As soon as Rob’s out of sight, I say, “You told me Jason loves you.” It sounds like an accusation. “He sure doesn’t act like it.”

Skylar snorts in disgust. “He has to look tough for Carter. He’s so pathetic.”

We get back on our bikes and ride fast, pumping hard to get home as quick as possible. I have half an hour to clean myself up before Mom comes home. I wash my cut and cover it with a Band-Aid. I scrub the blood off my shoe and sock, comb my hair, and wash my face. By the time Mom arrives, I’m sitting on the couch reading Never Let Me Go. You’d think I’d been there all day.

3

Skylar and I decide to skip the tree house for a few days. We don’t want to run into Carter and Jason anytime soon. Maybe we’ll go only on Thursdays, when the mystery couple meets.

The next day, Skylar and I make ourselves comfortable in lawn chairs in her backyard and read. It’s a hot, lazy day, the cicadas are buzzing somewhere in the trees overhead, and someone is cutting the grass with an old-fashioned push mower.

A few yards away, Rob’s working on his bike in the driveway. I can’t help taking secret looks at him. I wish I could ask Skylar if he has a girlfriend, but if she suspected I like him, she’d pretend she was going to tell him, maybe even actually do it, and tease me endlessly about how her brother is a secret slob who talks with his mouth full and watches cartoons on TV even though he’s seventeen—proof that he’s a moron.

In all honesty, it’s pretty ridiculous. Rob will be a senior in the fall. He’s on the football team and the basketball team. Plus he’s tall and blond and good-looking in the same way Skylar is. A crush on him is like falling in love with a rock star. Impossible, hopeless, stupid.

After a while Rob stops working on his bike, goes inside, and comes out with three cans of soda. He hands one to Skylar and one to me.

I thank him, but Skylar stares at hers like it might explode. “What’s the catch?” she asks.

“There’s no catch. I’m just being polite, that’s all.” He reaches for the can. “If you don’t want it, I’ll drink it.”

Skylar opens the can. “That’s okay, I’ll keep it.”

I watch her drink. What’s going on with her and Rob? It’s like she’s always mad at him. If I had a big brother as nice as he is, I wouldn’t treat him that way. Rob sits on the grass facing us. “If you guys keep on reading all the time, I swear you’ll turn into books.”