“Oh, they’re okay,” I said. “They drive me nuts, but they won’t be rude or anything. And anyway, they’ll probably still be sleeping.”

Before I had even finished the sentence, Jasper was off the step and headed down the hill. “Come on!” she cried.

I followed, smiling. Running hard again. Thinking about how easy it was to make Jasper happy. And how nice that was, for a change.

A Quick Dip

I was wrong. My parents weren’t asleep when I got home. As I opened the front door and stuck my head into the living room, I heard noises from the kitchen—coffee cups and NPR.

Behind me, Jasper whispered, “I’ll just wait out here.” And before I could say anything, she slipped away, down the steps.

I stepped inside, and right away, Mom was standing in front of me. “Leah! There you are,” she said. “Your dad and I were just wondering when you’d be back.”

“I left a note,” I said.

She nodded stiffly. “Yes, we found it. But we weren’t sure how early you went out. It seems like you’ve been coming and going a lot the last few days.”

“Oh,” I said. “It was . . . just a little while ago. I just came back to grab my swimsuit. I’m . . . going swimming with a friend.”

Mom looked more interested than usual. “Swimming with a friend? That’s a nice thing to do on a hot day. Is the pool open this early?”

“I’m not sure,” I said. “But we can hang out at the park until it does.”

“Okay,” said Mom. “Who’s the friend? Tess?”

“Oh, no,” I said. “Tess isn’t here this summer. This is . . . a new friend I met. But that reminds me, I saw Bev yesterday. She said to tell you hi. She was on her way to some meeting.”

“Oh!” said Mom, momentarily distracted. “That’s . . . nice.”

“She said you should call her,” I added.

Mom closed her eyes briefly, a long blink. Then she opened them again and shifted the subject back. “So this new friend of yours, she’s the same girl from yesterday?”

“Yeah, she’s just moved to the neighborhood and hasn’t been to Grant Park before. I told her I’d show her the pool. She’s waiting for me, so I’m in kind of a hurry.” All these words tumbled out of my mouth, and it felt like I was saying too much, and also a little like I was lying, even though everything I was saying was true.

“We’d love to meet her. It sounds like you girls are really hitting it off.”

“Sure!” I said. “But she’s . . . not here right now.” I supposed this was technically true, since here and out in the street aren’t exactly the same.

Mom smiled. “Well, okay, have fun. Don’t forget sunscreen.”

“Thanks!”