“We have to make sure he’s okay.”
I frown at him. “We were in the same boat, you know. Literally.”
“I’m not talking about the boat,” he says as he lifts a hand to knock, and when Teddy opens the door he looks about as pleased as I am to find us there.
“What’re you guys doing here?”
“We knew it was taco night,” Leo says, waving to Katherine, who is slicing a tomato in the kitchen. She’s wearing her scrubs, and I know she’ll have to leave for work soon, which is just as well, since I’m still annoyed at Teddy for leaving me with the boat today and I don’t want to have it out with him while his mom is here.
“Perfect. I’m just making seconds before I go, since this one never stops eating,” Katherine says, nodding at Teddy. “So there’s plenty for everyone.”
Leo beams at her, and Teddy grudgingly steps aside to let us in, though he still refuses to meet my eye. We head over to the kitchen, grabbing extra plates and napkins, making ourselves busy so that we don’t have to talk about anything else.
I notice a pile of newspaper clippings on the counter, tucked beneath the napkin holder. The one on top shows Teddy’s smiling face under a headline that readsDREAMS REALLY DO COME TRUE. A speck of salsa has landed on his chin.
“I’m glad to see you dried out okay,” Katherine says to me, glancing up from the cutting board. “That was a tough race.”
Teddy doesn’t say anything and neither do I.
“If it was a race to the bottom of the pool, you guys would’ve killed it,” Leo says, but nobody laughs.
When she finishes refilling bowls of tomatoes and lettuce and cheese, Katherine wipes her hands on her scrubs and looks at each of us in turn. “You two are taking this way too hard,” she says. “It was a cardboard boat. What did you expect?”
“Maybe some help getting it out of the pool,” I say under my breath, and Teddy narrows his eyes at me.
“I came back for it. But what’s-his-face seemed to be doing just fine on his own.”
I glare at him. “That’s becauseyouleft me all alone in the water.”
“Oh, come on, it’s not like you were drowning.”
“Would you have noticed if I was?”
“I was pissed off, okay?” he says. “I just had to get out of there. We completely tanked in front of the whole school.”
“I know,” I say, practically spitting the words. “I was there too. Remember?”
Leo pops a tortilla chip into his mouth, looking half-amused by all of this. But Katherine claps her hands hard, and the noise of it startles us into silence.
“Okay,” she says firmly. “I think it’s time to change the subject.”
“Yeah,” Leo says with a grin. “That ship has definitely sailed.”
I give him a withering look.
“Leo,” Katherine says, spinning in his direction. “How was Michigan?”
All at once the smile slips from his face, replaced by the same blank expression he’s adopted whenever anyone has asked him about this since he got back.
“Fine,” he says.
Katherine tilts her head, waiting for more, and when it doesn’t come she pushes on. “It must’ve been nice to see Max.”
“Yup,” he says, suddenly intent on fishing a fallen chip out of the bowl of salsa.
“Okay, I have to get going,” she says, apparently giving up on us. She walks over and stands on her tiptoes beside Teddy, who bends so she can give him a kiss on the temple. “Last night shift.”
He smiles. “I’ve been telling you about this whole sleeping-when-it’s-dark-out thing for years,” he tells her. “I highly recommend it.”
