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Authors: Caroline B. Cooney
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happen.”
Last year Janie would have wept all over him. This year she burst into laughter. “Oh, Reeve, you make everything so simple! I can’t stand it that you’re a million miles away.”
“It’s not even two hundred miles.”
“Light-years, then.”
They skipped lunch.
They found the far rear of McDonald’s parking lot instead, and Reeve said, “You are wearing very heavy-duty clothes, Janie.”
“We trail walkers have to fend off attacking mosquitoes and grizzly bears.”
“Just don’t fend
me
off,” said Reeve.
CHAPTER
SIX
“I want to drive up to Boston, Mom,” said Jodie.
Mom, Brian and Jodie were at Home Depot, tracking down window blinds and kitchen-cabinet knobs. Brendan’s team had practice, of course; Brian had hardly seen his twin for days.
“There are six colleges I want to look at in Boston,” said Brian’s sister. “Friday we have a teachers’ workshop, so there’s no school; I can drive up to Boston Thursday after school, have Friday and Saturday to tour campuses and do interviews, and then drive back Sunday.”
“By yourself?” said Mom doubtfully. Not as if she were going to lash out and shriek
NO, NO, NEVER
! but as if Jodie were brave to take on traffic and navigation all the way to Boston. “Maybe if you had company it would be okay.”
Jodie nodded. “I’d like company, but Caitlin and Nicole are going south, they’re looking in Virginia for colleges.” A year ago, Brian thought, Jodie would not have dared mention going to a city at all, never mind alone.
Their mother said, “But your father and I want to go along when you visit campuses, Jo. And that weekend we’ll be so busy. Brendan has
two
games.” Their parents had never missed a game, performance or concert in which one of their children had participated.
“Mom, I’m running out of time!” said Jodie. “I have to decide where I’m applying in only a few months.”
Brian was not eager to see Brendan triumph twice in one weekend, and Boston sounded great, plus he was mildly fond of his sister, so he said, “I’ll go with you, Jodie. I can read the maps and hand you change for the tolls.”
“That’s wonderful!” Jodie hugged him right there in the store. Brian shrank out from under her grasp and took refuge on the far side of the cart.
“But Brian,” said his mother, “Brendan has a big game on Friday afternoon, and another one on Saturday. He’s your twin,” she added, as if Brian, of all people, might have forgotten this.
“Mom, I’ve seen Brendan play. I’ll see him the rest of my life. But I haven’t been to Boston with Jodie.” Boston is history, he thought. Ben Franklin, John Adams, John Hancock, Paul Revere. Maybe I’ll go to college in Boston, too, and study history.
He had never had a long view of his life. His life was in short takes: a practice, a game, a shower, a brother. Now he could see it, his own personal calendar years spread like computer printouts.
One day last week, when Bren had practice and Brian didn’t, Brian had gone to the town library and wandered through the adult American history section. He had never entered the adult division of the library before. He’d felt like a trespasser. The collection was immense. He didn’t know where to begin. How did you figure out which of those thousands of books you wanted to read?
He settled for reading the spines, just exploring titles. The books were arranged like geography, starting with European explorers crossing the Atlantic, moving into settlers of New England, and advancing toward the Ohio River, the Great Lakes, and the Mississippi.
He came home after two hours in which nobody had known where he was. And when he got home, nobody asked. It was a first in Brian’s thirteen years.
He wanted to thank his parents. He wanted to shout
Yes! It’s about time
! but he said nothing, because maybe they hadn’t realized the freedom they had allowed, and maybe they wouldn’t allow it again.
He resolved that
Last year Janie would have wept all over him. This year she burst into laughter. “Oh, Reeve, you make everything so simple! I can’t stand it that you’re a million miles away.”
“It’s not even two hundred miles.”
“Light-years, then.”
They skipped lunch.
They found the far rear of McDonald’s parking lot instead, and Reeve said, “You are wearing very heavy-duty clothes, Janie.”
“We trail walkers have to fend off attacking mosquitoes and grizzly bears.”
“Just don’t fend
me
off,” said Reeve.
CHAPTER
SIX
“I want to drive up to Boston, Mom,” said Jodie.
Mom, Brian and Jodie were at Home Depot, tracking down window blinds and kitchen-cabinet knobs. Brendan’s team had practice, of course; Brian had hardly seen his twin for days.
“There are six colleges I want to look at in Boston,” said Brian’s sister. “Friday we have a teachers’ workshop, so there’s no school; I can drive up to Boston Thursday after school, have Friday and Saturday to tour campuses and do interviews, and then drive back Sunday.”
“By yourself?” said Mom doubtfully. Not as if she were going to lash out and shriek
NO, NO, NEVER
! but as if Jodie were brave to take on traffic and navigation all the way to Boston. “Maybe if you had company it would be okay.”
Jodie nodded. “I’d like company, but Caitlin and Nicole are going south, they’re looking in Virginia for colleges.” A year ago, Brian thought, Jodie would not have dared mention going to a city at all, never mind alone.
Their mother said, “But your father and I want to go along when you visit campuses, Jo. And that weekend we’ll be so busy. Brendan has
two
games.” Their parents had never missed a game, performance or concert in which one of their children had participated.
“Mom, I’m running out of time!” said Jodie. “I have to decide where I’m applying in only a few months.”
Brian was not eager to see Brendan triumph twice in one weekend, and Boston sounded great, plus he was mildly fond of his sister, so he said, “I’ll go with you, Jodie. I can read the maps and hand you change for the tolls.”
“That’s wonderful!” Jodie hugged him right there in the store. Brian shrank out from under her grasp and took refuge on the far side of the cart.
“But Brian,” said his mother, “Brendan has a big game on Friday afternoon, and another one on Saturday. He’s your twin,” she added, as if Brian, of all people, might have forgotten this.
“Mom, I’ve seen Brendan play. I’ll see him the rest of my life. But I haven’t been to Boston with Jodie.” Boston is history, he thought. Ben Franklin, John Adams, John Hancock, Paul Revere. Maybe I’ll go to college in Boston, too, and study history.
He had never had a long view of his life. His life was in short takes: a practice, a game, a shower, a brother. Now he could see it, his own personal calendar years spread like computer printouts.
One day last week, when Bren had practice and Brian didn’t, Brian had gone to the town library and wandered through the adult American history section. He had never entered the adult division of the library before. He’d felt like a trespasser. The collection was immense. He didn’t know where to begin. How did you figure out which of those thousands of books you wanted to read?
He settled for reading the spines, just exploring titles. The books were arranged like geography, starting with European explorers crossing the Atlantic, moving into settlers of New England, and advancing toward the Ohio River, the Great Lakes, and the Mississippi.
He came home after two hours in which nobody had known where he was. And when he got home, nobody asked. It was a first in Brian’s thirteen years.
He wanted to thank his parents. He wanted to shout
Yes! It’s about time
! but he said nothing, because maybe they hadn’t realized the freedom they had allowed, and maybe they wouldn’t allow it again.
He resolved that
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