“Hey,” she says as her brother, Daniel, grunts a semi-greeting and brushes past me.
Nobody should be that good at so many different things.
It doesn’t build character.
Delacorte Press
Ivy watches him go like she’s thinking the same thing, before turning her attention back to me.
“Cal, wow.
I haven’t seen you in forever.”
“I know.”
I lean against the side of my car.
“Weren’t you in Scotland or something?”
“Yeah, for six weeks over the summer.
My mom was teaching there.”
“That must’ve been awesome.”
Ivy could have used the distance, probably, after the whole junior talent show debacle.
Okay, I was, too.
I couldn’t help it.
It was brutally hilarious.
I felt bad later, though, wondering if Ivy had seen me.
The thought makes my skin prickle with shame, so I quickly add, “This is so weird.
I was just thinking about you.”
I’m a little surprised, though, when she says, “Really?
About you, I mean.”
“You were?”
I recognize it from middle school, so it’s definitely her parents' old car, but still.
That’s a sweet ride for a high school senior.
“It was the day we skipped the field trip.”
“Hey, and congrats to your mom.”
“Carlton Citizen of the Year, right?”
“You know about that?”
“My dad was on the voting committee.
Wes,” I add, which feels a little weird.
“I didn’t realize.
Mom was so surprised.
She always says statisticians are unsung heroes.
“It’s not like Carlton is a hotspot or anything.”
“Don’t be so sure,” I say.
“Wes says that crap has been all over campus lately.
He even set up a task force to deal with it.”
“Anyway, he voted for her.
He and Henry will be there tonight.”
“My parents are barely going to make it,” Ivy says.
Sounds like a typically overachieving Sterling-Shepard move; my dads would’ve just videotaped an acceptance speech from California.
“That’s great,” I say, which feels like my cue to move on.
But we both keep standing there, until it gets awkward enough that my eyes stray over her shoulder.
“Well, damn.
The stars keep aligning today.
There’s the third member of our illicit trio.”
Ivy turns as Mateo catches sight of us.
“What’s up?”
he asks once he reaches the bumper of Ivy’s car.
She looks nervous all of a sudden, twisting the end of her ponytail around one finger.
I’m starting to feel a little weird, too.
Now that I’ve summoned Mateo, I don’t know what to say to him.
All I know about him these days is that his mom’s bowling alley had to shut down.
Not an ideal conversation starter.
“We were just talking about the Greatest Day Ever,” I say instead.
And then I feel like a loser, because that name wasn’t cool even when we were twelve.
But instead of groaning, Mateo gives me a small, tired smile.
For the first time, I notice the dark shadows under his eyes.
He looks like he hasn’t slept in a week.
“Those were the days,” he says.
“I’d give anything to get out of school today,” Ivy says.
She’s still twirling her ponytail, eyes fixed on the back of Carlton High.
I don’t have to ask her why.
Boney’s acceptance speech is going to be painful for all of us, but especially her.
Mateo rubs a hand over his face.
“Let’s do it,” I blurt out.
I’m mostly kidding, until neither of them shut me down right away.
And then, it hits me that there’s nothing I’d rather do.
“Seriously, why not?”
Extract copyright 2021 by Karen M. McManus LLC.
