“Hi, Dad,” Bertie said. “Yeah, we’re here. Yeah, we walked. Yeah, five o’clock? Yeah, Hidden Rivers. Building Three. The one behind the pool. I know, lucky, right?”

Bertie made a big deal of tapping the screen to end the call, like now we could get down to business. She handed the phone back to my mom. That’s when she spotted the Safety form, still on the counter.

“Oh, Austin should bring that in ASAP,” she said, pointing to it. “You just have to sign it.”

I looked at my mom. She was busy unpacking the grocery bag and checking her phone at the same time. I couldn’t tell if she had heard.

Bertie and I went into my room. “Didn’t put any posters up yet?” she asked.

I looked at the white, white walls. I hadn’t even thought about putting up posters. A lot of the time, they don’t stick, and when you finally use the right kind of tape, it’s too hard to get them down without ripping them up.

“I was thinking of getting new posters,” I said. It could be true.

“There’s a book fair at the library next week,” Bertie said. “They always have lots of posters. Last time, I got this one that has a puppy wearing sunglasses and playing the piano. It says I Ruff Reading. Get it? I Ruff Reading. I’m not sure why the puppy’s playing the piano, except it’s cute.”

“Yeah,” I said.

“Still waiting for your books?” Bertie asked next. “I remember when my mom moved out, and she and my dad had to figure out whose books were whose, which was, like, this whole thing, and whoa, Nelly. I can bring you a few until yours get here.”

“Thanks,” I said. I didn’t want to tell Bertie I wasn’t waiting for anything.

“I don’t live with both my parents, either,” she said. “But it’s not too terrible, right? Two rooms. Two birthday cakes. Two summer trips.”

“Uh, yeah,” I said.

“I know!” Bertie suddenly shouted. “Let’s study for the Safety test like we’re on a game show! You’re my host, so you can be the host. You ask the questions, and I’ll be the contestant. You don’t have a pretend microphone, do you?”

I shook my head no.

“That’s okay.” She handed me her copy of the study guide.

I pushed it back toward her. “I think you should be the host,” I said. “Since you’ve been studying since second grade and everything.”

“No problem, Green Goblin.” Bertie took the study guide and made sweeping motions with her arms. “Ladies and gentlemen! Welcome to The Safety Show, where contestants compete for fabulous prizes.” She made some noises like people cheering.

“Our first question is for Austin, a fourth grader in Ms. G.’s class.” I raised my hand like I was waving to the pretend audience.