Switch

'Jungle Java blows,' Jeremy muttered as he pushed past

me.

I caught him by the elbow. He stopped, refusing to meet

my eyes. He stood almost as tal as me, but he didn't pul

away.

'They have a whole new arcade section.' Normaly his

attitude would have tempted me to tel him to get over

himself. Whatever was bugging Jeremy had spiled beyond

his parents and was slopping onto me, but I thought of

what I'd been like at twelve and gave him a break.

He shrugged and wouldn't give me his face while his

brother rocketed past us blabbing a mile a minute about

what he was going to play and how his friend from school

had spent his tickets on a realy cool neon light for his

room, and…and…and…

'Can it, shorty. Get in the car.' I watched them both head out the front door, Tyler stil blabbing and Jeremy

maintaining his unusual silence.

Once we got to Jungle Java, I had to physicaly restrain

Tyler from running across the parking lot. 'Dude. Chil.

There are cars here.'

He lunged like a racehorse trying to get out of the gate.

'Hurry up, Paige! God!'

'God,' I mimicked him, but moved them both inside where I forked over twenty bucks in tokens for each of

them and ordered a large pizza and soft drinks.

'Wow, Paige. You're the best!' Tyler goggled at the

tokens in the special plastic holder that clipped to his belt.

Jeremy took his without comment, but held back until I'd

let his brother loose in the arcade. 'Thanks.'

Forty bucks wasn't anything for me to sneeze at, but I'd

thought to them it would be chump change. Their gratitude

surprised me. 'You're welcome. Go have fun. I'l be right

here.'

Jeremy nodded and stalked off toward the arcade. Jungle

Java was reputedly adding a laser-tag section to the rear,

but so far nothing had started. For a little place that had

started off serving coffee and hosting an indoor playground

for toddlers, it had realy grown. I'd taken the boys here a

couple times when they were younger. It was hard to

believe Jeremy would start middle school in the fal. It was

hard to believe a lot of things time had changed.

My phone rang and my heart leaped, but it wasn't the next

text from Eric. I'd set my phone to vibrate for texts, and it

wasn't yet time. I took the cal anyway.

'Austin.'

'How'd you know it was me?'

'I have caler ID, dork.'

He laughed. 'So that means I'm in your address book,

huh?'

I didn't want to admit it.