her eyes met Tony’s, the only person in the room looking at her, and she
was startled.
“Great. Pick someone else to read, Rebecca,” said Mr. Pyramus.
“Tony.” Her eyes once more met the floor, and she quickly took
her seat.
Rebecca immediately wished that she had picked someone else,
like Carly, another moderately shy but intelligent girl, who sat behind
Rebecca. That was what everyone would have expected. But she panicked
when she found him staring at her so intently. She had been enjoying the
Shakespeare, with all its rhyme and rhythm. Now, Tony sat on a stool,
awkwardly too small for him, fumbling over the words. Tony tried to
make his reading sound funny, biting his thumb and all, but Rebecca
could tell he was embarrassed by the attention. He cracked his knuckles
against his leg, and she felt sorry for him.
“Who are you going to take to Homecoming?” Jenn asked on a
Saturday two weeks before the dance. Both she and Tony were lying on
the living room floor, throwing a soccer ball back and forth.
“I don’t know.”
“You could go with Heather Brightbell,” Jenn suggested. “She
always asks about you at soccer. She’s not my favorite freshmen, but she’s
all right.”
“What about Lacey?”
“Lacey?” Jenn scrunched up her nose. “She could be knocked
down a peg. My favorite freshman is Rebecca.”
“Rebecca?” That surprised Tony. “I thought she wasn’t very good.”
Jenn frowned at him. “She works her ass off. And she’s way more
likeable than Lacey.”
“Rebecca is nice,” Tony said, but he wasn’t sure what that meant.
He thought his sister was wrong about Lacey. He saw a fire in her, and
that excited him.
“Whoever you ask, you have to make a pin,” Jenn said. She went
to her bedroom and returned with her collection.
They were all pink, despite being crafted by different guys. One
lit up, although a few of the tiny bulbs were starting to go. The other two
had big foam letters, some of which were missing, and dried out flowers.
“B my ate?” and “Jim’s g rl.” Tony thought they looked shoddy.
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