Invincible Summer by Moskowitz Hannah

Author:Moskowitz, Hannah [Moskowitz, Hannah]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Tags: General Fiction
ISBN: 9781442407510
Google: hs4VIEcOh_cC
Amazon: 1442407514
Goodreads: 8105542
Publisher: Simon Pulse
Published: 2011-04-19T06:00:00+00:00

Family together us together

“We’ll make it better!” Claudia says. “What do we need to do? I’ll keep my clothes on.”

I say, “I’ll . . . tie up Lucy and make her stop crying.”

Gideon signs hear and Noah and I are the only ones who see, and we completely drop everything and stare at each other for a second, our lips barely open. Dad laughs, a little. “Come on, guys. Don’t act like you

didn’t see this coming.”

I can’t even believe how gross Gideon’s leftover French fries look. He’s ripping one up with his hands, not looking at anyone.

In the booth next to us, someone’s laughing, and I’m suddenly aware that we’re surrounded by families. These families that are chatting and laughing, ha ha ha, the ones that looked at us and smiled and were jealous of our two birthdays. These families are all around us. They’re not a myth.

Families that talk.

Noah whispers, “No one’s asked about who’s going where.”

I say, “What?”

“Custody.”

Custody.

This is a word for other people.

Holding up my head is no longer an option. I sink down and put my forehead next to my stupid plate, and Claudia’s hand is in my hair, she’s going, “Shh, shh . . . ”

Dad says, “We didn’t want you all to have to travel back and forth. I’m going to get a place in the city, and with school . . .”

“You can’t split us up,” Noah says. “We don’t do that shit.”

Dad raises his eyebrows. “This coming from you?”

Mom says, “Noah, baby.” “I’m in college!” he says. “I can come home wherever I want, you guys can’t change that! You can’t tell me where to go!”

“Noah, shut up!” my father says.

Noah does.

And now we all fit the pieces together.

Dad hates Noah.

Lucy needs to be with Mom.

Dad doesn’t know sign language.

I’m my father’s favorite, Claudia would never live somewhere without me. . . .

And so there it is. We’ve already been divided. We’ve been divided the same way for years. Blonds against brunets.

I look up at Noah, and he’s looking at me, too. He breathes out very slowly.

At some point, the waitress brings Lucy and me these little matching chocolate cakes, and she totally annihilates hers with her baby fists. I give her mine, too, and we watch her keep smashing.

Melinda answers the door with a book in her hand.

I say, “Shut up,” before she can say anything, and I kiss her with every bit of anything in me.

We roll around like animals in horrible, horrible heat. I barely get out of her bed for three days. t h i r t e e n

W hen we’re almost done packing up the car to

go home, Shannon comes and sits on the towel

next to me. I’m throwing clods of sand down toward the ocean. But I’m so far away that they’re just smashing on the beach, like tiny, worthless bombs.

It’s three days post-birthday. They should all three go down in the awkward hall of fame. There’s nothing worse than two rival teams in one house.

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