I wonder what else our parents talked about, but Hayden doesn’t say.
We pass a living room with a sunken center. Two pairs of feline eyes follow our movements from an old sectional.
Upstairs, my feet sink into shaggy orange carpet. Wood panels line the hallway walls. This house is huge like Tamar’s, but it feels more like a home than a castle.
Hayden pushes open a creaky door. I can’t wait to see what his room looks like. I’ve never been invited into a boy’s room, although I’ve caught glimpses of Eli’s before. Eli’s bookshelves overflow with graphic novels and collector’s edition comics.
Moving boxes litter Hayden’s floor, just like downstairs, but they’re easy to miss. Because from a desk in one corner to a bed in the other, large pieces of fabric cover every surface. Most of the fabric is a patchwork of white and black. I also spot shades of red.
The walls are weirder. They’re the same paneling from the hallway, but a dictionary’s worth of cut-out letters hang in various places, spelling out short words. I recognize él and ella from last year’s Spanish class. They mean “he” and “she,” but I’m not sure about the others.
“I would’ve cleaned before you came over, but I’m behind on this cosplay.” Hayden sidesteps the clutter. He grabs swatches of fabric from the desk chair and waves me over. A tall bolt of pea-green cloth tumbles to the floor, giving him a place to sit on the bed.
“What’s cosplay?”
Hayden’s eyes widen. “You mean you don’t know?”
I shake my head.
“Okay, wow. It’s like…” He trails off, looking thoughtful. “Well, who’s your favorite character from a TV show? Or a movie or video game?”
I don’t play video games or watch much TV. Between skating and homework during the school year, there’s no time. The only recent movies I’ve seen are sports-themed.
One thing I know for sure: My least favorite character is Princess Aurora from Sleeping Beauty.
“I really like Kenny from Mighty Ducks 2. Have you seen it?”
Hayden shakes his head.
“It’s an old movie, but it’s funny and about a hockey team so you might like it. I think it’s even set in Minnesota.”
“Sounds cool.”
I take in all the fabric scattered around his room. “What do movie characters have to do with all this, though?”
Hayden leans forward. “With cosplay, you choose a character, make a costume, and then meet up with other people and take pictures.”
“So, you’re dressing up to play a character in front of other people?” This sounds a little like skating, except without jumps and spins and blades strapped to your feet.
“Yeah! People go all out with costumes and makeup. Some create props. I’m working on a Keyblade for my Kingdom Hearts costume. That’s why I got behind on the actual outfit.”
“Do you need help?”
“As much as I can get.” Hayden grins. “Do you know how to sew?”
I hesitate, swiveling a full circle in his desk chair before answering. Sewing feels a little girly. When I imagined hanging out with Hayden, I figured we’d do boy things. Now I realize I don’t even know what that means. Does watching football and soccer on TV count as a “boy thing”? Reading comics? I know girls who do both.
And Hayden’s a boy who likes to sew costumes.
“A bit. Sometimes Mom has me help with my skating outfits.”
“That’s awesome. You’re probably better than me, then.”
“Maybe.”
My eyes drift up to Hayden’s walls.
I point to the cutouts. “What are all those words for?”
Hayden follows the line of my finger.
“Nothing, really. They’re pronouns in different languages, and other random stuff.”
I immediately perk up. “They’re all pronouns?”
“Most of them. Cyn wanted to be a linguist or a translator or something when she was younger, so she collected all these words. She wanted to throw them away when we moved, but I rescued them.”
He waves toward a spot behind me, at yellow construction paper with E-L-L-E written on it. “That one, there? Elle is the word she in French.”
“Oh, neat. That’s pretty close to ella in Spanish.” My gaze shifts to a pair of words by Hayden’s window. They’re in a script I recognize from temple, but I’m curious if he knows them. “What about those?”
“Hebrew. They write it backward, from right to left. Hu means ‘he.’”
“Who means he?” I already knew this, but it sounds too silly not to repeat.
Hayden throws me a grin. “Yeah. So, hu means ‘he,’ but it gets better. He means ‘she.’ Weird, right?”
“So weird.” I play along. “So, what’s me mean?”
“It’s who—hey.” Hayden studies me as I try to hold back a grin. “You attend a synagogue with your friend. Tamar, right? You know this stuff already.”
I can’t help giggling. “Tamar and I know some Hebrew, yeah.” I pull out my charm necklace from under my shirt. “This means ‘life’ in Hebrew. My dad gave it to me.”
“Your dad?” Hayden eyes my charm necklace. “I thought you said you live with your mom.”
“I do, but my dad still sends me letters sometimes. Or used to, I guess. This is the last thing he sent, for my eighth birthday. He’s not very good at remembering important dates.”
“Yeah, my dad, either,” Hayden says. “He likes to do fun things and celebrate when he feels like it. Mom has to remind him about anniversaries and other stuff.”
I nod.
“That’s not the same as your dad not being around, though. Sorry.”
“It’s okay.” Now I’m curious. “But your dad does lots of things with you? And he cooks, too?”
“Yep. Mom’s more into baking sweet stuff. Trust me, you wouldn’t want to eat anything she cooks for lunch.” Hayden makes a face. “But yeah, Dad hasn’t found a job yet, so he spends lots of time hanging out with us and cooking while Mom’s at work.”
I try to imagine what my dad and I would do together for even one afternoon. But all I have is his graduation picture, which doesn’t tell me anything about his interests.
I tuck the charm back under my collar, then point to another group of
