under the bed and sat up. Clem burst in, waving her iPad. When she flopped onto the rug, her bittersweet citrus smell skewered Nella.
“Approximately 3,025,000 seconds till I’m back.”
“Why don’t you just say forever ?”
SEIZE THE DOUGHNUT
then
C lementine Patchett. St. Amphibalus had never seen the like.
She’d moved here from New York City, where she lived in something called the Village. Before that, she’d lived on a houseboat in Amsterdam. For lunch she brought fish tacos or something foul called kimchi, and apparently she had a hedgehog for a pet. She rode a boy’s banana bike, and over her uniform wore floppy flannel shirts from the thrift shop. One day during science, when Mrs. Johnson was explaining about the solar system, as if they hadn’t been learning about the solar system their entire school lives,Clem raised her hand. In a helpful voice she said maybe our solar system wasn’t the thing to focus on, considering the big picture. Considering it was just an infinitesimal part of a single galaxy. Among countless galaxies. All of which were drifting apart even as they sat here.
Mrs. Johnson tapped the board, but there was no stopping Clem.
“It’s just unbelievably cool. The universe is constantly expanding.” Clem held up her hands and slowly moved them farther and farther apart. “Think of blueberries spreading in a pancake on a griddle. A griddle without any edges.”
“Wait!” Kimmy said, alarmed. “When’s that going to stop?”
“Umm, never?”
Not exactly a comforting thought, yet thrilling, in a cold-water-in-the-face way. Watching the new girl with her goofy bandanna and electric smile, her thick glasses and spiky hair, Nella felt like she was waking up. It was like she’d been waiting for this to happen.
After they got over their initial curiosity, the other kids steered clear of Clem. She was so strange, and someone said she wasn’t even a Catholic. Victoria subjected her to the usual eye rolling and head shaking, but Clem acted like she didn’t even notice.
Meanwhile, Nella labored at being Angela’s loyal, truefriend. Since the day she rode home in a police car, Mr. DeMarco had clamped down even harder, which should have been impossible but wasn’t. The only places he allowed her to go were church, school, and Nella’s house, and that was only because Anthony convinced him Nella was trustworthy and good. They did homework together, and Nella did Angela’s nails, even though she had to take the polish off again before she went home. Angela played video games with the boys. She was a butterfingered bumbler, which made them love her all the more passionately. For weeks she staggered around, bent over Vinny as he gripped her fingers. His first, mini-Frankenstein steps were from Mom’s arms into Angela’s.
“I was afraid you and Angela were growing apart,” Mom told Nella. “But you’re like sisters, aren’t you?”
Anthony got a job at a warehouse on the west side. The company made him cut his hair and wear a black shirt. He worked all night and slept the day away. Angela said she had a vampire for a brother. Nella never saw him now, and she was glad.
I won’t tell. How many times had she and Angela promised each other that, doing their secret, four-pinkie swear? Nella kept remembering the face Angela put on for the scowling man in Value Variety: blank, impossible to read. Statue smooth. Do whatever you want, said that face. Don’t think you can scare me.
She’d been faking, Nella knew. Beneath that outer calm, her heart had to be pounding like a drum.
What if everyone was faking some way or other?
One day Clem came to school with three dozen Franny’s doughnuts. It was her birthday. Mrs. Johnson was not pleased. She tapped her foot, frowning at the big white boxes. The Aroma of Doughnuts made them all shamelessly drool. In the silence, they heard Mrs. Johnson’s stomach growl.
“Nella,” she said at last, “please help Clementine distribute
“Approximately 3,025,000 seconds till I’m back.”
“Why don’t you just say forever ?”
SEIZE THE DOUGHNUT
then
C lementine Patchett. St. Amphibalus had never seen the like.
She’d moved here from New York City, where she lived in something called the Village. Before that, she’d lived on a houseboat in Amsterdam. For lunch she brought fish tacos or something foul called kimchi, and apparently she had a hedgehog for a pet. She rode a boy’s banana bike, and over her uniform wore floppy flannel shirts from the thrift shop. One day during science, when Mrs. Johnson was explaining about the solar system, as if they hadn’t been learning about the solar system their entire school lives,Clem raised her hand. In a helpful voice she said maybe our solar system wasn’t the thing to focus on, considering the big picture. Considering it was just an infinitesimal part of a single galaxy. Among countless galaxies. All of which were drifting apart even as they sat here.
Mrs. Johnson tapped the board, but there was no stopping Clem.
“It’s just unbelievably cool. The universe is constantly expanding.” Clem held up her hands and slowly moved them farther and farther apart. “Think of blueberries spreading in a pancake on a griddle. A griddle without any edges.”
“Wait!” Kimmy said, alarmed. “When’s that going to stop?”
“Umm, never?”
Not exactly a comforting thought, yet thrilling, in a cold-water-in-the-face way. Watching the new girl with her goofy bandanna and electric smile, her thick glasses and spiky hair, Nella felt like she was waking up. It was like she’d been waiting for this to happen.
After they got over their initial curiosity, the other kids steered clear of Clem. She was so strange, and someone said she wasn’t even a Catholic. Victoria subjected her to the usual eye rolling and head shaking, but Clem acted like she didn’t even notice.
Meanwhile, Nella labored at being Angela’s loyal, truefriend. Since the day she rode home in a police car, Mr. DeMarco had clamped down even harder, which should have been impossible but wasn’t. The only places he allowed her to go were church, school, and Nella’s house, and that was only because Anthony convinced him Nella was trustworthy and good. They did homework together, and Nella did Angela’s nails, even though she had to take the polish off again before she went home. Angela played video games with the boys. She was a butterfingered bumbler, which made them love her all the more passionately. For weeks she staggered around, bent over Vinny as he gripped her fingers. His first, mini-Frankenstein steps were from Mom’s arms into Angela’s.
“I was afraid you and Angela were growing apart,” Mom told Nella. “But you’re like sisters, aren’t you?”
Anthony got a job at a warehouse on the west side. The company made him cut his hair and wear a black shirt. He worked all night and slept the day away. Angela said she had a vampire for a brother. Nella never saw him now, and she was glad.
I won’t tell. How many times had she and Angela promised each other that, doing their secret, four-pinkie swear? Nella kept remembering the face Angela put on for the scowling man in Value Variety: blank, impossible to read. Statue smooth. Do whatever you want, said that face. Don’t think you can scare me.
She’d been faking, Nella knew. Beneath that outer calm, her heart had to be pounding like a drum.
What if everyone was faking some way or other?
One day Clem came to school with three dozen Franny’s doughnuts. It was her birthday. Mrs. Johnson was not pleased. She tapped her foot, frowning at the big white boxes. The Aroma of Doughnuts made them all shamelessly drool. In the silence, they heard Mrs. Johnson’s stomach growl.
“Nella,” she said at last, “please help Clementine distribute
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