Hip Check (New York Blades) by Deirdre Martin Page A

talk about Danika just so she’d be alive in Nell’s head; he wanted to talk about Danika to keep her alive in
his
head.
    “You know,” said Michelle, looking down at Nell with unabashed affection, “I had to switch schools when I was ten, and on the first day, I puked all over my desk.”
    Nell looked horrified. “That is sooo gross.”
    “I know. And soooo embarrassing.”
    Nell was goggle-eyed. “Did people make fun of you?”
    “Yep. They called me Michelle Barf for a while, but then everyone forgot about it and things were fine.”
    “That’s good,” Nell replied, looking relieved.
    Michelle tugged on her braid. “So don’t worry about being nervous today, because you’re not the only one who’s new to the school. I’ll bet you anything there’s more than one puker in the bunch, don’t you think, Uncle Esa?”
    “Of course. And nose pickers, too.”
    “Eeewwww!”
    Esa and Michelle both laughed. The silence that collided against the end of the shared laugh made him feel self-conscious. He wondered: would others dropping their kids off at the school assume he and Michelle were Nell’s parents? The thought of it almost made him laugh again.
    He heard the twitter of the girls before he saw them. The six-story, ivy-covered school was set far back from the street, down a brick, tree-lined walkway between two town houses. The closer he, Nell, and Michelle drew to the school’s courtyard, the louder the twittering. The endless cacophony of high little voices made everything sound so urgent. Esa fought the urge to take Nell’s hand. This had to be tough for her. Thank Christ she had Michelle.
    Once in the courtyard, Nell stared down at the ground nervously. Michelle was giving the premises a careful once-over. “There are tons of girls who are here for the first time,” she told Nell. “Tons.”
    Nell looked up at her. “How can you tell?”
    “I was a teacher once, remember? Trust me, kiddo: I can tell.”
    Nell braved a small smile.
    Michelle nodded in the direction of Nell’s backpack. “You got everything?”
    “Yeah.”
    “We’ll stay here with you until the bell rings.”
    Nell looked up at Esa. “Will you stay, too?”
    “Of course I will,” he said, hating that she needed this reassurance from him.
    “Good.”
    Esa made a point of not looking at Michelle. She didn’t seem the “I told you so,” type, but Nell’s question had to make her feel justified in admonishing him to be a greater presence in Nell’s life.
    Finally, the school bell rang, and girls started filing in, though some looked reluctant. There were a handful of small ones who started to cry and cling to their mothers, or maybe they were nannies.
    Michelle looked down at Nell with an encouraging smile. “You ready to roll?”
    Nell nodded nervously.
    “I could tell,” Michelle stage-whispered, looking at Nell with utmost confidence.
    Nell looked a little teary. “And you’ll be here when I get out of school?”
    “Yup. Standing right here.”
    Esa could feel what was coming next.
    “Will you be here, Uncle Esa?”
    “I wish I could be, but I can’t. I have a game tonight.”
    Nell’s voice sounded very small to him when she replied, “Oh.”
    Esa found himself madly scrambling to take away his niece’s look of disappointment. “Maybe you and Michelle could come to see me play one night. Would you like that?”
    “Mmm . . . maybe.”
    “Just maybe?”
    “It looks sort of boring,” Nell confessed, making Michelle laugh.
    “Well, you just think about it,” said Esa.
    Michelle drew Nell into a bear hug. “All right, Missy Miss, you better get inside. Remember: I’ll be here when you get out.”
    Nell nodded bravely before letting Esa hug her—briefly.
    “Have a good day!” he and Michelle called out in unison, as Nell, back ramrod straight and shoulders thrown back as if she were off to do battle, marched through the front door of the school. Laughing in unison, now talking in unison. It meant