Page 2 of Road Trip to Forever
“Nine. Almost ten. So you’re in fifth grade?”
“In September, yeah.”
“Maybe we’ll be in the same class. Do you go to Redding Elementary School?”
“Yeah. Is that where you’re going to go?”
“Mhmm. My parents said it’s one of the nicest schools in the area,” she says.
“It’s okay. Where did you move here from?”
“Illinois. My mom is a flight attendant, and she had to pick between Massachusetts, Utah, or Georgia for work. My dadhatesthe heat, so we came up here to Boston.”
“I hate the heat, too,” I say. “You made a good choice.”
Lola scratches her arm then looks up at the sky and taps her cheek. I don’t think she’s stopped moving since she got out of her car. “I love flying.” She points to an airplane passing through a patch of clouds. “See? Isn’t it cool?”
“I’ve never been on a plane.”
“Never?”
“No. We drive everywhere,” I say.
“It’s fun. They give you snacks, like pretzels and cookies. Sometimes an entire meal.”
“That’s awesome. Maybe I’ll get to go on one someday.”
“I bet you would like it.” She tilts her chin down to look at me. “We should probably be friends.”
I frown. “Who? You and me? Why?”
“Why not? We’re neighbors. We should also be friends.”
This girl isn’t like the others in my class.
When those girls aren’t quiet, all they do is giggle or whisper under their breath. Lola isn’t quiet at all. She likes to talk, but not in a bad way. I can tell she has a lot to say, and something about her makes me want to listen.
“Okay.” I nod. I want to answer her before she changes her mind and takes it back. “That sounds good.”
“Good.” Lola peers over my shoulder. “Is that your brother?”
“Yeah. That’s Isaac. He’s thirteen.”
“I have an older brother, too. His name is James.”
“If we’re going to be friends, they should be friends,” I say. “They can hang out so I can finally play basketball without fighting Isaac for the ball.”
Lola tips her head back and laughs so loudly, it echoes in the summer air. Suddenly, I feel dizzy as my legs wobble and my vision blurs. Isaac and I have been playing outside for three hours already and it’s been getting hotter and hotter. I think I need some water, but that means I’d have to go inside, and I want to stay here and keep listening to Lola’s laugh.
Her laugh is really nice. Warm and friendly. I like hearing it. I wonder how I can make her laugh again. I need to come up with some funny jokes.
“What else do you like besides basketball?” she asks.
“Anything, really. My dad is teaching me the rules of baseball. I also like to read. What do you like to do for fun?”
“I love to draw. I want to make my own clothes someday. I like to use a lot of color. Green is my favorite.” Lola smiles at me again. She’s missing a tooth, and I bet if I asked, she’d have a cool story about how she lost it. Maybe she tied a string to a door and pulled it out, or it fell out when she ate a Rice Krispies Treat. “Like the color of your eyes.”
“My eyes are your favorite color?” I ask, wanting to make sure I heard her right. No one’s ever said something so nice to me before.
