I pinched the bridge of my nose. I’d lived here all my life. How had I not recognized him? I looked around at all the other houses surrounding me, realizing I probably couldn’t pick anyone living in them out of a lineup.

Of course Mom chose that moment to pull up in the minivan, waving theatrically at Jude from the window. Josie hopped out with an armful of library books. “Jude!” she called. “How’s it going?”

“Not bad. How’s Mrs. Palladino’s class?”

Josie held up her library books. “You were right, she’s a fiend.” My mouth hung open as I looked between them.

Mom got out, talking on her cell. Hi, Jude, she mouthed before turning up the walkway. And she tried to hide it, but her eyes lit up when she saw Jude and me standing together. It was the same look she had when Margot came over that one time. Oh boy, she probably thought. My daughter has two whole friends now!

“You’ll make it,” Jude said to Josie as she followed Mom inside. “Oh,” he called after them. “Tell Arthur I have that book he wanted to borrow.”

Arthur. My dad. Jude was loaning books to my dad.

The door shut and we were alone again. Jude had the good sense not to say anything, but his smile sure was loud.

“Fine,” I said. “You got me. My observational skills are shit.”

“Not shit, necessarily. You just never observed in this direction.” He pointed to his house. “Or these directions.” He pointed to both sides, like a flight attendant. He wasn’t wrong. Until eight months ago, my whole world was ballet.

“I was… busy.”

“Oh, I know. It’s not an insult. Just an observation.”

I snorted. Then I surprised myself. “Want to go for a walk?”

Jude’s eyebrows shot up. Guess I’d surprised him, too. “Okay.”

I felt a little bad about being so oblivious to him before. Also, if Mom and Dad saw me doing something social after I’d done an extracurricular activity, I’d probably get away with staying home for the rest of the weekend.

I held up a (pointer) finger, asking him to wait. Then I jogged to my front door, opened it, and called in: “I’m going on a walk with Jude. Please note that I’ve spent three nonschool hours out of the house today. Adjust your nagging accordingly.”

“Will do, sweetie,” Dad said, giving me a thumbs-up from behind the piano. Mom, standing suspiciously close to the front windows, saluted.

Jude was going to see a movie at 6:15, so we had about half an hour to walk. As we wandered up the sidewalk, I pulled my red fleece jacket tighter around me. With the sun already down, fall nights like these got pretty cold. Not hat weather yet, but close. “So how did you meet my whole family?” I asked.