Dead to You by Lisa McMann Page A

do this. But Dad teaches me. He makes Blake help us, too, which is actually okay, because Blake pretty much wants me out of his room too. Finally, we agree on something. And he seems to know a little bit about what he’s doing, so it goes faster.
    It’s evening and I’m starving and sweaty when I hear the steps creak. I look, and there’s Cami, coming downstairs. My stomach twists and I grab my T-shirt, put it back on. “What are you doing here?” I ask.
    Dad looks up. “Hi, Cami,” he says, and then he glances at his watch. “I’m going to go out for some burgers, guys. Back in twenty minutes, maybe thirty if the roads are really bad. Supposed to start blowing tonight. Blake, did you do your homework?”
    “No,” Blake mumbles.
    “Why don’t you get started on that?” Dad wipes his hands, and then heads up the steps.
    “Bye, Mr. De Wilde,” Cami calls out.
    “Nice to see you, Cami.” Dad closes the door at the top of the stairs and it’s quiet again. Blake doesn’t leave.
    “What are you doing here?” I ask Cami again, not very nicely.
    “I came to talk to you. I want to say I’m sorry for what happened.”
    “Who let you in?”
    “Gracie.”
    “You manipulated a little kid?”
    “She answered the door and said come in.”
    Blake is smirking in the corner, enjoying this.
    I turn to him. “Don’t you have homework to do? Or do I have to tell Dad you’re being a dickhead?”
    Blake scowls, but then, after a moment, he saunters off upstairs.
    “Look, Ethan,” Cami says. “The whole thing blew up. Jason didn’t—”
    “Who’s Jason? You mean the J-Dog?” I can’t stop the sarcasm. But I’m embarrassed all over again, thinking about what happened. And I don’t want to talk about J-Dog.
    “Yeah, that’s his name. You knew that.”
    I shrug. Does it matter?
    “Your mom said you want to quit school over this.”
    “So?”
    “Why would you do that?”
    “Because school sucks. And so does everybody who thinks it’s funny to humiliate me in public.”
    “Ethan!” Cami wrings her hands. “That is so stupid. You are making this into something so much bigger than it is.”
    This ticks me off. “I’m thinking maybe I don’t need to be anywhere near friends like you.”
    Her jaw drops. She steps back. I can see the shock, the hurt, in her eyes. I went too far. Fuck.
    I went too far and now I’m going to lose her. I press my lips together to stop the hysterics that threaten to bubble up. And then I do it.
    I step in. Reach my fingers through her hair and pull her close and I’m kissing her. Hard and sweet. Her lips are so soft, so delicious. And she’s kissing me back, I think. For a second.
    One second. And it’s over. Then she freezes and whispers, “What are you doing?” Whether to me or to herself, I don’t know. She pulls away and I can see her eyes wide, scared, and I let her go. I do. I just let her go.
    She runs. Up the stairs, two at a time. Slams the door behind her. And my feet are glued to the floor.
    God. She drives me insane. I hop up on the pool table, shove the balls aside, and lay back before they all bounce off the bumpers and come back to hit me. I stare up at the light fixture until I start seeing black spots everywhere. Knowing I messed it all up.
    When I hear Dad come back, I go upstairs to clean up and change my shirt. And when we all sit around the table to eat, Blake has to go and act like an ass.
    He’s got a piece of paper and he’s peering at Mama and Dad, then Gracie. And he’s making notes.
    “What are you writing?” Gracie asks, eyes narrow. “Don’t look at me. Mama!”
    Blake snarls at her. “It’s my science assignment. Sheesh.”
    Mama tilts her head. “What is it?”
    “I have to chart everybody’s eye color in my family. We just started genetics.”
    “Ahh,” Dad says. “I remember that. Good old eighth-grade science. Dominant, recessive genes . . . good times.” He takes a bite of his burger.
    But I’m staring at Blake’s