Signs Point to Yes by Sandy Hall

it.”
    â€œI’m intimately familiar with awkward family dynamics.”
    â€œYou, with the two parents and the sister and the actual white picket fence?” Teo asked.
    â€œWell, that’s from the outside. The inside is a whole other story.”
    â€œWhat kind of story?”
    â€œI don’t know. You’ll think it’s weird,” Jane said quietly.
    â€œOh come on, you totally called the Buck thing. You might as well share your family crap.”
    â€œI don’t know. It sucks being the idiot in a family of geniuses.”
    Teo looked less surprised than Jane would have liked.
    â€œYeah, I get that, too.”
    â€œKeegan and the twins are in Mensa?”
    â€œNo. I don’t mean the genius thing. I mean, like, um…” He shook his head and looked at the sky, and Jane had the keen feeling that Teo wasn’t going to say much more that night about anything of importance. And she wouldn’t push him.
    â€œAh, you know. The stepfather crap. Them being my half sisters,” Teo said, waving a hand as if to clear the air. “But your family aren’t all geniuses. I mean, they’re nice people, but they’re normal smart. You’re just smart in a different way.”
    Jane accepted the subject change. “I’m average at best. And they’re all like—”
    The boom of the first firework swallowed up the rest of her sentence.
    â€œTo be continued,” Jane said. Teo smiled.
    Teo lay back on the roof with his arms under his head, and Jane mirrored him.
    â€œThis would be extremely romantic with the right person,” Jane said.
    â€œAnd I’m the wrong person?” Teo asked with a devilish grin.
    â€œWhat? No! I didn’t mean it like that. I just meant … Well, I didn’t even really mean to say it out loud.”
    Teo nodded.
    â€œI’m a freaking mess sometimes.”
    â€œAren’t we all,” Teo said.
    Jane closed her eyes and imagined what a different kind of girl would do in this moment, the kind of girl who was confident and didn’t feel the need to consult a fortune-telling toy before making any decisions. She let out a deep breath and opened her eyes to find Teo watching her.
    He grinned sheepishly.
    Grins like that should be illegal , Jane thought.
    They sat quietly for a moment after the show ended. Everything seemed darker than before the fireworks started, like there wasn’t any light in the whole world.
    â€œGuess I’d better go,” he said, slipping back through the window. He extended his hand to help Jane through.
    It was sweaty and made Jane feel better about not being the only nervous one.
    Or maybe her hand was sweaty.
    It was hard to tell, so she pulled away fast and rubbed her hand on her shorts.
    They stood in the middle of her room, and the bed seemed to loom large in front of them, making Jane have thoughts suited more to fan fiction than to real life.
    She shook her head, trying to clear away the weird thoughts that seemed so loud she wouldn’t be shocked if Teo could hear them.
    â€œWell,” he said.
    â€œWell,” Jane said, nodding.
    Teo took a deep breath, opening his mouth like he was about to say something important and memorable, something that might change the course of everything.
    Instead, he hooked a thumb toward the bedroom door and left without another word.
    Jane peeked out the window and watched him walk home. He glanced up and caught her there, peering out at him, and he waved.
    Normally she would have been embarrassed, but right now she was happy that he was the kind of guy who looked back one more time.

 
    Chapter 10
    On the fifth of July, Margo was up early, waiting for her sister to emerge from her bedroom cocoon so Margo could ask her a favor. By nine a.m. Margo was getting antsy. By ten she couldn’t sit still.
    â€œMargo are you having some kind of episode?” her father asked.
    â€œI wanted to ask Jane