One or Two Things I Learned About Love (27 page)

Connor
wanted to know what I’m going to do while he’s away. What I’m doing from Friday is staying with Nomi because there’s a big Labor Day old junk convention and her parents are leaving her alone again, and on Sunday the other girls are coming over for a pyjama party. Not that I told Connor any of that. I said, “Not much.” I said we’re having the inaugural barbecue on the new deck on Labor Day, but otherwise I’ll just be hanging around the house. Psyching myself up for going back to school. Missing him. Hoping he doesn’t fall in the river or get stabbed with a hook. Sending him texts and emails he won’t get until he gets back to civilization.

I told Connor what the Countess said about dancing on the silver clouds of love. He thought it was great. So he declared tonight Dancing On The Silver Clouds Of Love Night. Otherwise known as sitting on the deck watching YouTube videos. We were having such a good time that I forgot to be careful and said he had to see the one Louie and I did of Hitchcock and Scorsese arguing over who was going to sit in Mr Masiado’s chair. Connor checked the time. He said he had a lot to do tomorrow and he better get going. I felt like a little kid whose balloon suddenly popped.

Is it possible that love means always feeling like you’ve done something wrong?

Our
LAST NIGHT TOGETHER of the summer. We went to his secret beach. Connor brought a picnic. He even brought candles! We wrote I LOVE YOU in the sand surrounded by a big heart. He’d put some of our favourite songs on his iPod and we sat listening to them while we watched the sun go down. The candles kept blowing out. And it started to rain. But we still had a great time.

Lovelovelove…

Ely
wanted to know what was wrong with me today. I said, “Nothing.” And there wasn’t. I was in a really good mood. If I was corn I’d be popping. He said that was what he meant. I wasn’t jumpy. Or moody. Or quiet. Or preoccupied. Or acting like we’d never been introduced. I said probably I was in such a good mood because after this week I’ll only see him on Saturdays. That would put anybody’s spirits over the satellite dish. He threw a pattypan squash at me but I caught it and threw it back. Next thing you know we were walking around the table doing cascades and fountains. A couple of cars stopped to watch. Later Broccoli Man came by. But he left the car door open and while he was trying to pick out exactly one pound of carrots Monsanto the killer cat got in. Broccoli Man didn’t notice till he got in himself and started to pull out. I don’t know which of them screamed louder. He drove into the fence. Ely and I couldn’t stop laughing.

Went over to Louie’s tonight. He said to what do I owe this honour? If I’d thought about what to say before saying it, I would’ve said I’d decided to take pity on him. But I didn’t. I said I missed him. Which is true. When my head wasn’t hurting so much and I could actually think again, I’d been thinking about Louie a lot while I was recovering from the migraine. He said it’s not like he moved or anything. I said yeah, well, you know. He said yeah, he did know. He said he missed me, too.

It’s
been all systems go since I got to Nomi’s. I had to come over at the crack of dawn for the big briefing because, since they’re not back till Monday night, Mr Slevka wanted to make really sure we knew what to do if there was a tornado or a wolf attack or something like that. He made a list of things we MUST DO before we leave the house or go to bed, and we’re supposed to check everything off on it each time. The good news is that he had an expert come and look at the alarm so at least we don’t have to worry about Mr Janofski making any sudden marine landings in the living room. Meanwhile, back in the kitchen, Mrs S taped a sheet of emergency numbers on the door of the refrigerator. She said it’s the one place we’re guaranteed to see it. She has every number on it except the Pentagon’s. I swear. She even has my parents’ number on it. I said I’m not ET, I can manage to call home, Mrs Slevka. She said that’s what you say now. We slouched around most of the morning but then we went into town for lunch. It took us an hour and a half to leave the house because of Mr Slevka’s checklist. Nomi figures it’s easier to get out of a high-security prison. We were going to the diner but Cristina and Max were in the Bear Café so we went in there. Max had us falling off our chairs with his stories of camp life. I never knew how funny poison ivy can be! After lunch me and Nomi wandered around town. Ran into some kids from school who were wandering around too. Hung out with them for a while comparing rumours. (Did Ms Veber really marry a forest ranger and leave Redbank? Did Mr Donough become a monk? Are they going to make us wear uniforms?) Then we stopped by Maggie’s. Sara was there. She’d had a fight with Kruger so she was hiding out at the Pryces’. The four of us ended up playing a hysterical game of Pictionary. Mrs Pryce felt sorry for me and Nomi having to microwave our own meal so she asked us to stay for supper. There was no sign of Mr Pryce or the barbecue so we figured it was safe. It was late by the time we got back to the Casa Slevka. It wasn’t until I was brushing my teeth that I realized I don’t have my phone! It seems impossible but it’s true. I was in such a hurry this morning that I left it charging in my room. I haven’t thought of it all day. Or of Connor! How amazing is that?

It
was really hot and muggy so we went to the mall with Cristina and Sara. Got things for school. Then Nomi and I picked up some stuff for tomorrow and went over to Casa D’Angelo for supper. My mom had made lasagne. You don’t want to miss my mom’s lasagne even if you’re living the dream with Nomi. And I wanted to pick up my phone. Of course. I’d promised Connor I’d text him even if he couldn’t get them till he was on his way back. Wound up playing cards for hours with the whole family. Including Gus and Abe. But my phone’s disappeared! How is that possible? I know exactly where I left it. It was right there, attached to the charger. Zelda swears she didn’t touch it. I said so who did? One of your dinosaurs? She wanted to know why she gets blamed for everything. Nobody else touched it either. (Of course.) Mom thinks I must’ve taken it off the charger and put it somewhere when I was rushing around so much. I said I don’t remember that. She said well that’s the point. I said well I guess it’s either that or the ghost. My dad drove us back to Nomi’s.

3 A.M.

Major thunderstorm, but that’s not what woke us. What woke us was the alarm. Nomi thinks somebody was trying to get in. You know, because Mr Slevka had the expert come and she said it’s working the way it’s supposed to. I said experts are wrong all the time. They’re so wrong it’s amazing anybody ever listens to them. And even if the expert was right, I figure the storm could’ve set it off. I mean it’s all electricity, isn’t it? But Nomi said she heard things. I said of course you hear things. It’s an old house and everything’s rattling because of the wind and the rain. You can’t walk across the bathroom without hearing the floorboards creak ten minutes later. She said she didn’t mean the rattling or the creaking. She meant an intruder. She wouldn’t stop till we had checked every window and door twice. Then she wanted to look in every closet and cupboard. I said it’s not like somebody’s going to hide behind the canned vegetables, Nomi. She said why not? Maybe it’s a trained robber monkey. Did I think of that? The weird thing is that by the time we’d checked out anything with hinges that opens (including the piano) I was as wound up as Nomi. A branch or something bounced off the window and I nearly went into cardiac arrest. I said it’s just like jealousy, isn’t it? Nomi wanted to know what was just like jealousy. I said thinking there’s an intruder. The more you think about it the more you convince yourself. It keeps building like a snowball till if you see a coin on the floor you think the burglar dropped it. Nomi asked how I knew that was just like being jealous. I said it’s called using your imagination. They are both about being paranoid. It’s not that big a leap. Nomi said, “Are we talking about Connor Bowden here?” I said that it’s not really jealousy with Connor. She said making you take pictures of yourself in closets? Checking up that you’re really where you said you’d be? That’s not jealousy? I said no. It may look like that, but it isn’t. She said what is it? I said love. But sometimes he gets a little carried away. Nomi said, “You’re wrong, Hildy. It isn’t love, it’s jealousy.”