I got up extra early Saturday to spend some time covering up my chin zit with the little tub of make-up Misty had left in my room after my black eye. I must have absorbed some of Isabel’s skill, because I didn’t do a half-bad job.
‘Me haces sonreîr,’ I said to my reflection. ‘Me gustas mucho.’
‘Not bad.’
The voice startled me so much I dropped the make-up jar in the sink with a clatter.
‘Dad, don’t sneak up on me like that.’
‘Your room but my house,’ Dad said. He peered into the sink. ‘Is that Misty’s make—’
‘It’s nothing.’ I snatched up the jar and hid it in my fist.
‘I am heading up to Iowa City for work today. I thought maybe, since we were going the same direction, you might want a ride to your concert – you and your friends.’
‘You want to drive us?’ I choked out. ‘Am I being punished for something?’
Dad leaned on the doorframe and winked. ‘Just yanking your chain, bud. I was sixteen once too, y’know.’
‘You sure about that?’
He rubbed his bald dome. ‘Had a full head of hair and everything.’
‘Impossible.’
‘Hey, you missed a spot.’ He tapped his chin to indicate my zit and then laughed as I checked my work in the mirror.
‘Drive safe,’ he said, closing the door as he ducked out.
It had been like that for a few days now – ever since I told him I’d finally scored an extra-credit assignment for Spanish. Isabel had helped with that. I’d dragged her to Señora Vega’s room to swear she was my tutor. The two had talked crazy fast in Spanish, then looked at me and cracked up laughing – whatever that was about – and by the end of the conversation, Vega had offered me extra credit for a series of reports written in Spanish.
Dad had been impressed, and the feeling I got from this new proud dad was a lot like the feeling I got after we launched the website, and I’d started walking with my head up instead of pointed at the floor.
And my head just kept tilting higher. Every day we didn’t get busted by a cybersnoop my confidence grew. The two videos we posted that week were a little embarrassing for a couple of deserving people, but we managed not to ruin any lives, so I chalked that up as a win. Even Malcolm had stayed out of my eyesight the rest of the week, so I was flying pretty high as I got dressed and bounded down the stairs to the kitchen.
‘What are you smiling about?’ Misty said, startling me out of my thoughts.
‘Uh, nothing. Just – excited to get out of the house today.’
‘Me too.’ She leaned against the counter, waiting for me to ask her what her plans were. Lucky for her, I was in an extra great mood, so I obliged.
‘I’m just headed to the farmers market for some seeds,’ she said. ‘I’m going to start a garden in the backyard, I think.’
‘Sounds like a party.’
‘Well, it’s no concert with my friends,’ she laughed. ‘But I like working with my hands.’
And all your other parts.
I held my breath for a second, afraid I’d said it out loud. Then I frowned. Something must be wrong. Usually I was proud of zingers like that, but this one tasted a little … bitter, maybe? Even though Misty couldn’t hear my thoughts, I felt the sudden urge to apologise – or at least change the subject.
‘Hey, Misty, is this outfit okay? For an outdoor concert? Or any concert?’
She motioned for me to turn in a circle, so she could inspect my jeans and faded gray T-shirt.
‘Not bad for a guy who’s never been to a concert. You didn’t break the cardinal rule, at least.’
‘What’s that?’
‘Wearing a shirt of the band you’re going to see.’
‘Guess I’d have to be a fan of the band to have their shirt to begin with,’ I said.
I checked to make sure I had my wallet and started gathering up gum and snacks and other items I’d need for the day.
Misty handed me something that looked like a mini deodorant stick.
‘Sunscreen,’ she said, when I sniffed at it.
I stuck it in my back pocket. ‘Thanks.’
‘It doesn’t matter if you’re a fan of the band,’ she said. ‘It’s not really about that.’
‘What do you mean?’ I could sense her getting deep on me, and I fidgeted a little.
Her voice was wistful – or as wistful as it could be with its gravel texture. ‘These moments go by really fast. Make sure you stop and appreciate them while they’re happening instead of looking back and wishing you could relive them.’
Definitely too deep. She was trying to force some ‘moment’ on me.
‘Um. I’ll do that,’ I said.
A horn honked outside. Mouse.
I checked my pockets one more time – cell phone, sunglasses, wallet, gum, sunscreen, granola bars, Chapstick (coconut-flavored, just in case), and two small flash drives that I had taken to carrying around with me everywhere. They were mostly full of website files, that I was afraid to leave on my computer in case Misty snooped.
Not that she could get through my firewalls, but hey, I didn’t know she spoke Spanish either, so I guess you can’t be too careful.
Mouse honked again, more insistently.
‘Go, already!’ Misty said, shoving me toward the door.
I glanced back after I stepped off the porch at Misty standing in the doorway, looking every inch a mom. It was the kind of pose that normally made me retch, but today – I don’t know, maybe it was the good mood again, but it didn’t bother me so much.
I said an awkward goodbye and bailed.
*
‘See this?’ Mouse shoved a phone in my face before I’d even closed the car door.
‘Look!’ He slapped the phone into my hand and rapped the screen fast with his finger. His other hand was on the wheel as he navigated his way backward down the drive.
‘All right, all right!’ I took the phone out from under his finger hammer.
On the screen, Mrs. Windemere looked out with sad eyes from an unflattering mugshot. ‘Haver High Teacher Arrested for Shoplifting,’ the headline blazed.
