What is the lie-berry like at the Junior high? Do they have The Hardy Boys?
It's lie-braire-ee, Peanut. The R comes right after the B. Like in Bridget.
Right! Lie-berry! So do they?
No, just books for teenagers.
Like what?
Horror books mostly. John Saul and Stephen King. And stuff like Raise the Titanic.
No Judy Blume?
That's for babies.
Wow. I'm not a baby!
You're eight. Yesterday you were a baby. Tomorrow you'll still be a baby. But someday you'll be a big kid.
Will you still be in junior high when I start going there too?
No, I'll be in high school then.
I wonder what the lie-berry is like up there.
It's all encyclopedias and microfiche machines.
So, boring?
Learning is always boring, Bridge.
Not if your friends are with you. I'm by myself and you guys are all in Junior High and it's a disaster, Lochlan.
I can't help the fact that I'm thirteen.
I know.
What's your favorite book right now, Bridge?
A Little Princess, by....I forget who wrote it. It's a girl writer.
What's it about?
A little girl who gets sent to boarding school by her father and she's very rich but then he dies and the headmistress takes away all of the girl's pretty things and makes her live in the attic where she invents stories in her head to escape her oppressive life alone. She's finally saved by a rich man who knew her father and lives happily ever after. Well, as happy as one can be orphaned.
Oppressive. You can use oppressive correctly in a sentence but you can't pronounce library?
Prio-rites, Locket.
That's prior-i-tees, Bridge. You're a funny little kid.
I'd be better if I was in your grade.
I'm dropping out in a couple years anyway. So I'll never be there.
I get a weird little flutter of panic in my chest when he says that so I put both hands across my heart suddenly and hold my breath.
He is taken aback. What are you doing?
I don't know. It hurt a lot when I thought of you not being around. Like right here. I point at my chest.
He smiles. I know. I get that feeling too when I think about being away from you.
Well, maybe someday I'll meet a rich man like in the book and then I can use all of his money to make sure you're always here. With me.
Does that mean you have to go through a lot of difficulties first and someone has to die?
Oh, probably but I think it would be worth it.
