Read Online Are We There Yet? by David Levithan - Free Book Online Page A

hand. In a river of Italian broken by crags of English, he talks about his days in the military—
il paese, il fiume, la morte.
Elijah hears the word
diciannove
, but cannot tell whether it is an age or a number of years.
    As Joseph leaves to compel the first course, Elijah finds himself thinking once more about Julia. It surprises him—to be hearing an old man's reminiscence of the war one moment, and to be recalling her eyes in the next. The segue is in the story-telling—he sees Joseph's words as something he wants to share with Julia. He doesn't know whether he'll ever see her again, but still he feels the need to tell her things.
    How strange
, he thinks.
How very strange.
    His hope to see her again is prayerful—not because it is addressed to a spirit, but because it is mysteriously drawn from an unknown part of his soul.
    My soul
.
How very strange.
    “So how's your girlfriend?”Danny asks. Elijah is jarred—how could Danny know about Julia—and why would he call her that?
    Danny sees the confusion on Elijah's face and tries again. “You know—what's her name—Cat?”
    “Cat?”
    “You know, the girl you hang out with.”
    “Oh. Cal.”
    “Yeah, Cal.”
    “She's not my girlfriend.”
    “Whatever you say.”
    Elijah thinks about Cal and feels a vague sort of distance. For the first time, she seems out of reach. All of their Wonder Twin Telepathic Powers have failed him.
“Whenever you need me,”
she'd say,
“wiggle your ears.”
Elijah never had the heart to tell her he couldn't wiggle his ears. He'd just smile and nod, and know (wiggle or not) they would never have distance, even when they were apart.
    But now—what does it mean? Cal is suddenly a homemovie presence. The feeling of non-feeling is inescapable. Elijah assumes it will pass. He reasons it out—in a corner of a restaurant in a corner of a city, it is natural to feel Away and Apart. As soon as he gets back to the hotel, he'll be able to pull out his Magic 8 Ball keychain and conjure Cal from the radio-waved ether. Simple as that.
    As Elijah drifts off and Joseph mercifully brings the first course, Danny's thoughts also turn to the distance from home. He thinks about voice mail and conference calls, even though he hates himself for doing so. He's not so far gone that he doesn't know such thoughts are inappropriate. But suchthoughts bring urgency to his life. Without them, he would have no clear game to play.
    “Remind me to call Allison when we get back to the hotel,” he tells Elijah.
    “Allison?” Elijah echoes with a distinct question mark.
    “Yes. She's working on the ranch-dressing account with me. I need to check in with her. See what's going on.”
    “Oh.” Elijah's curiosity deflates.
    “We're supposed to get the shooting script in for this great ad. Spike Lee might direct it.”
    “Oh.”
    You'd think I had the most boring job in the world
, Danny sighs to himself.
You'd think I was an accountant. Or a dentist. I mean, Spike Lee's a big deal. Advertising is as creative as being a snotty English-major-in-training.
Elijah's problem, in Danny's mind, is that he has no sense of what it takes to make a living.
    Danny's problem, in Elijah's mind, is that he has no sense of what it takes to make a life.
    When Danny mentioned Allison's name, Elijah had been hoping she was a girlfriend. Danny used to have dozens of girlfriends, most of them nicer to Elijah than Danny himself. In high school, Marjorie Keener had brought along an extra flower for Elijah when she picked Danny up for the prom. Angelica, Danny's freshman-year college girlfriend, had spent most of their spring break playing Boggle with Elijah until the wee hours of the morning. (Danny never played, because Danny always lost.) Sophie—from junior year—had been cool, even if Elijah had spotted her eating disorder before Danny ever noticed. That relationship didn't last very long.
    Now Danny didn't have anyone. He had Allison—an office full of Allisons. No doubt the