I probably should’ve told her about Stacey while she was in
Ireland, but it never had felt like the right time. Stacey was great and real y cool, but truthful y I thought I should have a girlfriend by the time Macal an got back solely to avoid any more awkwardness. I 179
didn’t want her to feel uncomfortable or to think I was still pining over her. I had to put that aside if I wanted things to go back to normal.
I wish I could say that things went quickly back to how they’d
been before all our problems. But Macal an started acting almost uncomfortable around me. At first I brushed it off as jet lag, I mean, she nearly cut off her finger one day in the kitchen when I asked her advice about Stacey, and Macal an was always very careful when she was cooking. So that I got. But after a week of her dropping things around me whenever I got too close to her, of her avoiding my eyes, I realized that my confession to her might’ve done some significant damage that would take a lot longer to repair. I was wil ing to give her the space, whatever she needed to feel comfortable around me again.
It was two weeks before school was starting and Macal an was
busy in the kitchen with my mom. She had come over to hang out
with me, but the second my mom showed up with a bag of grocer—
ies, Macal an jumped up to help her, and I hadn’t seen her since.
It seemed like every time we were supposed to hang, she’d find
something else to do. Someone else to be around.
I guess this was how she felt the second half of sophomore year: discarded.
If I could have taken back that confession to her, I would have.
Keeping it bottled up inside probably would’ve destroyed me, but better my sanity than my relationship with her.
After nearly a half hour of being ignored, I decided to go into the kitchen.
Macal an was sitting at the kitchen table, not helping, not doing anything, just chatting with Mom.
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“Oh, sweetie,” Mom said to me, like she’d forgotten I was home.
“Macal an gave me a new barbecue recipe that I’m going to try out tonight. You have to join us, Macal an. I feel like I haven’t seen you that much since you got home. Plus, I need you as my expert taste tester.”
Macal an beamed at Mom. “That sounds great.”
“Fantastic.” Mom looked over at me. “Stacey likes brats, right?”
“Yep, I replied.”
Macal an hit her head. “Oh my goodness, today’s Wednesday,
right? I thought it was Tuesday. I have something tonight.”
“Aww, that’s too bad.” Mom looked genuinely sad. “Levi, how did
your driving class go today?”
“Good, I’ve almost mastered paral el parking. I was thinking that I real y want to take my driver’s license test on my actual birthday.” My sixteenth birthday was in a few weeks and I had my fingers crossed for a car.
“Sure.” Mom paused. “Although you’re going to have your first
football game of the season the next night, so I don’t want you to overbook yourself. School comes first — you know that.”
“But I figured that if I got my license, then I could drive us all into Milwaukee for a birthday dinner or something.”
“Hmm, again, I don’t want you overdoing it. We should think
about doing something low-key for your birthday. Sixteen is a big one, but I don’t think we should get crazy. You can go out with your friends after the game.” Her phone rang and she picked it up and went into the other room.
That was so not like my mom. She’d completely brushed my
birthday aside. Mom always freaked out over my birthday. Extrava-gant, overplanned parties. The benefits of being an only child, I guess.
I turned toward Macal an. “Wasn’t she being weird?”
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She looked confused. “What?”
“My mom. Just now. She was so weird about my birthday, don’t
you think?”
“Huh?” Macal an looked at me like I was speaking a foreign
language.
“Don’t you remember how she usual y is with my birthday? She
always makes a big deal out of it.”
Macal an’s eyes got wide. “You’re right — she’s a monster!”
Maybe I was reading too much into it. “So is she planning
something?”
“Not that I know of. Honestly.”
I studied her for a second and could see she was being truthful.
“Maybe she thinks we’re growing up and don’t need to have a big
party with clowns and bal oon animals,” she offered.
“But I real y wanted a bal oon animal in the shape of a horsey.” I pretended to pout. “You’re probably right, although I usual y have to calm her down over my birthday, and now it’s almost like she
doesn’t care.”
Macal an dismissed me. “Wow. You’re being so dramatic. Your
mom is the most loving mother ever. So just chil . I think all that practice in the sun has gotten to you.”
I was used to being in the sun, but being outside in the sun wearing a football uniform wasn’t exactly easy on my body.
“Yeah, I guess you’ve got a point. Wel , anyway, what do you have going on tonight?”