Bounce Read Online Free PDF Page B

always welcome here. Anytime. You don’t even have to ask. This is your home now, honey.”
    I nod, like I believe her.
    She smiles, yet again.
    Birdie is in my room, squatting on the floor, sawdust in his hair.
    â€œWhere were you?” I say.
    He gets up. “Hrrrf?” There are three screws poking out of his mouth and a drill in his hand.
    â€œWhen I got home from school. You’re supposed to be waiting for me. You’re always waiting for me when I get home from school. You. Not Eleni.”
    Birdie spits the screws into his hand. “I was up here. Building lofts.” He gestures to a wooden structure in the middle of the room. “Cool, huh? It was Clio’s idea. She thought if I built two—”
    â€œBirdie.”
    â€œYeah.”
    â€œWhy is she even home? I thought she worked.”
    He puts down the drill and picks up a tape measure. “Her classes end at noon on Mondays. Mondays, she bakes.”
    â€œUh-huh,” I say. “She tried to make me eat baklava.”
    Birdie’s eyes light up. “She made baklava? I love baklava.”
    â€œBirdie.”
    â€œWhat? You have something against baklava?”
    â€œNo. It’s just—”
    â€œYou have to try it. Eleni makes incredible bakla—”
    â€œBirdie!”
    â€œWhat?”
    â€œStop saying baklava! You’re missing the point!”
    He raises his eyebrows at me. “Ouch. I used to have eardrums. What is the point?”
    â€œForget it.”
    â€œEv. What is it?”
    â€œNothing. It’s just…she’s trying too hard. Okay? To be my buddy.”
    Birdie nods.
    â€œI know you two are getting married, but she needs to just calm down. Enough with the smiling.”
    Again, Birdie nods. He strolls over to a stack of wood planks and grabs one. Then another.
    â€œYou know?” I say.
    â€œMmmhmm.”
    He snaps open the tape measure with one hand, starts measuring. “Lousy first day of school?”
    â€œ What? No! It has nothing to do with—”
    Birdie looks up. “No?”
    His eyes are warm and crinkly. I know I could tell him thetruth, if I wanted to. But right now I don’t. I shake my head instead.
    â€œOkay.” He shrugs. “Jules called.”
    â€œShe did?” This is the best news I’ve heard all day.
    â€œYep.”
    â€œWhen? I mean, when can I call her back? When do the rates go down?”
    My father is an absolute maniac about the phone bill. We are only allowed to make calls at certain times, and then only if we dial this ridiculously long series of numbers first, so we can save two cents.
    â€œDon’t worry about that,” he says now. “Just call.”
    â€œAre you serious?”
    â€œYep.”
    â€œDo I have to check with Eleni?”
    â€œNope.”
    â€œIf you say so.” I start for the door. Then I turn back. “Are we rich now or something?”
    Birdie reaches into his beard and pulls something out—a wood chip maybe. “I wouldn’t say rich. ” He tosses it into the trash. “Comfortable.”
    â€œComfortable,” I repeat. “Huh.”
    â€œDefine comfortable, ” Jules says. “Because my uncle’s a professor, and I can tell you they don’t make diddly-squat. So the ex must be loaded. What does he do? Investment banker? CEO? Record producer?”
    â€œI have no idea,” I say. “Nobody tells me anything around here.”
    â€œRight,” Jules says. And she knows to change the subject.
    She launches into the first day of school and how awesome everything was. They repainted the eighth-grade corridor. Purple. It looks awesome. There’s a new gym teacher, Mr. Dyer, who’s awesome. All the girls are crushing on him, and guess who got him for an advisor?
    On and on she goes until she finally remembers I’m on the other end. “So,” she says. “How was school for you?”
    I