That was the Macal an I knew. “Like I’d say no to you now.”
She laughed as we headed back in line. I poked her in the ribs.
“I’m tel ing you, no girl back home is as cool as you.”
Macal an froze again. I immediately looked around to see if the guys were back.
46
“You know” — she turned toward me — “I understand that you
spent your first twelve years in California, but this is your home now.”
I wasn’t sure why she was suddenly annoyed at me.
“I don’t know —”
She interrupted. “You keep saying ‘back home’ all the time.”
“I don’t —”
She slouched her shoulders and did this low voice. “ ‘Yeah, my
buddies back home, back home we did this, back home was all like this, and back home is awesome.’ ” I think she was doing an imper-sonation of me. But I so didn’t talk with that exaggerated Val ey accent she was doing. At least I hoped I didn’t. She fixed her gaze on me. “This is your new home.”
She moved forward and ordered her second custard. And I stood
there thinking about what she had said.
Maybe I was still living in the past. Maybe I hadn’t realized that this move was permanent. Maybe it was time for me to start living in the present, to embrace my new school and my new classmates. Maybe
I hadn’t made enough of an effort.
I had to face the fact that I was now a Wisconsinite.
I stopped looking at everything, especial y school, as temporary. I was going to have to find a way to get comfortable at school and with the guys.
But first I had the little matter of my date with Emily.
We were sitting across from each other like we did every day at school for lunch. But this was different. Not just because we were at a pizza place before the movie. This was a date. And it wasn’t any date, it was a date with the hottest girl in school and Macal an’s best friend. This was a big deal.
47
Emily always looked pretty at school, but she went all out that night. I almost didn’t know what to do when I met her at the mal . She had on this flowery dress and her hair had one of those sparkly bar-rettes in it. And every time she smiled at me, I got a little nauseous.
Not the I’m-gonna-hurl nauseous, the this-is-exciting one.
I took an extra big sip of my soda as Emily smiled at me while we waited for our pizza. It was like she was expecting something witty, something more than our usual dissection of the school day.
“So . . .” She wrapped one of her loose strands of hair around her finger.
“So . . .” was my witty reply.
She reached her other hand out to me. “I’m so glad we’re
doing this.”
“Me too.”
Ugh. I swore I knew how to talk to girls. I talked to Macal an all the time. But I became worried that I’d used up all my small talk with Emily at school.
“I’m thinking of having a Hal oween party,” Emily said as her finger kept twisting her hair. I wasn’t the only one who was a little nervous.
“That could be fun.”
She nodded. “Yeah, especial y since I was thinking that I’d invite all the guys, like Keith and Troy.”
“Troy’s cool.” And the only guy who real y gave me the time of day.
“Yeah, I feel like it would be good for you to spend some time with the guys.”
I hated that it was so obvious to everybody how I wasn’t “one of the guys” here.
I swal owed my ever-shrinking pride. “Thanks.”
48
“Don’t worry about it. Even I need to make sure to get in good
with everybody.”
That surprised me. Emily was one of the most popular girls in
school.
She continued. “Especial y Keith. Ever since we were little, he was always the one with the biggest circle of friends. He’d have the birthday parties everybody wanted to be invited to. That’s not going to change for him. He’ll have no problems fitting in next year. But the new school is going to be so big. I’m worried about getting lost.” Her voice got quiet and she sank down in her seat a bit. Emily was usual y so bright and bubbly, I felt like I was getting a deeper glance. “I don’t know. I guess I’m thinking too much. I like the little circle we have now. And I feel things already changed so much with you moving here. I mean, I see Macal an less.” Emily’s eyes got wide, like she knew she shouldn’t have said that.
Before I could say I didn’t mean to take Macal an away from Emily, she jumped back in and said, “Not that I —” Then she fumbled for a second. “I like having you here. I hope you don’t think it’s that.”
“No, I total y get it.”
“But anyway . . .” She straightened up, and I knew the conversation was going to go back to the surface as wel . “I know one person who won’t have any trouble staying on Keith’s radar next year.” She raised her eyebrows playfully.
I had no clue who she was referring to. It certainly wasn’t me.
“Macal an. He used to have the biggest crush on her. He probably still does.”
I was pretty sure my eyebal s almost came out of their sockets.