Luckily; Granddad beat me to it。 He greeted them all like they were long…lost family and even
seemed to know which one was Matt and which one
was Mike。 One was wearing a purple shirt and the other was wearing a green one; so it
shouldnt have been that hard to remember which was
which; but they came in and pinched my cheeks and said; “Hey; baby brother! Hows it
goin?” and I got so mad I mixed them up again。
My mother zoomed in from the kitchen; saying; “e in; e in。 Its so nice you all could
make it。” She called; “Lyn…et…ta! Rick! Weve got pa…
ny!” but then stopped short when she saw Juli and Mrs。 Baker。 “Well; whats this?” she asked。
“Homemade pies?”
Mrs。 Baker said; “Blackberry cheesecake and pecan。”
“They look wonderful! Absolutely wonderful!” My mother was acting so hyper I couldnt
believe it。 She took Julis pie; then whooshed a path to the
kitchen with Mrs。 Baker。
Lyta appeared from around the corner; which made Matt and Mike grin and say; “Hey;
Lyn。 Lookin good。”
Black skirt; black nails; black eyes — for a nocturnal rodent; yeah; I suppose she was looking
good。
They disappeared down to Lytas room; and when I turned around; my granddad was
taking Mr。 Baker into the front room; which left me in the
entry hall with Juli。 Alone。
She wasnt looking at me。 She seemed to be looking at everything but me。 And I felt like an
idiot; standing there in my geeky button…down shirt
with pinched cheeks and nothing to say。 And I got so nervous about having nothing to say
that my heart started going wacko on me; hammering like
it does right before a race or a game or something。
On top of that; she looked more like that stupid picture in the paper than the picture did; if
that makes any sense。 Not because she was all
dressed up — she wasnt。 She was wearing some normal…looking dress and normal…looking
shoes; and her hair was the way it always is except
maybe a little more brushed out。 It was the way she was looking at everything but me; with
her shoulders back and her chin out and her eyes
flashing。
We probably only stood there for five seconds; but it felt like a year。 Finally I said; “Hi; Juli。”
Her eyes flashed at me; and thats when it sank in— she was mad。 She whispered; “I heard