I rolled my eyes, annoyance climbing. “Just go do your homework. I’ll finish this myself.” I turned and carried the dishes to the sink, where the hand-crank water pump normally delighted me. Not then. For as I lowered the stack into the sudsy water, I felt the weight of Arie’s gaze. He was analyzing me in silence, like he would the family’s furnace or radio, or any other appliances he tinkered with until they worked. As if I were something broken to be fixed.

“Knock it off.”

“What? I’m not doing anything.”

“I know you’re staring, and it’s creepy.”

“All right. I’ll close my eyes.”

Above the sink, the orange sunset glowed too bright for Arie’s reflection to appear in the window. I had to glance over my shoulder to affirm his mockery. He was as unshakable as a leg cramp and just as maddening.

“For crying out loud. Scram, will you?” I twisted back, grabbed a rag, and scrubbed the top plate harder than needed.

Soon he invaded my periphery, making the room impossibly confining. I was ready to tell him to go suck on a lemon until he said, “Really, Fen. What is it?”

His ribbing was over. Tempered by his genuine concern, I relaxed my hold on the plate, surrendering it to the suds.

“If some kid’s done anything to hurt you, just you say so and I’ll take care of that sap.”

No doubt he meant it. The problem was, in this case, Arie was that sap.

“Fine, if you honestly want to know.” I angled toward him. “Today, when we were walking home from school, those obnoxious boys were teasing us, and…”

He tilted his head as if taking stock of their comments.

“You told them I was disgusting.”

Arie blinked. He wasn’t expecting to be the villain. But then comprehension rolled over his face with a hint of a smile. “Fen, I didn’t say you were disgusting. Just us. You know, together.”

He was trying to make me feel better but only caused me to feel awkward. Why couldn’t I have let the issue lie?

“Come on,” he said. “You know we’re nothing like that.” He sounded so certain I’d agree, before a beat stretched between us. “Right?”

Now he was concerned for a different reason. I sensed his instinct to back away, to slink out of our standard radius of comfort. At the same time, my thoughts flashed on a vision: the couple kissing at the bus depot—except it was me and Arie, his arms around me, his mouth on mine. The idea made me squirmy.

He was right. Together, that wasn’t who we were.