Camo Girl by Kekla Magoon
Author:Kekla Magoon
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Aladdin
Published: 2011-12-04T16:00:00+00:00
CHAPTER 29
Smiling, i step out into the aisle. “hi, Bailey.” I tuck the Pop-Tarts behind my back like some kind of contraband.
Bailey’s mom is a tall, pretty woman with dark, smooth skin like my mom’s. Her hair is straightened, pulled back in a bun. The lines of her face make her look very serious, but she smiles prettily when Bailey says, “Mom, this is Ella, my friend from school. She’s the one with the basketball hoop.”
Mrs. James nods at me. “Lovely to meet you, Ella.”
“Hi, Mrs. James.”
We stand in weird silence for a moment. Then Mrs. James relieves Bailey of the cart and says, “I’ll meet you at the checkout, B.” She gazes at him pointedly. “We cannot be late.”
“Okay, Mom.”
“Lakers fan?” I say when we’re alone.
Bailey grins. I grin, relieved that he could tell I was joking.
“So,” he says. “Sorry I don’t have time to hang out.”
“That’s okay. Where are you going?”
Bailey shrugs. “Just this place we go,” he says in a subject-changing kind of way. “I guess I’ll see you tomorrow, then? Hoops?”
“Yeah, okay.”
“Cool.” Bailey holds out his fist, and I bump it. “See ya.”
Then he’s disappearing through the maze of aisles toward the checkout. I head back to automotive, clutching the holy Pop-Tarts. Thinking how easy it was, what just happened.
Bailey wants to be my friend. No, he called himself my friend. Maybe we even already are friends. Just like that. Easy.
It used to be easy all the time, having friends. Millie, Z, right next door. Now, Millie’s off on her own, and Z’s sitting amid a pile of tires waiting for things that aren’t real to happen. Waiting for me to bring him Pop-Tarts so that the world will seem less tilted for a minute, when really we’re all walking upside down.
Z holds out his hands, like a tray. I place a Pop-Tart on them, reverently.
“Yum,” I say a second later, around a mouthful of my own Pop-Tart. “Don’t let anyone tell you strawberry isn’t the best flavor.”
Z smiles, crumbs on his face, and nods. “Delicious, milady.”
Two Pop-Tarts down, two to go.
Maybe I shouldn’t have to work this hard. Maybe the things that are wrong don’t get better when all you do is pretend.
“I ran into Bailey,” I say, because I want to see what happens. “You know, from school? That’s what took so long.”
Z chews quietly for a while, his face a mask of moving parts. Then he licks Pop-Tart crumbs off his fingers and brushes some off his lap.
“The knight is white,” he says, rotating the chessboard and making the first move.
Z pulls the special box back out and rests it in his lap. Except for that, that tiny-huge detail, he’s acting like it’s business as usual.
A flash of heat rushes my chest. Hot, stupid anger for no reason at all. “Aren’t you going to say anything?”
“Milady?”
“I hung out with Bailey this week. You hate that. Just say it.”
Z grabs the pawn he just moved and repositions it, like he’s reminding me the game is already in progress.
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