AFTERNOON
To be continued is a terrible thing, I know. But life is to be continued. You want to be continued as long as possible. Which makes me sad about my walk to school this morning. As I rounded the corner toward the parking lot, I saw a dead baby bird on the sidewalk. It’s almost December. I didn’t know birds had babies so late in the year. But there it was, nearly see-through and dead. Tiny. A baby hummingbird.
Sure, it reminds me of the story I wrote about the jogger named Justine Barlow, and I want to say it’s only a coincidence. And it probably is. But maybe it’s also an omen. Telling me that good news might not be good news after all. Because there was good news this morning. Plenty of it.
Before leaving for school, before the baby bird, I called Mandy and told her I was dating Glen Maple. Instead of telling me I’m crazy or pretending to throw up, she said, “That is so awesome. I am so happy for you.”
Which was … good.
A minute after I hung up, just as I was about to step out the door, the phone rang. I figured it would be Mandy calling back to say, “Ha, ha! It’s Opposite Day! Glen Maple is gross. Why would you ever want to date him?”
But it wasn’t. It was Mr. Dwyer. Charlie and Kyle’s dad. He had some even better news. Or so it seemed.
Kyle Dwyer is awake.