Boys in the Back Row by Mike Jung

Author:Mike Jung
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Levine Querido

We decided to go to Sean’s house right after figuring out our strategy, no advance notice or anything. We were hoping the element of surprise would work in our favor. Or maybe we were just impatient.

Sean’s house looked a lot like all the other houses on that block—two stories, white with blue trim, perfectly oval bushes on either side of the front walkway, and a lawn so bright green that it probably glowed in the dark. There was a huge jade plant covered with tiny white flowers growing in a giant pot next to the front steps. We’d biked past the house a million times—it was only six blocks from Eric’s house—but we’d never had a reason (or an invitation) to go inside.

“You ready?” Eric said as we stood at the bottom of the steps, looking up at the front door. I took a deep breath.

“Yeah. We’re all clear on the plan, right?”

“Yup.” Eric took a deep breath of his own.

“We’re just gonna tell him the truth and hope he—”

“—doesn’t make a joke about us being boyfriends or something, because seriously—”

“It’s gonna be totally fine!”

Eric gave me a slow, droopy-eyelid kind of look.

“Excellent timing on the sarcastic look, but it’s gonna be fine!”

“I’m not so sure.”

“All right, fine, I’m not either, but it’s the only plan we’ve got,” I said. I tried to loosen up by hunching and dropping my shoulders a couple of times. “Let’s do it.”

We took the steps two at a time, and I pressed the doorbell with my thumb. A series of five chiming notes rang out inside the house. A few seconds later Sean’s mom opened the door. I assumed it was his mom, anyway—neither of us had ever met her.

“Can I help you?” she said in a voice that sounded both cheerful and fake. An alpha-mom voice, as my parents would say.

“Hi, is Sean here?” Eric said, bringing his own fake-cheerful-voice A game.

Sean’s mom looked surprised, which was both interesting and mysterious.

“Yes, he’s here.”

She had a bundle of papers in one hand and a book tucked into the armpit of the arm she was holding the door open with. She propped the door open with her foot, stuffed the book more deeply into her armpit, and stuck the papers up in there too. It was kind of impressive, to be honest. She stuck the free hand in my direction, fake-looking smile still in place, and I took it, partly to keep myself from stepping backward and falling down the steps.

“Hi. Christine McKenna.”

“I’m Matthew.”

She pumped my hand twice, then went through the same routine with Eric.

Sean’s Mom Christine McKenna had long, very shiny brown hair, extremely white teeth, and blue eyes that made me uncomfortable with how intense they were. Being looked at by Sean’s mom made me feel kind of like a zoo animal.

“Nice to meet you. Sean doesn’t have friends come by very much—did you two lose a bet or something?”

She winked to show us she was kidding, but geez, what a crappy thing to say about your own kid.

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