Short by Holly Goldberg Sloan

Author:Holly Goldberg Sloan
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Penguin Young Readers Group
Published: 2016-11-21T14:38:32+00:00

EIGHTEEN

Olive comes over to the house.

She’s my first adult friend.

Teachers or family or the parents of my friends don’t count because they are forced into being nice by the rules of society. These are things that aren’t written down, but that people do.

An example of this would be getting a haircut.

There is no law telling you to do this. But you should.

The same is true of changing your underwear.

These kinds of rules are different as time marches on. I hope they are getting better, but what do I know?

I wish that Piper and Kaylee could see Olive when she walks up to the house. She’s wearing a very stylish outfit, which is not how she dresses at rehearsal. She has on a sundress that is bright yellow, and she is also wearing pale blue shoes with cork heels that must be four inches high.

I have no idea how Olive can walk in these things.

I’m not saying she now towers over me, but it does feel as if she grew overnight and I got left behind. With the shoes and the sundress and the gold hoop earrings she’s wearing, she has transformed into much more of an adult.

I can’t help but stare, which is not polite. I say, “Oh my gosh, Olive.” (But in a very positive voice.)

Olive smiles and I realize that she’s also wearing red lipstick. Her mouth stretches across her face in a very athletic way, and by that I mean it’s very strong.

I say, “Do you want to come in?” Olive looks down at her phone as she says, “Gianni’s already there. He just sent a message. He’s waiting down the street.”

Of course this means we don’t have time to hang around my house, so I shout over my shoulder, “I’m going to Mrs. Chang’s.”

No one answers.

My mom is on a call with the sales manager and she is always very focused during those conversations. Randy is bowling. I have no idea where Tim is. Dad is getting his car washed. Ramon’s not alive anymore but it goes through my head to wonder where he is. Dog heaven, I guess, wherever that is.

I shut the door and I point to the left. “She lives down the block.”

Olive must have a lot of practice with these cork-stilts, because she’s able to walk faster than I am, and I have on my most comfortable sandals.

It doesn’t take long before we see Gianni. He’s sitting in a pickup truck, which is parked in front of Mrs. Chang’s garden. He leans out the window and says, “Hello, ladies.”

He’s wearing his hair pulled back in his man-bun. I’m glad, because I think it makes him look more organized.

Olive slows down, and I’m happy about that. Before, we were sort of speed walking. She lifts her hand and waves at Gianni. I do the same thing.

Mrs. Vancil said it was important to have role models. I think she was talking about Eleanor Roosevelt, because she had a real soft spot for that woman, who was married to a president a long, long, long time ago.

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