Parrotfish by Wittlinger Ellen

Author:Wittlinger, Ellen [Wittlinger, Ellen]
Language: eng
Format: azw3, epub
Publisher: Simon & Schuster Books for Young Readers
Published: 2012-06-19T04:00:00+00:00

I’d never been to a chorus concert before. Not surprisingly. The only people who showed up for this kind of activity were parents or maybe best friends. I was surprised—the singing was actually pretty good. And they all looked very professional: the girls in their white blouses and long black skirts, the five guys who’d had the courage to join the group in black tuxedos and bow ties. Of course, I couldn’t help wondering—if I’d joined the chorus, what would I have been wearing? A long black skirt and a bow tie? Always the question.

It was nice to see everybody enjoying themselves up there, singing harmony and coming in at just the right places. I was stupidly happy that those five guys hadn’t let their friends talk them out of joining a group that was obviously going to be 90 percent female. The guys sang as loud and strong as the girls.

Of course, my eyes were pretty much glued to Kita during the whole performance, so I couldn’t really tell you who those five guys were. She had her hair pulled back with an elastic, but it still stood out gloriously around her face. What a beautiful face it was, her double ethnicities weaving themselves around each other in perfect harmony.

Russ Gallo was sitting in the back of the auditorium, not that far from where we had the camera set up. The place wasn’t more than half full, and most people sat up close to the stage. Russ slumped in his chair and put his feet up on the seat in front of him; he didn’t appear to be enjoying himself. Not that I spent much time looking at Russ, but when I did, he was studying his fingernails, not looking at the stage. I wondered if Kita could feel me staring at her. If she did, would she think the person who couldn’t take his eyes off her was her boyfriend? If she realized it was me, Grady the Special, would it freak her out?

When the concert was over, Russ got up and ambled over to where Sebastian and I were packing up the equipment.

“Hey,” he said, reaching down to pull in some wires.

“Hey,” I said back, feeling immediately guilty for the betrayal of him that had been going on in my overactive brain.

“You guys want to come out and get something to eat with us?” he said.

“With you and Kita?” I asked.

“Sure.”

Sebastian gave him an arched eyebrow look. “You guys want company?”

Russ shrugged. “Might be easier that way. Kita’s still pissed off at me.”

“About the Ben and George thing?”

“Yeah, that. And other stuff. I don’t know. She’s on my back all the time lately about one thing or another.”

“Well, couples have their ups and downs,” I said cheerily, as if I had any experience of couplehood or knew what the hell I was talking about.

“Yeah, I guess. Anyway, Kita will be happy to have you two along. She likes you.”

I had a Sally Field moment: She likes me,

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