Monster’s Proof by Richard Lewis

Author:Richard Lewis
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Simon and Schuster
Published: 2009-07-15T00:00:00+00:00

24

LIVEY’S CELL PHONE buzzed. It was Mandy.

“Livey, you know that TETRA KUIZ game we were playing at the party?” she said. “I was having some gas, and, you know, one escaped. That’s why I got all embarrassed and left. So if you hear any rumors about me, they aren’t true, and would you tell Ashlyn to stop spreading them?”

Livey said she would. That explains one mystery, she thought as she hung up. She waited for Taylor to phone and apologize, which didn’t happen.

Johnny didn’t phone, either. Why would he? He didn’t even have her number.

And there was no way she was going to give it to him either.

Her dad returned from the college, his briefcase stuffed with printouts of old papers. In the living room, he and Bob continued their work on the Riemann Hypothesis, filling up the whiteboard. Darby sat on the couch and watched, keeping an eye on Bob in a way that reminded Livey of Coach Mazur, ready to jump in and help a flyer in trouble.

She pulled him aside. “Why do you keep watching him like that?”

“Um, he’s Italian, you know. They have different electricity and plugs and things. I don’t want him accidentally starting a fire.”

“For Pete’s sake,” Livey said, and was about to state the obvious, that Bob was a capable adult, but then she realized that Darby might have a point. A mathematician and an Italian could be a dangerous combination.

Outside, wind began to shake the trees, and the mist condensed into rain. The living room board filled up, and Livey’s dad brought in the whiteboard from his bedroom and the garage. Soon those, too, were filled. He and Bob moved to the whiteboard in the kitchen. Having skipped breakfast, Livey was eating a bowl of Cheerios at the counter. She studied Bob out of the corner of her eyes. She hadn’t made up her mind about him. He was a combination of charming and weird and something else she couldn’t quite put a finger on. Maybe it was because she couldn’t figure out who he reminded her of. It was right there, on the edge of her mind.

“Let’s take the big oh function,” her dad was saying, scribbling on the bottom of the board. He ran out of space and, without a pause, continued writing on the fridge.

“Dad!” Livey said. “Puh-leeze!”

“Perhaps it is time for an intermission,” Bob suggested. “I am hungry.”

Jerry suggested one of the sandwich places at South Farm Square. Bob was delighted with the idea. “I do so love a good peanut butter and jelly.”

Jerry laughed. “You can have that here. We’ll get a real deli sub.”

Darby got his rain jacket from the hall closet. “They have great avocado sandwiches,” he told Bob.

With the house empty, Livey checked on the guest bedroom. She wasn’t snooping, honest, she only wanted to make sure that everything was okay. She noticed that Bob’s toothbrush—a child’s SpongeBob at that—was still in its package on his dresser. God, he hadn’t used hers or Darby’s,

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