Page 21 of How You See Me
“Is that all?”
Mom shoots me a look from the kitchen that says not to encourage her.
“I mean, are there any rules I need to be aware of?”
“Duh.”
“I should have known.” I drop my head to the table with a thump.
A laugh bursts out of her, floating freely, until she clutches her side and cringes. “Don’t make me laugh.”
“Sorry.” I rest a hand on her shoulder and wait for her pain to subside. “I’ll try not to be funny, but it’s hard to control sometimes.”
“I know. It’s okay.”
“Thank you for understanding.”
Mom relaxes, a forced grin on her face as she gets back to the meal she’s preparing.
“Are there a lot of rules? Do I need to write them down?” I ask Ava.
“Only three, but maybe you should take notes. I don’t want you to forget. They’re important.”
She hands me a crayon, and I turn to a clean page in the notebook.
“Rule number one: You have to do each activity with someone.”
The blue crayon hovers over the page. “Why?”
“You’re always by yourself. I don’t like it.”
“There are plenty of people around where I live.”
“She wants you to make friends,” Mom adds gently.
“Would it make you feel better to know I’m not going on the trip alone?”
Ava studies me, not buying it. She knows the only people I spend any significant time with are her and Mom, and thinks I avoid other people like they’re purple monsters with poisonous fangs. Her big imagination gets dramatic at times, and it’s fun to get lost in her world . . . until it turns on me.
“Who is it?”
“Her name is Josie. She needed a ride to Las Vegas, and I’m taking her.”
“You’re taking a girl?”
“Yes.”
She blinks slowly. Something isn’t registering. “Is she your girlfriend?”
“No. She’s my friend’s sister. See? I’m not as hopeless as you thought. I have friends.”
“Is she pretty?”
“Ava.”
“Is she?”
I sigh. She completely glossed over the rest of the story. The part I'd rather talk about. “Almost as pretty as you.” That seems to satisfy her, and I quickly change the subject. “What else?”
