And that’s when he decided that he hated high school. Nothing was ever what it seemed to be. Laurette seemed genuinely frustrated by her math class. And yet here she was, turning it into something romantic. So how much of her crying was real? How could he know?

They’re all manmages, girls are. Every damn one of them.

Not Pat. Give her credit—she played no games.

But she also didn’t need any help with her homework.

Danny took Laurette’s hands in a brotherly way and set them on the table. “You just need to do it again. On the next problem. I’ll watch. Do the steps. You can get it right every time, Laurette. Just concentrate on the operations, not the numbers you’re plugging in.”

“I know you like Pat,” said Laurette. “But I just don’t see why.”

“Fortunately,” said Danny, “you don’t have to.”

He got up from the table and headed for the refrigerator. “Is there anything off limits in the fridge?”

“Everything in the fridge is off limits,” said Laurette. “My mom micro-menus. She calculates the family diet down to the microgram.”

“So doubtful,” said Danny. “You don’t own a scale that reports micrograms.”

“You can eat anything from the cookie jar,” said Laurette.

“But your mother’s vegan wheatless cookies are inedible,” said Danny. “None of you has a gluten allergy.”

“She read somewhere that wheat is bad. It’s just a phase, she’s probably already sneaking bread herself on the sly. Then she’ll feel guilty, confess to us all, and we’ll get bread again, too.”

“It’s amazing that your whole family doesn’t look like concentration camp victims.”

“We all cheat,” said Laurette. “Though in my case, it’s not for flavor or even hunger. It’s all about keeping the cleavage.”

“Yes, well,” said Danny.

“You never look anymore.”

“Don’t have to keep reading a book I’ve already memorized. Wasn’t Sin coming over, too?”

“No,” said Laurette.

“She said she was.”

“It’s my turn tonight,” said Laurette.

“I hate high school,” said Danny.

“I don’t want to have sex with you,” said Laurette. “I just want you to be interested in it. I know you’re not gay, because of what Pat said.”

Danny’s heart sank a little. “What did Pat say?”

“I asked her, ‘What was it like to kiss him?’ And she said, ‘I wonder whether we’re really going to Grandma’s for Thanksgiving or if my parents are going to call it off again this year.’”

“Oh,” said Danny.

“And then I said, ‘So you slept with him, is that it?’ And she said, ‘My parents always have these big plans but then they don’t do any of the jobs you have to do to make the plans come off.’”