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“That’s pretty cool.”
“Best part? That same girl tracked me down after Luke got famous and tried to act like we’d always been friends. It was fun setting her straight.”
“I bet. So how would you say your mom’s changed since then?”
“Well, for one thing, she’s busy all the time—we’re never alone together. They have so many important events and trips, and then there’s Jacob, of course—that’s the biggest change of all. And I love Jacob. I love Luke. I love our lives. I love that we don’t have to worry about money anymore—worrying about money sucked. But . . .” I stopped.
He waited, not saying anything, just driving. And listening.
I said, “She was really present back then, you know? I mean, she worked long hours, but when we were together, it was the two of us and the world didn’t matter.”
“Yeah. It feels like whenever you gain something, you lose something at the same time.”
“That sounds like one of your SAT essay prompts.”
He laughed. “It does! I even have a literary quote for it. One I didn’t make up.”
“Let’s hear it.”
He recited it slowly, pausing a few times like he had to work to remember it all. “‘Progress has never been a bargain. You have to pay for it. Sometimes I think there’s a man behind a counter who says, “All right, you can have a telephone; but you’ll have to give up privacy, the charm of distance. Madam, you may vote; but at a price; you lose the right to retreat behind a powder-puff or a petticoat. Mister, you may conquer the air; but the birds will lose their wonder, and the clouds will smell of gasoline!”’”
“Wow,” I said. “What’s that from? And how do you remember all that?”
“It’s from a play,” he said. “Inherit the Wind. And I had to memorize it for my high school drama class.”
“That’s cheating.”
“No, it isn’t. Making up quotes is cheating. Memorizing them for a class isn’t.”
“‘The clouds will smell of gasoline,’” I repeated. “I love that.”
He dropped me back home with another reminder that I should go to bed early and a recommendation that I have a small amount of caffeine right before the test. “Studies show it really does improve your acuity.”
“Oooh, good SAT word,” I said. “Too bad I don’t know what it means.”
“You don’t?”
“Just joking.” I opened my door.
“Good luck,” he said as I climbed out of the car. “Let me know how it goes.”
I promised I would.
I followed his instructions and went to bed early, but my mother woke me up when she got home by coming into my room. “What’s going on?” I asked, raising my head from the pillow, groggily alarmed by the intrusion.
“Oops,” she said. “Sorry! Just wanted to make sure you were sleeping.”
And then of course I couldn’t fall back to sleep for an eternity.
fifteen
I forgot about George’s care package until I was desperately searching for a pencil the next morning and remembered that he had packed some for Heather. I poked through the contents, which were identical to Heather’s bag, except apparently I didn’t rate a cute stuffed rabbit. I felt a little hurt. If anyone should have gotten an extra gift, it should have been me: I was his actual tutee. Heather was just my guest.
Once I’d taken the test and come back home, I texted him to complain.
No bu
Just thought Heather would appreciate the extra luck. How’d it go?
It went.
And that was all I said to anyone who asked me that question. I had gotten through it, it was done, and I didn’t want to think about it anymore until I had to.
Heather’s texts to me were less Zen.
I failed
You did not
I didn’t know what half the words meant and math was brutal
You always think you do badly on tests
Because I always do badly on tests
No you don’t
Yes I do
This is a stupid argument
Can I come over? My parents are making me crazy. They keep bugging me to try to remember the questions and what I answered and it’s not fun
Sorry Mom and L are taking me out to celebrate being done
OK
I felt a little bad not inviting her to come with us, but it was rare for both Mom and Luke to have a di
Except, of course, I wasn’t going to have them to myself: Mom had forgotten to ask Lorena ahead of time if she could babysit and she couldn’t, so we had to take Jacob with us.
“You sure he’ll be able to sit nicely through a fancy di
“I’m bringing the iPad,” Mom said.
“He’ll be fine,” Luke said cheerfully.
Di
“Spotted,” he said, sitting down with Jacob on his lap. “People were coming at me with cameras.”
“At least Jacob’s not screaming anymore,” I said.
People had gathered on the sidewalk to peer in at Luke through the restaurant window, and the waiters were a little too attentive—every time we took a sip of water our glasses would instantly be refilled, and seven different people stopped by to ask us if we were enjoying our meal, including the chef. Diners at the tables near us kept glancing over, trying to catch Luke’s eyes. One guy actually came over to our table and said it was his fiancée’s birthday and could Luke just please come to the table to say hi to her, because she adored him and it would mean a lot to her. Luke did, as quickly as he could, and I guess it was kind of sweet to see how excited and flustered the girl got when he shook her hand and wished her a happy birthday, but I just wanted my family to be able to celebrate me in peace.
Luke asked the hostess to give the valets our car ticket and once our car was in front, we darted outside and piled quickly into it while flashes went off all around us and people called out to Luke, who waved and said a good-natured “Hey, guys” before jumping in the driver’s seat and pulling away from the curb.
And that’s when Mom told me that she had decided to accompany Luke to London, where they were shooting the show for three weeks in November.
I didn’t mind that she and Luke were going, and I didn’t mind that she pla
No, the part that made me groan out loud was that she had arranged for Grandma to stay with me while they were gone.
“That’s crazy,” I said. “She’s crazy.”
Mom turned so she could look at me over her shoulder. “Don’t talk about your grandmother that way,” she said primly.
“You talk about her that way all the time!”
Luke laughed, and Mom turned her glare on him.
“Don’t pretend she doesn’t drive you nuts just because you want to inflict her on me,” I added.
“She’s a very good grandmother. And a very good mother, in her way—”
“Her crazy way.”
“She comes through when we need her, which is the best thing you can say about family.”
“Okay, fine, but I don’t need her this time. I don’t need anyone to stay with me. I’m almost eighteen.”
“Bad things happen when teenagers are left alone.”
“Not with me!” I said. “When have I ever done anything wrong? I’m the best-behaved teen in the entire world.”
“You can be a little mouthy,” Mom pointed out.
“Everyone needs a hobby. Seriously. You know I wouldn’t do anything dangerous.”