Sophomore Class Trip
After Alex and I have changed back into regular clothes and stowed our backpacks in lockers, he chooses a sit-down restaurant called Daddy O’s that has salads and fruit for me and burgers and fries for him.
The hostess seats us under an umbrella on the deck.
Once we’ve ordered food and have drinks, Alex drums his fingers on the table as he stares out over the park. “Do you think the Worthington endowment is running out of money?”
“Oh God, yes,” I exclaim. “Wait. As class president, don’t you know how much is in the endowment?”
Alex shakes his head. “All I know is the law firm in charge of the endowment gives the school a check every year. And this year, it was only enough to pay for good trips for the juniors and seniors.”
“Grace and Max said I was being paranoid thinking the money was running out, but the endowment is supposed to allow us to travel to learn new things. What does Six Flags teach us?”
He folds his hands behind his head. “Today I learned you should never wear a bikini on the Flowrider.”
I scowl at him as a bright smile breaks out across his face, a smile that makes me beam in return.
Alex leans toward me across the table, as he twists his cardboard straw. “How’s your book coming?”
I wrap my hands around my water glass. “I’ve been thinking a lot about what you said after reading my previous draft. About how the scientific details were lacking?”
“Yeah.”
“I’ve been doing lots of research trying to figure out how Nera and her family survived living underground for fifteen years. I’m incorporating details about how her father grows crops under giant heat lamps he installed before the asteroid hit.”
My ex-boyfriend raises an eyebrow. “Is Lulu the Hater of Science becoming a scientist?”
I brush a lock of hair that fell out of my ponytail behind my ear. “Yeah, maybe.”
“What other details have you added?”
I start speaking with my hands. “Ander is in love with Nera, but it would be better for his people if he joins forces with Clan Muir and hooks up with their leader, Alexa. She’s the villain.”
Alex’s mouth falls open. “Did you name the girl villain after me?”
“You said to name a hot character after you. You did not specify it had to be a guy. She’s very attractive, I promise.” I move on. “So Nera needs to prove her value to Ander’s clan. Clan Skene. I was thinking she could teach the clan how to make soap. Her dad had been making it in the Niagara Falls caves for years.”
Alex gets excited. “Maybe we could try to make soap ourselves, with like, ingredients we find in the woods.”
“You’re such a geek.”
“Then you’ll be able to write about it from firsthand experience.”
The server drops off our food. Bean salad and watermelon for me. A chicken sandwich and fries for him. I hate that he’s eating that, but I keep my mouth shut, not wanting to disturb this peace we’ve found.
Alex pops a fry in his mouth and speaks as he chews. “I talked to a recruiter at our last game.”
I open my eyes wide. “From what school?”
“Auburn.”
I push my bean salad around on my plate. “Is that a good school for baseball?”
“Pretty good. I mean, it’s an option.”
“What do you want?”
Alex drags one of his fries around in the ketchup, making a swirl pattern. “Vanderbilt. I’m really excited about this weekend’s game. A Vanderbilt scout is coming to watch. They’re my best bet for getting out of Manchester.”
I take a bite of watermelon. “So, you’re gonna apply to Vanderbilt, then?”
“I like that it’s only about an hour from my family, but there’s no way I could afford it. Even with a scholarship, I don’t know how I’d pay for living expenses.”
“Could you get a job?”
“I won’t have time for it. Not with school and practice.”
“You manage okay now.”
“College will be different, Lu.”
“Maybe you should start saving more money now. Then you’ll have savings when you get to college. You could use that for living expenses.”
He drops his fry, abandoning it to sink in a glob of ketchup. “Listen, I need to tell you something,” he says in a hard voice. “Mom’s going to have another baby. In October.”
Oh wow. A new baby would make six kids.
“Congratulations,” I say gently, but his eyes close. It’s clearly the last thing he wants to hear.
“My parents can barely support me and my sisters, and then they go and do this shit?” Alex covers his face with his fists. “I’m so pissed at them…but I’m not, you know?”
“’Cause you love your family.”
He nods, then drops his hands as his face relaxes. “Hey, maybe it’ll be a boy this time and I won’t be so outnumbered by all those girls.”
I laugh quietly. “Everything will be okay.”
Alex pauses to eat a few fries. “But what if it’s not? What if Papu and my parents can’t handle the restaurant when I leave for college? What if I can’t afford college anyhow?”
“When did you start working at Niko’s? When you were in middle school?”
“Yeah.”
“And the restaurant survived without you before. Niko’s will keep going, even if you move on. I mean, you have the best pizza in town.”
Alex grins a little. “Papu loves when you say that.”
I feel my expression fall. I haven’t seen his family in months.
“Yia Yia and Papu miss you.” Alex slowly drags another fry through the ketchup, then leaves it to sink. “When he heard you broke up with me, he grabbed me by the ear and asked what I did wrong.”
I don’t know what to say to that. An awkward silence looms over the table.
Right then, some kids walk by beneath us and point up at me. “Hey, it’s that girl! Flash us again, baby.”
Without missing a beat, Alex lifts his glass and tosses the rest of his water down on them, and they scatter like ants at a picnic. We crack up together.
Alex turns back to me. “How about that rematch?”