Paranoid Park by Blake Nelson Page B

was now under fifty feet of water in the Willamette River. As I looked at some of their new stuff, I regretted buying my new board at the mall. This place had the best stuff.
    Rachel bought a board for $119. This seemed like too much to me. And the “anniversary,” it turned out, was not for going out, but for the first time they talked on the phone or some ridiculous thing. Girls were so weird.
    Once we had the board, we walked farther downtown and went to Starbucks. That was kinda fun. Rachel was pretty cool to hang out with. She was cute and funny, but in a real way. I wouldn’t have minded going out with someone like her.
    Macy was another story. She sort of bugged me for some reason. But my mood changed every three seconds. I couldn’t tell what I thought.
    After we’d sat there a few minutes, I glanced out the window. A girl caught my eye. She was across the street talking to a Streeter guy who was begging for change. The girl was sort of dirty, too. I couldn’t see her face. Then she turned, and I saw who it was: Paisley.
    I almost spit up my mocha. I lowered my head, but I realized she couldn’t see through the window. She was busy talking anyway. The guy gave her a cigarette. She lit it and stood there smoking and talking to the guy.
    “So have you bought Jennifer anything yet?” Rachel asked me. Macy had gone to the bathroom.
    “Uh. No,” I said. “Not yet.”
    She saw that I was looking outside. She looked, too, and saw Paisley and the guy with the dog. “Isn’t it weird how kids like that live downtown? On the street?”
    I nodded.
    “I heard that there’s more homeless teenagers in Portland than in any other city.”
    “Yeah?”
    “Look at that girl,” said Rachel. “She’s probably younger than us. And she smokes. And dresses like that. Her parents probably hate her.”
    I turned away from the window. “So when are you going to give Dustin the board?” I asked.
    “This weekend,” said Rachel. “He’ll be so psyched. Don’t you think?”
    “Yeah,” I said. “It’s a nice board.”

    I dropped Rachel off first. She got the board out of the backseat and skipped up her driveway with it. I felt this weird tingling in my heart. I had helped someone. I had done something worthwhile. It felt pretty good.
    I drove Macy toward our street. We drove in silence. It started to rain, and I put on my windshield wipers.
    “Can I ask you something?” asked Macy.
    I didn’t answer.
    “You seem really weird lately,” she said. “Are you okay?”
    “I’m fine.”
    “I mean, your family stuff. That must be doing something to you. Don’t you think?”
    “I don’t know.”
    “You seem so stressed. And when you’re not freaking out, you have this look in your eyes. Like you’re a thousand miles away.”
    I stared straight ahead. “Maybe it is my family stuff.”
    “Is it something about Jennifer?”
    I shrugged. “I don’t know, to be honest with you.”
    “You’re not mad at me for some reason?”
    “You?” I said. “No. Not at all.”
    “I don’t have a crush on you anymore. If that’s what you’re worried about.”
    “I know.”
    “And I’m sorry, if I embarrassed you back then.”
    “It doesn’t matter.”
    We drove.
    “The whole thing with Jennifer ...” she continued. “I have to say. That seems weird. She doesn’t seem like your type. Like, I understand about Elizabeth and Christian, and how the other girls want skater boyfriends. But you and Jennifer. That just seems ...”
    “I know. I agree.”
    “Really? You don’t really like her?”
    “I like her. I mean, we had fun last summer. It’s just like ... she’s just decided we should be together. She didn’t let things develop naturally.”
    “That’s it, isn’t it? She’s forcing things-”
    “No, that’s not it. To be honest.”
    “Really. What is it?”
    I turned into our housing development. Windermeyer Terrace, it was called. Her house came up first. I pulled up to the curb in front of her