Fair Coin by E. C. Myers

wrap your Christmas and birthday presents anymore,” she said. “Life is too short, honey.”
    He ignored her, wanting to prolong the moment as long as he could. When the final piece of tape was pulled free, the paper blossomed open. It was a book, just as he'd thought.
    “The Wonderful Wizard of Oz,” she said. “Interesting choice.”
    “It's from Jena,” Ephraim said. He flipped through the pages.
    “Your father read that to you when you were younger.” His mother hadn't mentioned his father in years.
    “I don't remember. Is it like the movie?”
    “It's a little different,” she said.
    He put it down.
    “You don't like it?” she asked.
    “It's a nice gift,” he said. “She reads a lot of that fantasy stuff. Fairies. Tolkien.”
    “And you like sci-fi more. You come from two different worlds. You'll obviously never work out.” She laughed and picked up the book. “Ephraim, it's an incredibly intimate thing to share one of your favorite books with someone else. I think so, anyway.”
    “How do you mean?”
    “Your father gave me a book on our second date, the first gift he ever gave me.” She turned to the front page and studied it. “When you give someone a book, it's like saying: ‘I'm trusting you with something that means a lot to me.’ It doesn't matter whether you like it or not, though it helps if you do. What matters is that you understand why she likes it. Why she gave it to you.” She closed the book and handed it back to him. “You should read this. Particularly the title page.” She stood and picked up her purse.
    Ephraim opened the book and flipped to the title. There was an inscription, written in pink sparkly ink: “For Ephraim. This book opened up new worlds to me. I hope it does the same for you. Love, Jena.” She had drawn a little heart next to her name.
    He closed it.
    “You have a very silly grin on your face,” his mother said.
    “Mom! Don't you have a date to get to?”
    “I'm meeting him downstairs.”
    “You don't want to bring him in to meet me? Maybe I should make sure he's good enough for you.”
    “I don't want to scare him off. I'm sorry, but if we get married, we're going to ship you off to boarding school.”
    The intercom for the lobby door buzzed.
    “That'll be him.” She pressed the button and yelled, “I'm coming down.” She came back to the table. “Okay, hon, I'm going.”
    He kissed her on the cheek and she made a face. She picked up a napkin and made a show of wiping grease from her cheek. “Don't wait up,” she said.
    “Ew. Mom.”
    She flashed him a mischievous smile. It had been a while since he'd seen her this happy. He didn't know who this Jim guy was, but she obviously liked him. Did he look that way whenever he thought of Jena?
    “What are you smiling at?” his mother asked. He shook his head.
    He followed her to the door.
    “What book did he give you?” Ephraim asked. “Dad?”
    “One Hundred Years of Solitude by Gabriel García Márquez. I read it cover to cover after he dropped me off. It's the only reason I agreed to a third date, when he gave me another book. Your dad had me pretty well figured out back then.” She smiled and tousled Ephraim's hair.
    Ephraim locked the door behind her, then sat back down at the kitchen table with a fresh slice of pizza. He thumbed through the book, careful to avoid getting any grease or sauce on its pages. He started reading.
    When the phone rang, he answered it distractedly.
    “Hey, Eph.” It was a girl's voice, but it wasn't Jena.
    “Who's this?” he said.
    “It's Mary Shelley.” Two voices spoke, in perfect synchrony.
    “Oh, hi. What's up?”
    “Just wanted to confirm we're still on for tomorrow night.” Just one voice this time, but he didn't know which sister it was.
    “Tomorrow?”
    “We have a reservation for four at Louie's, the Italian place on Central Boulevard.”
    Four? “Right, of course,” he said. He had no idea what she was talking about. Could Jena have