The Battle of Darcy Lane by Tara Altebrando Page B

to say I’m sorry.”
    Just so there was no confusion.
    Her mom appeared. “This is her?”
    I repeated, “I came to apologize.”
    â€œWell, isn’t that big of you, Julie?” said Alyssa’s mom.
    I made myself smile. “Juli- ah .”
    Then I just waited for what was going to happen nextand started to wish that my mom had come with me.
    â€œGo on, Lyss.” The mom elbowed her.
    Alyssa said, “Apology accepted.”
    â€œGreat,” her mom said. “And I assume nothing like this will happen again or I’ll have to speak with your mother. Now why don’t you two go play?”
    Everything froze.
    That’s it? I wanted to scream.
    She nudged Alyssa out the door. When Alyssa took away the ice pack and handed it to her mom, the bruise on her cheekbone made me feel actually sorry for a minute. Then Alyssa said, “You’re just mad because we’re better at Russia than you are.”
    My fingertips burned. “What?”
    It was ridiculous. I wasn’t interested in their game. That didn’t mean they were better at it than me. “I could totally beat you at Russia.”
    She stood. “Is that a challenge?”
    I shrugged like I owned it. “I guess it is.”
    â€œWell, come on.” She went to a basket on the porch that had a few balls in it and grabbed two.
    I said, “Not now .”
    â€œWhy not now?”
    â€œWe need a referee or something. Someone to make sure neither of us takes any shortcuts.”
    She didn’t look convinced, didn’t want to give up herobvious advantage. Her game. Her balls. Her turf. Her day and hour.
    â€œIt’s only fair,” I said.
    â€œOkay.” She thought for a minute. “Saturday afternoon. That’s all the time you get.”
    â€œFine. Whatever.”
    She said, “We’ll ask Taylor.”
    â€œNo way,” I said. “Peter.”
    â€œYour boyfriend? Nu-uh. Andrew.”
    â€œFine.”
    â€œWhat time?”
    â€œI don’t know. I’ll text you.”
    â€œI don’t have a phone.”
    â€œOf course you don’t. Let’s say noon.” Then, for a second, Alyssa studied me with what look liked genuine curiosity. “What were you and Peter doing in the woods anyway?”
    â€œWatching End of Daze .” I felt bold—not only that I’d done it but that I was telling someone. “I’m not allowed at home so we’ve been sneaking off to watch, but you guys interrupted, so we’ve only seen the first episode.”
    â€œFascinating.” She crossed her arms.
    â€œDid you watch episode two?” I felt my heart start to pump faster.
    â€œYeah.”
    â€œWho was on the other end of the phone? The mom’s phone?”
    â€œA man. He hung up. Mack thinks she must have been having an affair or something.”
    â€œOh, jeez,” I said.
    Alyssa still had a ball in her hand and tossed it back into the basket. “I think Archer is going to die this week.”
    â€œNo way. They wouldn’t do that.”
    But Alyssa looked pretty confident.
    â€œDo you think it could really happen?” I asked. “The end of the world?”
    â€œEventually, duh,” Alyssa said, unconcerned. “I’m going in the pool.”
    I got up to leave and followed Alyssa’s gaze over to Taylor’s house, where I noticed the empty driveway. I remembered that Taylor had mentioned a doctor’s appointment and got an idea: I could hang out with Alyssa all morning without Taylor . Maybe we’d gotten off on the wrong foot. Maybe without Taylor there we’d find some common ground. I was fascinating! She’d said so!
    I said, all casual-like, “You want company?”
    Alyssa stood there with a blank look on her face, and after what felt like a really, really, really long time, she said, “I guess.”
    â€œOkay.” I worked hard not to look too excited.