Homecoming

Homecoming — page 5 — Claudia walks into my room What’s going on Claudia asks She sits on the edge of my bed Nothing I throw up my hands That’s the problem I don’t have a spectacular outfit for Celebrity Day and I haven’t heard from Rory Maybe he’s mad at you Angela says walking into the room She flops on the bed next to Claudia He’s not mad I say And I don’t remember telling you to come in He might be Angela says And I don’t remember asking I roll my eyes He’s not I say sharply

Homecoming — page 6 — Rory and I are friends We never fight and everything was fine when we talked last night How do you know if you haven’t heard from him Angela asks That’s my stepsister She makes me crazy a lot of the time even if we get along better now than we used to I’m not going to bother asking her to leave She’ll just find a reason to come back or do something to make me even more annoyed Putting up with her is easier I haven’t heard from Brad today either Claudia says That’s her boyfriend Brad Turino They mutually crushed for a couple

Homecoming — page 7 — of years but now they’re for real I think Rory and I might be for real too but I don’t know We kissed once a few weeks ago but since then I’ve been afraid to bring it up and we haven’t had any private time together So maybe it was a one-time thing or maybe it was something he really regrets I don’t know Is Brad mad at you Angela asks Claudia shaking me out of my thoughts I hope not Claudia sighs He probably has a good reason for being incommunicado I say Rory is working extra hours at his job Why Claudia asks

Homecoming — page 8 — I shrug I don’t know I bet he wants to get a car Angela says shifting her shoulders with this new know-it-all attitude she’s developed since she turned ten He has a car I say Rory calls his old Mustang a clunker but it gets him around Brad doesn’t have a job Claudia says So why hasn’t he called or texted me I start to shrug Then my eyes fall on a framed photo on my desk It’s me Claudia Rory and Brad The guys are wearing their football uniforms and we’re all laughing Chloe took the picture after the Pine Creek Panthers first home game this fall

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