
Danny starts to laugh, but I elbow him.
I glance up at Jesse. He’sgotto be a foot taller than me.
“Really?” I narrow my eyes at him. He’s probably messing with me like Danny does.
He nods, shoving his hands in his pockets, looking down at the sidewalk.
“Do you have siblings, like a sister?” I ask, hoping maybe he has a twin. Danny would have a friend, and so would I.
Wishful thinking, but my best friend Julia moved to Pennsylvania over the summer, and I’m desperately searching for a new BFF.
“Nope, only child.” He shifts his backpack from one shoulder to the other. It’s duct taped together on the top.
When we get to the park, it’s full of kids in the grade above us—at least twenty of them—and even some high schoolers. They’re obnoxious, swinging from the monkey bars and yelling stupid things to each other.
I roll my eyes, groaning. I knew this would happen, but my brother never listens to me.
“Let’s just go back to our house. We can make snow cones,” I offer, crossing my fingers that my brother takes the bait.
Someone screams near the swings, and a car of way older kids pulls up. Yeah, Nan would kill us if she knew we were here.
Luckily, after a second of looking around, seeing there’s really nowhere for us to hang out, Danny gives in to my idea.
Jesse murmurs a goodbye before he waves and turns in the opposite direction, but I skip toward him, grabbing his arm.
“Wait!” I yell, and he looks down at me, his cheeks growing pink. “You could come over, too,” I offer.
Danny gives me a weird look. “Oh, so you’re okay with breaking the rulesnow?”
I kick the mulch and shrug coolly.“I mean, technically,I’mnot breaking the rules. I’ll be doing my homework.”
Jesse lets out a breath. “You sure your grandma would be okay with it?
“Totally, she won’t mind,” I lie straight through my teeth, which isn’t easy. Lying makes my stomach tight, but I like Jesse. Notlikelike, I just think he’s nice. Nicer than most of my brother’s friends.And he’s new in town. Nan would be proud of me for making him feel welcome.
Danny smiles at me. “Well, gee, sis, thanks for finally being cool.” He flicks my shoulder, and I roll my eyes.
“Whatever, let’s just get out of here.” I pause and spin to look them both directly in the eye. “ButIam getting the first snow cone. This report isn’t going to write itself.”
Danny and Jesse play video games in the living room with a bag of chips open between them while I do my homework on my bed. Though I can hear their conversation all the way up here. Why do boys talk about such stupid stuff?
