Cary shrugged. He was staring at the soup now. He didn’t seem to be seeing anything, no matter where his face was pointed. The wind was blowing his hair all over. He needed a haircut, and maybe a shower.
Cary wasn’t especially cute.
Like, none of the girls who hung out with Shiloh would ever think so. Nobody decent had a crush on Cary.
But Shiloh liked his face. She liked his weird eyes... They were gold on the outside and raggedly brown in the middle—but from any distance, they looked one color. Like maple syrup.
Cary’s eyes were kind of small and pouchy. His chin was pointy. His top lip was thin.
His face didn’t sound nice when you broke it up into parts. But it was nice altogether. She liked looking at him.
“My mom got married,” he said.
Shiloh made a face. “When?”
“Today.”
It was a Tuesday. “Was there a wedding?”
“No,” he said, “they just did it. At the courthouse. It doesn’t change anything—he already lives with us.”
“Do you like him?” she asked.
Cary puffed out a harsh breath. “No.”
“I’m sorry.”
He shrugged.
“Where’s your real dad?”
“He died when I was eight.”
“Oh.” Shiloh touched Cary’s arm for a second. “I’m really sorry. Was he any good?”
“I think so, yeah. He was good to me.” Cary looked down at the ground. He scrubbed a hand up through the back of his hair. “He was my grandpa, actually. My mom is my grandma.”
That made sense. Cary’s mom was older than everybody else’s.
“She doesn’t think I know,” he said. He was still staring at the sidewalk.
“You mean, your mom doesn’t know...” Shiloh paused. “Thatyouknow... that she’s not your mom?”
Cary looked up at her without lifting his head. “Pretty much.”
The wind was blowing Shiloh’s hair into her mouth. She tucked some behind her ear. “How’d you find out?”
“It was... well, it was on the papers they sent home with us for free and reduced lunch.” Cary looked in Shiloh’s eyes. His eyebrows were pulled up a little in the middle. “My real mom is my sister. Like, my birth mom, I guess.”
Shiloh worried at her lip. “Oh, wow.”
“Yeah.”
“And nobody knows that you know?”
He shook his head.
Shiloh looked down at her soup. She ate a few bites. “My dad could be anybody.”
