The Distance to Home Read Online Free PDF Page B

He caught my mom’s eye. “Is there anything I can do to help?”
    “We’re just about ready to eat, so grab a spot at the table. Make yourself at home. Can I get you something to drink?”
    Zack sat down in the seat that Haley usually sat in. Haley came back into the kitchen. She’d changed into one of her polo dresses and smelled like citrus perfume. She’d put on earrings, too. They were so big and dangly I wasn’t sure if they were earrings or Christmas tree ornaments. You couldn’t pay me to let someone poke a hole through my ears. No thanks.
    Haley sat right down in the chair next to Zack and tucked her hair behind her ear, like she was hoping he’d notice her earrings, too.
    “Hey, that’s my seat,” I said. I always sat there. It was the closest to the fridge, in case I needed seconds on milk.
    “I’m sorry. Did you want to sit next to Zack?” Haley raised her eyebrows at me. She shot me a look that said, What is up with you?
    I shook my head and slid into the seat next to Mom. It felt like we were playing musical chairs. When Mom served the spaghetti, I didn’t get as much as I wanted since we had to make one more serving for Zack. And was I the only one who noticed there were just four rolls? Mom cut them in half so it wasn’t as obvious. But I could still tell. It’s more than a little rude not to give advance warning when you’re bringing someone over.
    “This is Zack’s first summer working at the camp, too,” Haley said.
    “How do you like it so far?” Dad asked as he buttered his roll.
    Zack finished chewing a mouthful of spaghetti before answering. “I love it. The kids are great. They have so much energy, and they love all the different art projects we’ve been doing. We’re working on a mural this week.”
    “I always wished Quinnen would give that camp a try,” Mom said. “It’s nice having a camp with an arts focus so close by. They’re hard to find these days.”
    “We still have some spots for sessions later this summer.” Zack smiled at me, and I wondered what would happen if he got a string of spaghetti stuck in his lip ring. Casey would totally do that if he had a lip ring.
    “What do you think, Quinnen?” Mom asked.
    Did I really have to remind her
again
? “Mom, I have baseball. Practice and games and, if we keep winning, the tournament—remember? In Indiana? I don’t have time for art camp.”
    “I wasn’t suggesting it instead of baseball but in addition to, honey. It doesn’t hurt to be well rounded.” She turned to Zack. “Maybe next summer,” she said.
    I’ll have baseball next summer, too.
Mom didn’t catch me shaking my head. Sometimes I wasn’t sure she really got it: how important it was to focus on the one thing you really wanted. That’s what all the big leaguers did. They lived and breathed baseball from before they were my age.
    Haley twirled some spaghetti on her fork. “You know how I was telling you about that amazing book by Junot Díaz that I was reading last week?”
    Mom nodded.
    “Zack lent me the book. He’s super into Junot Díaz. Díaz is, like, one of your favorite authors, right?” Haley looked at Zack as she said that last bit, and popped a bite of spaghetti in her mouth.
    “That’s fantastic,” Mom said, leaning the tiniest bit toward Zack. “It’s always been so important to me as an English instructor to expose my girls to all kinds of literature. Now, tell me, Zack, what other authors have you been enjoying lately?”
    Zack was chewing his roll then, so he couldn’t answer right away.
    I didn’t know how he could do it. Just jump right in, squeeze his way into this table, and fit in like he’d been here forever. He even had Mom swooning over him. And that’s not easy. Trust me, I’d tried.
    “I read a book by her, too. By that Juno lady,” I piped up.
    Haley stifled a laugh and looked at me funny. “Really?”
    It felt like everyone was staring at me. Mom and Dad and Haley and Zack and his dumb lip ring.