before, and I left him in a pout. The Buford Street Drug Store was only a block and a half from our house, closer than the Fast Fare convenience store (and without the unpleasant associations), so I didn’t really need my bike. However, I decided to run next door and see if Paige wanted to come with.
I stepped up onto the stoop and rapped on the screen door, which rattled in its frame as if it were about to fall off. That had happened to our screen door, and Mr. Mahaffey never replaced it. I waited a minute or two then knocked again. Neither Mr. Moore’s Chevrolet nor Mrs. Moore’s lime-green Pinto were parked against the curb, and I was starting to think no one was home. I had just turned away when the door opened.
I turned back to find Brody standing in the doorway, wearing a pair of faded jeans and a T-shirt with noticeable pit stains. He leaned against the jamb and stared down at me, not saying a word.
I didn’t say anything at first either, like we were just participating in some weird staring contest, then I stammered, “Um, is Paige home?”
“Nah, she went with my mother to Big Lots to pick up some curtains and stuff for the house.”
“Oh, I was just gonna see if she wanted to walk with me to the drug store.”
“Well, I’ll tell her you came by when she gets back home.”
I nodded and headed back toward the sidewalk but then Brody called out, “Hey wait. I need to pick up a few things myself. Let me throw on some shoes and I’ll walk with you.”
***
We didn’t speak for the first block, just walked side by side up Jefferies Street. My mind kept turning back to the dream I’d had the night before, and it left me with a weird fluttery feeling in my gut. I wondered if this was what people meant when they said they had butterflies in their stomach. When we turned right onto Laurel Street, I blurted, “Did you have fun bowling last night?”
Brody’s whole body tensed for a second, and he shrugged with one shoulder, kicking at a rock and sending it careening into Ms. Poole’s yard. “It was okay…not as much fun as I’d thought it might be.”
“Well, the movie sure was fun.”
Brody stopped abruptly, placing a hand on my shoulder to halt me as well. I looked up at him, but his eyes weren’t on me; he was staring at his shoes, shifting from one foot to the other. “I, um, I want to thank you for joining us last night.”
I was stunned and not at all sure what to say. After all, he was the one who’d done me the favor by taking me to the movies; why on earth was he thanking me ?
Brody grimaced as if he were in pain, then said, “Really, I’m glad you went along. It was…good for Paige to have you there.”
Good for Paige? I had been wondering all this time why Paige would bother hanging out with a friendless geek like me; was it possible that in Columbia she’d been friendless as well? She was my first real friend, but maybe I was hers, too.
We didn’t speak the rest of the way. The cigarettes were kept behind the counter right up front, but I followed along as Brody headed into the store. The pharmacy was in the very back, the rest of the store filled with all manner of items. Household tools, paint, sodas and candy bars, a paperback rack, and even a toy aisle. We went to the candy aisle. Brody looked over the selection of bubblegum while I snagged a Snickers for Ray and a Zero bar for myself. I looked longingly at the bin of individual Hershey’s Kisses. Sometimes when I was here alone and there was no one else in the aisle, I’d unwrap a few and eat them quickly, depositing the crumpled silver foil wrappers back in the bin. I always felt guilty because I knew it was stealing and therefore wrong, but the little chocolate drops proved too tempting for me to resist.
Tearing my eyes away from the Kisses, I looked back to Brody, who had taken a pack of Hubba Bubba and was now sifting through the packs of Garbage Pail Kids cards. He grinned sheepishly and a blush crept
I stepped up onto the stoop and rapped on the screen door, which rattled in its frame as if it were about to fall off. That had happened to our screen door, and Mr. Mahaffey never replaced it. I waited a minute or two then knocked again. Neither Mr. Moore’s Chevrolet nor Mrs. Moore’s lime-green Pinto were parked against the curb, and I was starting to think no one was home. I had just turned away when the door opened.
I turned back to find Brody standing in the doorway, wearing a pair of faded jeans and a T-shirt with noticeable pit stains. He leaned against the jamb and stared down at me, not saying a word.
I didn’t say anything at first either, like we were just participating in some weird staring contest, then I stammered, “Um, is Paige home?”
“Nah, she went with my mother to Big Lots to pick up some curtains and stuff for the house.”
“Oh, I was just gonna see if she wanted to walk with me to the drug store.”
“Well, I’ll tell her you came by when she gets back home.”
I nodded and headed back toward the sidewalk but then Brody called out, “Hey wait. I need to pick up a few things myself. Let me throw on some shoes and I’ll walk with you.”
***
We didn’t speak for the first block, just walked side by side up Jefferies Street. My mind kept turning back to the dream I’d had the night before, and it left me with a weird fluttery feeling in my gut. I wondered if this was what people meant when they said they had butterflies in their stomach. When we turned right onto Laurel Street, I blurted, “Did you have fun bowling last night?”
Brody’s whole body tensed for a second, and he shrugged with one shoulder, kicking at a rock and sending it careening into Ms. Poole’s yard. “It was okay…not as much fun as I’d thought it might be.”
“Well, the movie sure was fun.”
Brody stopped abruptly, placing a hand on my shoulder to halt me as well. I looked up at him, but his eyes weren’t on me; he was staring at his shoes, shifting from one foot to the other. “I, um, I want to thank you for joining us last night.”
I was stunned and not at all sure what to say. After all, he was the one who’d done me the favor by taking me to the movies; why on earth was he thanking me ?
Brody grimaced as if he were in pain, then said, “Really, I’m glad you went along. It was…good for Paige to have you there.”
Good for Paige? I had been wondering all this time why Paige would bother hanging out with a friendless geek like me; was it possible that in Columbia she’d been friendless as well? She was my first real friend, but maybe I was hers, too.
We didn’t speak the rest of the way. The cigarettes were kept behind the counter right up front, but I followed along as Brody headed into the store. The pharmacy was in the very back, the rest of the store filled with all manner of items. Household tools, paint, sodas and candy bars, a paperback rack, and even a toy aisle. We went to the candy aisle. Brody looked over the selection of bubblegum while I snagged a Snickers for Ray and a Zero bar for myself. I looked longingly at the bin of individual Hershey’s Kisses. Sometimes when I was here alone and there was no one else in the aisle, I’d unwrap a few and eat them quickly, depositing the crumpled silver foil wrappers back in the bin. I always felt guilty because I knew it was stealing and therefore wrong, but the little chocolate drops proved too tempting for me to resist.
Tearing my eyes away from the Kisses, I looked back to Brody, who had taken a pack of Hubba Bubba and was now sifting through the packs of Garbage Pail Kids cards. He grinned sheepishly and a blush crept
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