“That was intense,” Bo said.
I nodded. It wasn’t that the twins never disagreed. Like the rest of us, they had occasional differences of opinion, but this had felt more like the kind of argument that led to hair-pulling and slaps.
“Speaking of relationship drama,” Jasper observed oh so casually, “you didn’t finish telling us about your newfriends.”
I knew I should ignore him, but one of my brother’s superpowers is that he’s almost impossible to brush off. “Why do you say it like that?”
“How did I say it?”
“I heard the italics.”
“I wasn’titalicizing. Invisible air quotes, maybe.”
“What’s your point?”
“I’m glad you asked, Mary.” Bo leaned his elbows on the table. “We do have some concerns. First you drop your old friends and now you’re chasing the popular crowd. It’s not like you.”
I shook my head, not wanting to know how they’d acquired their information, however erroneous. “That’s not how it happened.”
“And what’s in it for them?” Jasper put in, as though I hadn’t spoken.
“We get along.” Did that sound defensive? “It’s fun to hang out with them. They’re nice, and interesting, and they ... seem to like me too. We have things in common.”
Bo nodded slowly, as if he were a shrink with a notepad and I was lying on his couch describing my delusions. “Such as?”
“Well, we all like order and planning. Analyzing things. None of us want to live an unexamined life.”
Jasper lifted his silky eyebrows, as seal-dark as his hair. “Have they asked you for anything? Copying your homework, a little help with an essay, just this once?”
“We’re not even in the same classes—”
“Of course not,” Bo said soothingly, shooting Jasper a warning look. “Listen, Mary, if I were a teenage girl, you’d be at the top of my list. But we don’t know these people.”
“Aside from following them on Snapchat,” Jasper put in.
“We’ve seen these situations before,” Bo continued, “and they don’t always end happily. You need to watch your back. Don’t be their Carrie.”
“As inSister Carrie? You think I’m going to move to the big city and become someone’s kept woman?”
“As in pig’s blood in the shower and a prom night massacre when your telekinetic rage finally breaks free,” Jasper replied. “Have you considered the possibility they’re stringing you along as part of an elaborate prank?”
I stared at him for the space of several thundering heartbeats. “Your faith in me is touching.”
“It’s not you, Mary,” Bo crooned. “It’s the world. The city streets are dark and dangerous. And let’s face it, you’re an innocent.”
I wanted to tell him thatsomepeople found me sophisticated and worldly, but I knew Jasper would laugh. Taking my silence as encouragement, Bo reached across the table to gently stroke the back of my hand. “We worry about you all alone at that blackboard jungle, where we can’t watch over you.”
“I’m two years older than you,” I reminded him. “And you guys have been at public school exactly as long as I have.”
“Some things you’re born with. Savvy is my middle name.”
Jasper snorted. “Your middle name is Jaap. And I’m pretty sure the Dutch are known for tulips and wooden shoes, not street smarts.”
Bo’s family tree included Japanese, Filipino, and African offshoots, in addition to the aforementioned Dutch. What most people noticed about him, however, was his adorableness. Even now that he was growing from baby-faced to gawky, strangers smiled indulgently at Bo, sighing over his long lashes as though his good looks were a favor he’d done the world.
“You need to be sure these people appreciate you for the right reasons.” Bo put a hand to his heart. “The way I appreciate you.”
There was no point trying to explain the difference between being used and beinguseful. Just because Jasper and Bo saw me as plain old Mary, the least interesting of the Porter-Malcolm sisters, didn’t mean other people looked at me the same way. To the larger world, I could be someone new and exciting.
