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Authors: Marta Acosta
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friends. I’d
always used City Central’s computer lab for my homework, but I didn’t recall
seeing any computers on my tour of the school. I should have asked Mrs.
Monroe, but now was dinner time, not a good time to phone.
The knock on my door startled me.
-53- The Shadow Girl of Birch Grove – Marta Acosta
I went to the front window and pulled aside the curtain. Jack stood on the
porch, holding a pizza box. His bike was leaning against the banister.
When I opened the door, he said, “Hey, Jane, thought you might want some
chow. I couldn’t find any of your natural diet, shamrocks and moonbeams, so I
brought pizza.”
He was wearing those old shorts and brown scabs had formed on his
muscular legs. I had a sense of him being a man, not a boy. It was more to do
with his effortless way than his actual age.
Mouth-watering aromas emanated from the box and beneath that I detected
Jack’s faint pine and earth scent. “Your mother took me to the grocery store
today,” I said reluctantly.
He walked right by me into the cottage. “I know what my mom’s groceries
are like. Full of antioxidants, and roughage, and moral character.” He gazed
around the living room and then went into the kitchen and put the box on the
table.
“Get plates for us, halfling,” he said. He shrugged off his backpack,
unzipped it and took out two cans of root beer.
“You’re making up that word.” I thought he was weird, but the pizza
smelled delicious, so I got two plates from the cupboard and napkins from a
drawer.
“It’s as real as you are. It’s someone who’s half human and half magical
creature. I’m guessing that you’re part pixie, hopefully not one of the evil ones,”
he said. “Are you?”
“Am I what?”
“Are you half evil pixie?”
“I don’t even know what a pixie is.”
“They’re creatures that are almost human size. Sometimes they’re helpful
to people, and they like music and dancing and pretty ribbons.”
“I think you’ve spent too much time playing RPGs and reading Tolkien.”
“Who doesn’t enjoy a good sword fight?” When Jack smiled, his whole
face lit up. “Yeah, I’ve read Tolkien, and my mother told us fairy tales every
-54- The Shadow Girl of Birch Grove – Marta Acosta
night. I’m an expert on magical creatures, and I can recognize one when I see
one. There’s a glint of starlight in your brown eyes that gives away your true
identity.”
Jack flipped open the lid of the box. The pizza had slid to one side and
much of the topping was stuck to the cardboard. He shrugged and said, “That’s
why people don’t deliver pizzas by bike.”
We sat down and Jack said, “Mom told me she dragged you shopping
today. She loves shopping with girls. It kills her that she can’t dress Lucky and
me in matching sailor outfits.”
As we took out slices of the gooey mess, I asked, “What else does your
mother like?”
“Besides her family? Her girls .” He pitched his voice higher, mimicking
her. “A Birch Grove girl is an exceptional girl.”
He was watching for my reaction. I stared right back into his wide green
eyes. They were the moss color of the school’s pond with bronzy flecks like the
reflection of sunlight.
“Well?” Jack said.
I bit into the pizza. Even though it wasn’t hot, it was the best pizza I’d ever
had. “It’s great.”
Jack said, “What are your favorite subjects?”
It was the same question his brother had asked. “Math and science.”
“Why? And tell me in complete sentences, like you’d answer in a college
interview.”
“Is this the price of pizza?” I said, and he nodded. “Okay, I like them
because science and math are always reasonable, logical, and fair. The rules
apply no matter who you are, or who you know. There is beauty and balance.
They make sense.”
“And people don’t,” he said. “We’re irrational, biased, and unreliable.”
“Some more than others,” I said, and he smiled.
always used City Central’s computer lab for my homework, but I didn’t recall
seeing any computers on my tour of the school. I should have asked Mrs.
Monroe, but now was dinner time, not a good time to phone.
The knock on my door startled me.
-53- The Shadow Girl of Birch Grove – Marta Acosta
I went to the front window and pulled aside the curtain. Jack stood on the
porch, holding a pizza box. His bike was leaning against the banister.
When I opened the door, he said, “Hey, Jane, thought you might want some
chow. I couldn’t find any of your natural diet, shamrocks and moonbeams, so I
brought pizza.”
He was wearing those old shorts and brown scabs had formed on his
muscular legs. I had a sense of him being a man, not a boy. It was more to do
with his effortless way than his actual age.
Mouth-watering aromas emanated from the box and beneath that I detected
Jack’s faint pine and earth scent. “Your mother took me to the grocery store
today,” I said reluctantly.
He walked right by me into the cottage. “I know what my mom’s groceries
are like. Full of antioxidants, and roughage, and moral character.” He gazed
around the living room and then went into the kitchen and put the box on the
table.
“Get plates for us, halfling,” he said. He shrugged off his backpack,
unzipped it and took out two cans of root beer.
“You’re making up that word.” I thought he was weird, but the pizza
smelled delicious, so I got two plates from the cupboard and napkins from a
drawer.
“It’s as real as you are. It’s someone who’s half human and half magical
creature. I’m guessing that you’re part pixie, hopefully not one of the evil ones,”
he said. “Are you?”
“Am I what?”
“Are you half evil pixie?”
“I don’t even know what a pixie is.”
“They’re creatures that are almost human size. Sometimes they’re helpful
to people, and they like music and dancing and pretty ribbons.”
“I think you’ve spent too much time playing RPGs and reading Tolkien.”
“Who doesn’t enjoy a good sword fight?” When Jack smiled, his whole
face lit up. “Yeah, I’ve read Tolkien, and my mother told us fairy tales every
-54- The Shadow Girl of Birch Grove – Marta Acosta
night. I’m an expert on magical creatures, and I can recognize one when I see
one. There’s a glint of starlight in your brown eyes that gives away your true
identity.”
Jack flipped open the lid of the box. The pizza had slid to one side and
much of the topping was stuck to the cardboard. He shrugged and said, “That’s
why people don’t deliver pizzas by bike.”
We sat down and Jack said, “Mom told me she dragged you shopping
today. She loves shopping with girls. It kills her that she can’t dress Lucky and
me in matching sailor outfits.”
As we took out slices of the gooey mess, I asked, “What else does your
mother like?”
“Besides her family? Her girls .” He pitched his voice higher, mimicking
her. “A Birch Grove girl is an exceptional girl.”
He was watching for my reaction. I stared right back into his wide green
eyes. They were the moss color of the school’s pond with bronzy flecks like the
reflection of sunlight.
“Well?” Jack said.
I bit into the pizza. Even though it wasn’t hot, it was the best pizza I’d ever
had. “It’s great.”
Jack said, “What are your favorite subjects?”
It was the same question his brother had asked. “Math and science.”
“Why? And tell me in complete sentences, like you’d answer in a college
interview.”
“Is this the price of pizza?” I said, and he nodded. “Okay, I like them
because science and math are always reasonable, logical, and fair. The rules
apply no matter who you are, or who you know. There is beauty and balance.
They make sense.”
“And people don’t,” he said. “We’re irrational, biased, and unreliable.”
“Some more than others,” I said, and he smiled.
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