“My grandmother’s French,” he said. “I grew up speaking it.”
“Oh.” Now I felt stupid for bragging about being in AP French.
“You know, thevis supposed to be pronouncedw.”
“What?”
“In Flavia. It’s supposed to be pronounced Fla-wia.”
“Of course I know that,” I snapped. “I took second prize in oration. But Flawia sounds dumb.”
“I took first prize,” he said, trying not to sound smug. I had a sudden memory of a boy in a black T-shirt and a striped tie, blowing everyone away with his Catullus speech, taking first place. It was him. “Why did you pick it if you thought it sounded dumb?”
I sighed. “Because Cornelia was taken. Everyone wanted to be Cornelia.”
“Yeah, everyone wanted to be Sextus too.”
“Why?” I said. Immediately I regretted it. “Oh. Never mind.”
Cam laughed. “Eighth-grade boy humor isn’t very developed.”
I laughed too. Then I said, “So do you stay in a house around here?”
“We’re renting the house two blocks down. My mom sort of made me come,” Cam said, rubbing the top of his head self-consciously.
“Oh.” I wished I would stop saying “oh,” but I couldn’t think of anything else.
“What about you? Why’d you come, Isabel?”
I was startled when he used my real name. It just rolled right off his tongue. It felt like the first day of school. But I liked it. “I don’t know,” I said. “I guess because Clay invited me.”
Everything that came out of my mouth sounded so generic. For some reason I wanted to impress this boy. I wanted him to like me. I could feel him judging me, judging the dumb things I said. I’m smart too, I wanted to tell him. I told myself it was fine, it didn’t matter if he thought I was smart or not. But it did.
“I think I’m going to leave soon,” he said, finishing his water. He didn’t look at me when he said, “Do you need a ride?”
“No,” I said. I tried to swallow my disappointment that he was leaving already. “I came with those guys over there.” I pointed at Conrad and Jeremiah.
He nodded. “I figured, the way your brother kept looking over here.”
I almost choked. “My brother? Who? Him?” I pointed at Conrad. He wasn’t looking at us. He was looking at a blond girl in a Red Sox cap, and she was looking right back. He was laughing, and he never laughed.
“Yeah.”
“He’s not my brother. He tries to act like he is, but he’s not,” I said. “He thinks he’s everybody’s big brother. It’s so patronizing.… Why are you leaving already anyway? You’re gonna miss the fireworks.”
He cleared his throat like he was embarrassed. “Um, I was actually gonna go home and study.”
“Latin?” I covered my mouth with my hand to keep from giggling.
“No. I’m studying whales. I want to intern on a whale watching boat, and I have to take this whaling exam next month,” he said, rubbing the top of his head again.
“Oh. That’s cool,” I said. I wished he wasn’t leaving already. I didn’t want him to go. He was nice. Standing next to him, I felt like Thumbelina, little and precious. He was that tall. If he left, I’d be all alone. “You know what, maybe I will get a ride. Wait here. I’ll be right back.”
I hurried over to Conrad, walking so fast I kicked up sand behind me. “Hey, I’m gonna get a ride,” I said breathlessly.
The blond Red Sox girl looked me up and down. “Hello,” she said.
Conrad said, “With who?”
