Page 36 of Nicoli

“That’s because you walk in without knocking.”

“So?”

“So, you need to learn how to knock.”

“Ugh,” she groans.

I snicker, winding the ribbon around my finger before picking up another stone and throwing it out in front of us, watching as it lands with a soft thud.

“And Saia always tells me to keep quiet when I want to tell him a story while he’s watching basketball on TV.”

“You should never talk when a guy is watching sports.”

“I talk when you watch sports.”

“I have this superpower where I can switch my ears off when you talk.”

She slaps my elbow and smiles. “No, you don’t.”

“Sometimes I wish I did. Specifically on lazy summer afternoons when I’m enjoying the solitude of sitting under a tree, and an eight-year-old girl decides it’s a good time to bug me. And that’s another thing,” I add. “Why are you still calling me Li? And it’s Isaia, not Saia.”

“I know that. I’m just used to calling him Saia. And you, I’ll always call Li.”

“I hate it.”

She chuckles. “No, you don’t.”

“By your ninth birthday, I might.”

“I saw you with that girl the other night.”

“What girl?”

“Paula.” She rolls her eyes. “More like Awful-a.”

I snicker and unwind the ribbon from my finger, wrapping it around my thumb this time. “Yeah, so? What about Paula?”

She lifts her chin, putting her nose in the air. “I don’t like her.”

“You don’t know her.”

“I don’t want to know her.”

“Why not?”

“I don’t like girls who wear short dresses. And her dress was way too short.”

I scoff. “Not the worst problem a guy can have.”

“And her laugh is terrible.” Mira rolls her r’s with a tenor of disgust.

“It’s not that bad.” I smile.

“Is that why you’re sitting here? Are you thinking of her? Do you love her?”

“No.”

“Is she your girlfriend?”

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