THE LATE-OCTOBER HEAT WAVE TAKES everyone by surprise. School is muggy, even with the windows open. Indian summer, my math teacher says, mopping his face with a grungy-looking hankie.
“Let’s go swimming,” Patrice says after school.
“We have to go to the office,” I tell her.
Emmalee throws back her head and sighs. “I’m staying out of it,” she says. “We do this every other day.”
Patrice and I face off.
“Come on, we might not get to swim again until the summer.”
“The Panthers need us. Plus, the harder we work, the more we advance.”
“You always think that, and there’s never anything to do that we haven’t done a million times.” Patrice puts on a mocking tone. “Stamp the envelopes. Clean the windows. Make the sandwiches.”
Emmalee’s right. This conversation is old and tired and I’m starting to ache with it. “Why don’t you guys just go without me?”
“Fine, we will,” Patrice says.
“Fine.” I look at Emmalee, hoping she’ll decide to come with me instead.
“Okay,” she says, slowly. “Well, maybe we’ll stop by the office a little bit later.”
“See you.” I spin away before she can see my feelings are hurt. It’s stupid, anyway. It’s not like we’ve never spent an afternoon apart before. Sometimes I walk with Sam. Sometimes Emmalee goes to Charlie’s Soda by herself on days when Jimmy’s working. Sometimes Patrice has family stuff. Often, even when we go to the park together, we end up hanging with different people on opposite sides when one thing leads to another.
Behind me, Emmalee and Patrice stroll away, heads close together. I watch them over my shoulder, wondering if they feel, like I do, that today is somehow different.