We Are All Made of Molecules by Susin Nielsen

Author:Susin Nielsen
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Random House Children's Books
Published: 2015-05-11T16:00:00+00:00

I HUNG OUT WITH Ashley and Jared in the family room. They sat next to each other on the couch, and I sat in my mom’s chair. I think they were feeling really shy because they hardly said a word.

“First game’s coming up at the end of next week,” I said to Jared, trying to keep the conversation going. “I’ve been working on my routine. Want to see?”

Jared shrugged, still feeling shy, I guess. So I peeled off my socks and busted some moves for them, including (if I do say so myself) an excellent rendition of “The Worm.”

When I was done, Ashley had her face hidden in her hands. But Jared was smiling. “You’re gonna knock ’em dead, Stewie.”

“It’s Stewart,” I said, but I was pleased.

“Don’t you have homework to do?” Ashley said.

“No, I finished it at lunch.”

Ashley turned to Jared. “We could go to your house.”

“No, we can’t. My folks pay our housekeeper extra to watch me like a hawk.”

Ashley and I had very different responses to this. Mine was “Why do you need to be watched like a hawk?”

Hers was “Wow. You have a full-time housekeeper?”

Jared just stood up and wandered over to the mantel. “What’s with all the figurines?”

“They’re Stewart’s,” Ashley said, like she was trying to distance herself from an unpleasant situation.

“They were my mom’s,” I told him. “She collected them. Each one has a story behind it. For example, this one”—I picked up a delicate fairy perched on a toadstool—“belonged to my mom’s great-grandmother. And this one,” I continued, picking up a boy with a fishing rod, “is a real Royal Doulton that my grandma, my mom’s mom, gave her on her wedding day. And this one,” I said, picking up Dopey, one of Snow White’s seven dwarves, “is Dopey. I bought it for my mom a couple of years ago.”

Jared sneezed. “Achoo!”

“Bless you.”

“Achoo!”

“Bless you.”

“Achoo!”

“Bless you.”

“Do you guys have a cat?”

“He does,” Ashley said.

“I’m allergic.”

I got down on my hands and knees and looked under the couch. “Yup. There’s the culprit. Come on out, Schrödinger.”

“Put him in your room,” Ashley snapped. “And while you’re at it, put yourself in your room, too.”

“It’s okay,” Jared said. “I should get going anyway. My folks will be home soon.” He looked at Ashley. “Walk me to the door?”

“Of course.” Then, over her shoulder to me: “You. Stay where you are.”

So I did. I pulled Schrödinger onto my lap. He flipped onto his back and stretched out all four paws and purred loudly as I rubbed his belly.

After what felt like a long, long time, Ashley returned. “Oh my God!” she said. “Could you not have left us alone for, like, five minutes?”

“What? He’s my friend, too.”

“No. He’s not. He’s your acquaintance. Don’t be so dense, Stewart. I think he likes me, and I like him. If you wreck it for me, I swear I’ll kill you.”

Two death threats in under a week!

“And don’t you dare tell my mom that Jared came over.”

“Why not?”

“She has this stupid rule that I’m not allowed to have boys over unless an adult’s home.

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