So much for not ruining any lives this week.
‘You can go to jail for that?’ I asked.
‘Of course. Read the rest of it.’
‘I’m not sure I want to.’
This was putting a serious kink in my happy day.
‘It calls us “digital detectives”!’ Mouse reached over to tap the screen again, but I held the phone out of his reach.
‘Just drive.’
He put both hands back on the wheel but rattled on. ‘It says Friends of Bishop has helped solve two crimes already, busting a drug ring—’
‘It wasn’t a drug ring.’
‘—and now a teacher. It says instead of looking for us, maybe cybermonitors should be asking for our help. Our help! Can you believe that?’
I really couldn’t.
All along, I’d been worried about the site getting us in too much trouble to take it to the competition, but here we were – at least one news site’s definition of internet heroes.
*
Seth was our first stop on the way out of town. At first I was relieved to see he hadn’t worn his Byte Me T-shirt, until I realised he was wearing one that read Khaleesi is My Queen. I almost asked him to change it, but I was afraid of what else was in his closet.
‘Shotgun!’ he cried, opening the passenger door and practically dragging me out of the front seat.
I didn’t mind getting in back. That would just mean I had to spend the next hour squished up next to Isabel. No problem.
‘Did you see?’ Mouse said, passing his phone to Seth.
I tuned out while they made fun of the mugshot and congratulated themselves. They could only talk about it for so long anyway, because soon we were pulling up to Zach’s house.
He climbed in back with me, and the reception from the front seat was only mildly chilly.
‘It’s going to get crowded in here,’ Seth complained under his breath.
‘Well, feel free to get out, then,’ Zach said.
Mouse flipped around in his seat and gave Zach a jittery fist bump. ‘Hey, we met the other day. Hi again! Sorry we have to keep Seth around, but we need him to split the snacks. Road food is expensive. Do you know the actual production cost of turkey jerky?’
Zach’s icy front thawed a little. ‘Next to nothing, I bet.’
‘Exactly!’ Mouse spun back around and put the car in gear. ‘The markup is insane. I’m going to study economics when I get to Caltech …’
‘I thought you were going to be an elephant herder,’ I said.
Mouse rolled his eyes as he put the car in gear. ‘Trainer, not herder. But that obviously won’t pay the bills.’
‘Duh, Eli!’ Seth said with mock seriousness. ‘Clearly, Mouse is also going to do all the other elephant herders’ taxes to make ends meet.’
Seth and I laughed, but next to me, Zach was serious and leaned forward to say to Mouse, ‘You want to be a mahout?’
Because of course, Zach would know what that is.
‘I read there’s a camp you can go to in Thailand for that,’ Zach said.
‘I know!’ Mouse bobbed up and down in the driver’s seat. ‘But you have to be eighteen, so I’m thinking summer after graduation …’
I smiled to myself as Zach and Mouse chattered on. I knew those two would hit it off.
But my smile faded as we neared our next destination, and I frantically ordered everyone to ‘be cool’ and not embarrass me in front of Isabel. In turn, they all laughed their asses off and promised to do their best to utterly humiliate me. By the time we pulled up outside her house, I had broken out into a sweat.
I dried my palms on my jeans and shoved over to give her maximum space as she slid into the seat next to me.
‘Eli,’ Zach said from my other side. ‘A little room?’
‘Oh, sorry.’ I had squished him right up against the door. I coughed to clear my throat and spoke to the rest of the car. ‘Guys, this is Isabel. Isabel, these are the guys.’
‘Hi, guys,’ she said, a wink in her voice.
And then, by some miracle, we managed to get out of town without any of them doing a single thing to embarrass me.
*
Halfway down the road, Mouse and Seth got into a pretty entertaining argument over the radio. Seth had been up all night crafting what he declared ‘the ultimate road-trip playlist,’ but Mouse insisted on full control of his audio system – ‘no exceptions.’
From the back seat, Zach and Isabel and I placed bets on who would crack first. It turned out to be Mouse.
‘Fine! Play your stupid songs,’ he snapped at Seth.
‘I knew it!’ Isabel laughed.
Zach clucked his tongue. ‘Mouse, you let me down, man. I placed money on you.’
‘Speaking of …’ I said, holding out my hand. Zach dug in his pocket and dropped two quarters in my palm.
‘You cost me half a Mountain Dew,’ he complained to Mouse.
‘I’m sorry,’ Mouse said. ‘He wore me down!’
‘He usually does,’ I drawled.
‘Quiet.’ Seth shushed us all and loaded up his playlist. ‘Prepare to be amazed.’
And then all chatter stopped as we were drowned out by a relentless drumbeat. No one complained about the song choice, and even Mouse grudgingly turned up the volume, until the car felt like one giant pounding speaker. The percussion hit a crescendo near the end of the song, and we all drummed along, hands pounding seats, feet pounding the floor, until I couldn’t tell whether the car was shaking from the bass or from our stomping.
My body vibrated with energy, alive in a way I’d never quite felt before. Misty’s words crept into my head, about appreciating these moments while they’re happening, and I smiled around the car … at everyone lost in the beat, at this moment of total freedom … and deliberately soaked it in. My eyes fell on Isabel, her dark hair whipped into a wild, beautiful mess by the wind rushing through our open windows.
This is the greatest day of my life.
She caught me staring and smiled, bumping her shoulder into mine.
So far.