Read Online The Ordinary Life of Emily P. Bates by Anna Cackler - Free Book Online Page A

dumb.”
    “It’ll look dumb anyway,” Shannon said.
    “I think it’s nice,” Margo said with a smile. “Spice things up a bit, you know?”
    “Sure,” I said. I leaned forward in an attempt to see Finn’s handiwork, but he kept it shielded with his other arm.
    “It’s a good thing you’re not left handed.” Ethan twirled a pencil between his fingers. “Hey, did you figure out that last question on the math assignment?”
    “Of course not,” I said. “I have no idea how to handle a word problem. Why can’t they just give us an equation and let us solve it?”
    “Because Mr. Yarsden hates you,” Shannon mumbled. She was rifling through her bag for a pen. I rolled my eyes and looked away. Shannon was obviously not having a good day today for lord knew why.
    “There,” Finn said triumphantly. “A tribute to your fatal fall and a good life lesson.”
    I turned my arm so that we could all read the short poem that he had jotted onto the rough plaster.
     
    Reflection
    Each time I see the Upside-Down Man
Standing in the water,
I look at him and start to laugh,
Although I shouldn't oughtter.
For maybe in another world
Another time
Another town,
Maybe HE is right side up
And I am upside down.
                                -Shel Silverstein
     
    I laughed. “That’s awesome! Thanks.”
    “No problem. It was my mom’s favorite one.”
    “Yeah, it was,” Shannon said with a nostalgic smile.
    I frowned, unsure of what to say to that. The twins’ mother had always been an uncomfortable subject for me. She had died of breast cancer just before they’d moved to St. John so I’d never met her. I tried to think of something to say, but nothing came. Nothing ever came in a situation like that.
    “Oh, I’ve got one!” Shannon cried, reaching for Finn’s marker. I breathed a sigh of relief, grateful that Shannon had changed the subject so quickly. I held out my hand to her so that she wouldn’t yank on it like Finn had done.
    I barely had time to read the words, “Never try to teach a pig to sing. It wastes your time and it annoys the pig. –Unknown,” before Ethan was pulling my arm across the table to add his little insights. I tried very hard not to notice that my fingers were pressed against his chest while he scribbled his quote, but I couldn’t repress the flush. Shannon had to have seen it. I could almost hear the gears turning in her head as she watched my face get redder and redder.
    “There,” he said, then read: “’If you’re not sure if someone’s mad at you, just throw a rock at them. Then you’ll know.’”
    “Who said that?” I asked, grinning.
    “I did, stupid.” He flashed his gleaming smile at me as the warning bell rang out over the cafeteria. “Hey, by the way, we never did get around to watching The Meaning of Life . You free tomorrow night?”
    Oh great. Shannon and Margo had to be loving this. Even Finn was watching me curiously. “S-sure,” I said. “After school?”
    “Tomorrow after supper,” he said. “I told my step mom I’d catch up on some chores before I did anything else.”
    “Sure.” I tried to smile, but I’m not sure I pulled it off very well.
                  The day passed uneventfully, and so did the next. Ethan was still acting the same as usual. He didn’t even sit with us at lunch on Tuesday. He sat with the basketball team, which he had fit right in with after the first week of school, and didn’t even glance in my direction the entire time. After school we sat at the picnic tables and wrestled a few word problems into submission, but he didn’t even mention our plans once except to confirm that I was going to show. He was just casual, easy-going Ethan. Same old, same old.
                  Shouldn’t something have changed when he asked me out?
     
                  “Are you seriously thinking about dating Cavanaugh?” Finn asked me suddenly before Lit class on