Will watched the trembling drips of rain as the wind nudged them sideways across the car window. Behind the window was the blur of familiar houses and streets passing by. It distracted his groggy mind from his anger at having to get up at 7am, struggle into his clothes, cram some cereal into his mouth, and drag himself into the front seat to go to his first day at his summer job, which his dad announced at dinner last night had to start a week earlier than planned. Thanks a lot Dad, he thought. My world is on the verge of colossal change then you go and hit the giant pause button.
He had argued about it, but his protests came off lame and empty. He just didn’t want to use his main argument: “Guess what Dad, we’re not the last ones! Blue’s a vox!” He wasn’t ready for that. He knew they would find out at some point, and that maybe he should be the one to tell them, but right now he wanted this secret to himself. Maybe it was selfish, but maybe the rules were a little different for this. Of course, Rose knew about the notes and the remote control incident, but Will had not told her about his “Hey” or his visit and Blue’s one-word reply “Okay”. He was guessing that the secret was safe for now.
He would just have to play it by ear. Maybe he could slip down there after work. If not he would have to wait until his next free day. Fortunately, the job was only three days a week. He would have Friday through Monday off.
He sighed and closed his eyes. Too groggy for this, he thought. The stupid thing was that he had actually been looking forward to the job before Blue came along. He was going to help his dad in the college science labs, cleaning and repairing all the equipment that gets used during the school year. His dad had a grant to do some research, and he used part of the grant to hire Will to help take care of the maintenance he himself usually had to do during the summer. His dad also promised Will that he could help out with some of the research. Will thought that was pretty cool, partly because he loved science and partly because he would actually get to spend some time with his dad.
His dad was great, and Will didn’t have any complaints, but he wasn’t the totally engaged family guy like some of his friends’ dads. He would come to soccer games and basketball games, but he didn’t know much about sports and often shouted embarrassing, though well-intentioned, words of encouragement (“Great field throw after that foul on the kickoff, son!”). Where his friends’ dads were getting them the best sports equipment and giving them tips on how to play, Will’s dad was kind of lost in the sporting goods stores and often had to ask Will to settle for the less-than-best equipment—because of price more than anything else (“Gee, this Joe’s Sports glove seems pretty much the same as this Wilson glove, and a heck of a lot cheaper!”). Still, his dad was there for him and never balked at helping him out.
“So tell me about this new girl, Blue,” said his dad. “I hear you’ve managed to have some contact where others have failed.”
“Yeah, well you wouldn’t call it a lot of contact,” said Will, his eyes still closed. “It’s been all of a dozen words at most. She keeps it pretty much to the point.”
“Ah, well, I hear she’s been through a lot,” said his dad. “But of course, who in the O’Day household has not?”
Will opened his eyes and looked at his dad. “Do you know any of her background, Dad?” Will knew that his mom was involved with the state Department of Foster Care, the DFC, since she was a counselor at school. He hadn’t asked his mom because she couldn’t share that information, but his mom talked with his dad, and his dad was not as tight-lipped when it came to sharing information.
“Hmm,” said his dad, taking a look at Will. “You know better by now than to ask for information like that.” But his voice was wavering. “Let’s just say that if you have any kindness in you, you would avoid asking her details about how she became an orphan.” He then gave Will a pointed look. “I know Ma Beth has shared that Blue lost her family in a fire. You should leave it at that, because that is traumatic enough.” He looked directly at Will. “Is that clear enough?”
Great. Now he was more curious than ever. “Yeah, I suppose. Though not really.”
His dad was quiet for a moment and then said, “Look, there are things I am doing at the lab that I think you will find very interesting. There are more than enough opportunities there to exercise your curiosity!”
That first day at work was interesting but uneventful. Will spent a lot of time just sorting out the equipment on the lab benches and using a lab notebook to record what was missing or broken, then cleaning and putting away the rest. By the time he got home in the evening he was beat. He wasn’t used to getting up that early, and working eight hours straight was a grind; school was a breeze by comparison. He ate dinner and then plunked down on the sofa to watch TV with Rose, and within five minutes he was asleep. His mom had to wake him up so he could brush his teeth and go to bed.
This went on for two more days and got a little easier, but still, by Friday Will was ready for a long weekend. Friday morning was glorious—no work! The only problem was, instead of lounging luxuriously in his bed late into the morning, his eyes popped open at 6 a.m. He tried to go back to sleep but soon gave up. It was pointless, he was wide awake and restless. Finally, he just got up and went down to breakfast.
“Look who’s up early,” voxed Rose.
“Mr. Hard Worker can’t sleep in anymore!” voxed his mom. They were sitting at the kitchen table and eating scrambled eggs and bacon.
