I patted my hair self-consciously; I had kind of woken up late again and had to run out the door after my shower. It was feeling a little tangled.
“That was right to the point,” Shal said thoughtfully, sitting beside me on the portable steps and immediately adjusting her long auburn hair as well, even though it was meticulously combed and curled. She snuck a little mirror out of her pocket and took a look. “What was in her cereal this morning?”
“Who cares,” I murmured, leaving my hair alone.
Mia was watching Shal carefully fix her hair, shaking her head in exasperation. “She was talking to Laura.”
“I know that,” Shal snapped, tucking her mirror away. “But it doesn’t hurt to check.”
Mia and I exchanged a bemused glare. We did our best to humour Shal, but neither of us shared her love of clothes and fashion. For all Shal’s complaining about her pageant-queen mother, she was certainly concerned with her looks. Meanwhile I was sitting there with worn jeans and a T-shirt that said Space Is Cool on it. Mia was wearing khakis again, a plain white long-sleeved shirt, and a jean jacket that I think Shal made her wear. But as usual her shoulder-length hair was just hanging down, looking a bit frayed, and I saw Shal staring at it longingly. She was always trying to do Mia’s hair, but Mia didn’t seem that interested.
“Hear anything else about that missing hiker?” I asked her.
Mia shook her head. “They never found the animal. Hopefully it’s moved on.”
“Or it’s still out there,” I said darkly.
Shal clearly wasn’t listening. “Liam has a new shirt.”
I instantly turned to look as Liam walked into the yard, heading for Paul and Steve. He was indeed wearing a new plaid shirt, blue and white. I sighed inwardly.
I wish I had the courage to talk to him more, but other than our random discussions about homework or the weather, we weren’t getting very far.
“I just wish he had cuter friends,” Shal said, eyeing Paul and Steve. “I mean Paul’s all right I guess, even if he is a bit of a loser.”
“As a fellow loser, I take offence to that,” I replied.
She shrugged. “Fair enough. Though I’m hardly the captain of the cheerleaders, so who am I to talk?” She turned to stare longingly at Carl. “If only.”
“We were thinking about a girls’ night on Saturday,” Mia said.
“Sure,” I replied. “We can do my house again.”
“We can write another love letter to Liam,” Shal said, smirking.
“No.”
“Come on,” Shal insisted. “You still owe him punching lessons. Maybe he’d trade them for kissing lessons.”
“Who would be the teacher?” Mia asked curiously.
“Thanks,” I muttered. “Just drop it. I’m sure he doesn’t like me.”
“Why not?” Mia asked. “You’re funny, pretty—”
“Twice his size,” I pointed out.
“More of you to love,” Shal said dismissively. “And you’re not twice his size. Maybe a little bigger—”
“A little?” I asked, raising my eyebrows.
“Maybe a Liam-and-a-half,” Shal admitted. “But he’s also a twig.”
“I guess,” I said. “I don’t know. Either way, I’m in for the girls’ night. At least I can draw a clown face on Mia if Liam doesn’t speak to me until then.”
“Great,” Mia said sarcastically.
“Deal,” Shal agreed. “Ugh, did either of do that math homework? Mia, can I see yours so I can check my answers?”
“Do you mean copy my answers?” Mia asked.
Shal paused. “Yes.”
—
I sat in class that day thinking about Liam. I know I had much bigger things to worry about, including a possible monster army marching around under my feet, but I couldn’t help it. Shal and Mia had got me thinking. How could I be sure he didn’t like me? We had a lot in common, and we always seemed to have nice talks, even if they were only ten seconds a piece. And he did smile at me a lot. In the mornings. When he first saw me.
I sighed, doodling on my notebook. There was no chance.
I wished I had brought the guide to school today, but I had already read through most of it, so I’d stopped bringing it. I tried to pay attention to the math lesson, but I was distracted by the textbook at my back, which I had put over the opening in my chair so Allison couldn’t pull her little pee trick on me anymore.
“Ready for training tonight?” a quiet voice whispered.
I almost fell off my chair. Allison was leaning toward me, her pretty dark eyes narrowed ominously. Carl was busy chatting with Tim, leaving her alone.
“I don’t think we should talk about this,” I murmured.
“I know the rules,” she snarled. “And I’m going to teach you a thing or two about combat tonight, as well. I think I can convince Eldon to let us spar.”
I pictured myself hitting Allison over the head with a hammer and smiled.
“Excellent.”
“Anything you want to share with the rest of us?” Ms. Haddock said politely, staring at Allison and me.
Allison sat upright immediately, flashing a brilliant smile.
“Sorry, Ms. Haddock,” she said. “Laura just asked to borrow a pencil.”
“Oh,” Ms. Haddock replied, looking slightly embarrassed. “That’s fine.”
Shal and Mia shot me questioning looks from across the classroom, and I just shook my head to let them know I was fine. I could feel my cheeks burning as Liam glanced back as well.
“See you tonight, tubby,” Allison whispered, kicking the back of my chair.
I sighed. What a great bodyguard. Thanks, Eldon.
—
Later that night, after finally finishing my math homework, I went downstairs to where Stache was now working on painting the main floor bathroom. My mom usually went to bed around nine, and Tom was reading a Braille book in his room, so it was already quiet in the house. I
