Reynie

Over the next couple of days, Kate seemed to come back. She resumed hanging out with the boys, teaching Madge tricks, and being loud and rowdy when she was told not to be. Her odd behavior at school lingered, however, which Reynie found mystifying.

Granted, he had a whole new circle of friends, at least when he was in high school. He had an inkling that somehow, for whatever reason, usually-not-jealous Kate was… jealous. It was understandable; they had been best friends for awhile, and seeing him gain new ones couldn't be easy. Still, there was no reason for her to feel replaced or uncomfortable, and Reynie struggled with himself about this. Just because things were going well with Sophie didn't mean he disliked Kate. There was no way he could think of to express these feelings to her and explain that she was always going to be his closest, dearest friend and he would always maintain the same opinion of her, as much as he wished he could. And so he simply tried to accept that she would never be able to be around him when he was with Sophie.

This was a fact over which Sophie also expressed confusion. They were getting ice cream one day in town and she said, "I don't understand Kate."

"What about her?" asked Reynie, reading over the list of flavors.

Sophie scrunched up her nose in thought, a habit that she had when she was thinking. "I guess… she's so nice, and I absolutely love her, but every time I start feeling like maybe we're friends, she gets weird when you come along. I mean, you probably haven't noticed, but I really don't get it. Maybe I'm being crazy. I don't know." She shook her head.

"No, I've noticed it too," agreed Reynie. "She's been the same way with me. I don't know why."

"Well, whatever it is, I hope she doesn't hate me for some reason."

Reynie laughed at this. "The thought of someone hating you is absurd," he told her matter-of-factly. "Anyway, I –"

Sophie tugged at his hand. He stopped talking. "Don't look, but someone's staring at us," she whispered. "Don't look, don't look, don't look!" she hissed as Reynie started to crane his neck. "Sorry, it just creeps me out when – can I have a small mint chip in a waffle cone, please?" she asked brightly, as they'd just made it to the head of the line.

Reynie placed his order too – a small pistachio in a cup – and when he turned to grab a plastic spoon, a girl was indeed staring at him. He flinched; she was watching him so intently that it made him extremely self-conscious, and he cautiously took in her appearance. She was tall, broad-shouldered, and had piercing dark blue eyes.

Then, all of a sudden, she realized they were making eye contact and, starting slightly, swiftly left the parlor.

"Did you see her?" asked Sophie, joining him and reaching for the hot fudge sauce. "Creepy, right?"

"She was," Reynie concurred. Why did she look somehow… familiar? As if he'd met her long ago, or perhaps someone associated with her.

"And did you see her hair?"

"No, what was wrong with it?"

"Wrong with it?" Sophie said through a mouthful of ice cream. "There was nothing wrong with it. It was so freaking perfect."

Wondering privately what "perfect" hair entailed, and wondering vaguely if he had it, Reynie only nodded.

"I haven't seen her before, either," continued Sophie as they headed out to the green in the center of town, catching a spare drip on her cone with her tongue. "Maybe she's new!"

Reynie, who found the prospect of new girls much less intriguing than Sophie, nodded again.

"Am I boring you or something?" she asked, sitting down next to him in the grass. "You're quiet today."

"Sorry, I'm just trying to figure out why that girl looked familiar."

Sophie's eyes widened. "Do you know her?" she asked eagerly. "What's her name?" She paused, then laughed. "Sorry I'm so nosy. I've lived here too long, so every time someone new comes along I get super excited and start interrogating either them or anyone who has information on them."

"It's fine," said Reynie, smiling. He felt badly that he wasn't as talkative or interesting as usual. She was so lively and cheerful that he would sometimes rather listen to her chatter away, just because he privately found her voice so sweet.

She looked over at him, her eyes sparkling, and said, "I'm really glad you came here, you know. It's so weird that you lived here all along and we never once ran into each other."

"I know," agreed Reynie, then shyly added, "I wish I'd met you earlier."

She blushed slightly and said, "Me too."

Then it was silent, but a comfortable silence. The weather at this time of year was very pleasant – more so than that of most other places – and the sun was bathing everything in golden light. Reynie looked at Sophie, who was now concentrated on preventing her cone from dripping all over her shirt. A lock of hair fell out of her neat side braid, and she swiped it away in one smooth motion.

Remembering his conversation with Sticky, Reynie felt a tug in his chest. What if this was all just friendship? What if he asked her out, and she said no? But then again, he couldn't stand to lose her at this point. Not to one of the other guys, one of the jocks.

"So where do you think you know that girl from?" Sophie said presently.

"No idea."

She shrugged and squinted into the sun, then turned and grinned at him, shifting closer, and he felt his heartbeat accelerate. Sticky had said that he was the one to ask the girl out. That was the way it was supposed to be. That's how it would have to happen.

For a brief instant, Kate's face flashed in his head: she was so passionate about everything, so excited to learn new things and go to new places. He was tremendously fond of her, but the way he felt about Sophie was different. It felt tingly and exhilarating and bubbly in the pit of his stomach and…

Forgetting about everything for the moment, Reynie blurted out, "Would you like to go out with me?"

So there it is. We'll have to see what happens next, but I'll tell you right now that the girl staring at them was no ordinary – or necessarily innocent – character. Thanks for reading! Review!