“Don’t talk and eat,” voxed Will back. This was a favorite joke of theirs because, of course, using vox they could talk and eat at the same time. Rose giggled because she laughed at everything.
His mom continued out loud, “So Wu has been like a hungry cat getting in everyone’s way over at the O’Days. Apparently, without you around, he can’t find anything to do.”
As if on cue, there was a knock at the door and without waiting, in bounced Wu. “Hey, Mrs. Woods. Hey, Rose. Hey, Will!” he said in a relieved voice. “How’s it feel to have a day off?”
“Nice!” said Will. “Want some breakfast?”
“Great!” said Wu. “I mean thanks! I’d love some.” As he was scooping up some eggs and a pile of bacon he went on, “You’ve really missed some big happenings at our house.”
Will wiped his plate down with a last piece of toast. “And you are going to tell us between bites, I’m guessing.”
“Yeah,” said Wu. “The biggest thing is that on Monday night, Blue actually came down and ate dinner with us—and breakfast, lunch, and dinner on Tuesday! What did you write to her in that note?”
Will was caught by surprise, but replied, “Well, I told her to start eating meals with you guys. She does everything I say now.”
“Hah,” said Wu, only it came out, “whuh” because his mouth was full of egg.
“You mean to tell us that this is the first time she has eaten with you this whole time?” asked Will’s mom.
“Yeah, kind of a first. It turns out she kept dishes in her room so she could just come down, grab something out of the refrigerator, and slip back up to her room.” Wu couldn’t hide his admiration. “She still doesn’t talk much, though. I mean, we ask her questions, and she’ll answer, but only with the shortest possible answer. She certainly doesn’t encourage conversation.”
“But it’s a start,” said his mom. “And that is encouraging news, Wu.”
It was good news to Will, too. If Blue was finally venturing out of her bedroom, there would be more opportunity for him to talk to her face-to-face. He was beginning to regret his cowardice for not talking to her when he had the chance. After all, they had been alone and they could have talked or voxed freely. Now, he wasn’t sure what the opportunities would be.
As Will and Wu walked down to the park, Wu filled Will in even more. “So Blue actually said “Hi” to me and asked if you and I were best friends, and before you ask, I said yes. At least you’re one of my best friends,” and then he thought, “And then she said not your only friend, but how did she know that?”
Will caught Wu’s chiss, but just said, “Well, thanks, Wu, and you know you’re one of mine, too.”
“Yeah, well, never take anything for granted, as they say,” said Wu. “So how is your job going?”
The job is boring work is what it is, thought Will to himself. When his dad suggested it, he thought it would be cool, helping at a lab at the college. He didn’t realize how much grunge work there was to do in a science lab even at a small college like Westbury. Fortunately, they were done with most of the cleanup and organization that week.
He told all this to Wu and Wu just said, “Well I guess I’ve been such a pain at home without you around that Ma Beth signed me up for a basketball camp.”
“That’s cool, Wu,” said Will. “You are going to be a star by the time you are on varsity.”
“Yeah, well . . .” said Wu.
Blue watched Wu and Will walking down to the park. She was envious, and she thought maybe the time was right to ask Ma Beth if she could go with them. Hopefully she had shown that she had settled in this week.
As she watched Wu’s tall form saunter down the hill, Blue reflected on her encounter with him the night before. She had been downstairs to brush her teeth and was going quietly back up her attic stairs. Just as she reached the top, she could hear Wu walking by in the hallway and then heard him pause. He said, “Hey Blue.” She knew he wasn’t used to getting a reply from her, and he would just continue down to his room, but this time, before he did, she turned and said, “Hey Wu.” Wu looked up at her in surprise. Blue continued, “Just get back from the park?”
Wu smiled. “Yeah, I got in a little after-dinner basketball with some friends.”
“With Will,” Blue said.
Wu responded, “Yeah, we play a lot.” And in his mind, he went on, “. . . and usually only with Will.”
Blue caught it. She said, “Will is a good friend.”
“Yeah, the best,” said Wu. “And only,” he thought.
“He is not your only friend you know,” said Blue.
Wu laughed and said, “Yeah, well my other friends seem to be making themselves scarce then.” And then a puzzled look came over his face.
“Well, you have one standing here,” she said, and she turned and went the rest of the way up to her landing. She could tell he was still standing at the foot of the stairs, so she stopped just before going in her room and looked back at him. He was looking up at her, the puzzled look still on his face, but when he saw her looking at him, he said, “Hey, thanks. You got one here, too.”
That had been last night, and now she smiled as she remembered Wu’s reaction. It was nice to make a friend again. As she watched the boys disappear down the hill, she thought that maybe, just maybe, her destiny was not a life of isolation.