Mae fixed Ana a small meal, as the Tucks had already eaten, and Ana sat in
the kitchen, while the rest of the family sat in the living room.
"Now, who is she, Miles?" Tuck asked.
Miles shifted uncomfortably. "She's my housemate, and she works with me as well, at the magazine. I take the photos, she writes the articles."
"So you must be spending a lot of time with her," Mae remarked.
Miles blushed. "Well, yeah. but that doesn't mean anything. We're just friends. Sometimes we aren't even friends. Especially now. I bet she followed me. I could really kill her!"
Jesse said nothing as Miles and his parents talked over Ana's arrival. He sat in his little corner, thinking back on the last time something like that had happened. Well, it wasn't exactly the same. For one, Winnie had not been following anyone. Suddenly, he didn't want to hear this conversation anymore. It felt too much like the family discussing how to handle Winnie. He stood up and crept out of the room, unnoticed.
He went to the kitchen, where Ana was eating and poring over the newspaper. He helped himself to a pack of potato chips, and plopped himself opposite her, studying her. She looked up at him, not in the least bit shocked or startled, and gave him a quick smile. "Hi." Then she was back to her reading.
"Miles thinks you followed him," Jesse told her, crunching on his chips. He felt like talking to this girl, and he hoped that she would want to talk to him too, instead of reading the boring newspapers.
To his satisfaction, Ana put aside the newspaper and looked at him. Her eyes shone brightly as she laughed. "Miles thinks he's the smartest guy on this earth, when he's in fact the biggest dork. I didn't follow him at all. He left your address on our kitchen table. Probably to remind himself where he was going. Strange fellow. First he doesn't want me to come to New Zealand. Then he leaves the address where everyone can see it."
Jesse laughed. "Yes, that sounds like something Miles would do sometimes. He thinks he's very careful, but he overlooks the biggest clues. I remember one time." He stopped. He had been about to tell her about their old escapades, trying to lose that strange man in the yellow suit. He couldn't tell her THAT, of course. Firstly, it would totally freak her out. Secondly, it was a great secret in the family. Thirdly. it reminded him too much of Winnie. It was something sacred to him, and he wasn't very comfortable sharing it with someone he had met just ten minutes ago.
Ana gave him a look, then shrugged before going on. "At last I've found someone who thinks Miles is a real weirdo."
"Same here. My parents think that he's such a proper, sensible boy. Anyway. tell me what he's like in France. It must be either very boring or very funny."
"It's both. Sometimes he seems to be in this kind of trance or something, and he leaves stuff all around and forgets where he left them. Other times he seems to be thinking of something, and doesn't hear you when you talk to him. Those are the times when it gets funny. When he is all flustered, desperately searching for his things, or desperately trying to figure out what people are talking about now, and what he just missed. The boring part is when he gets really serious about his work, and spends hours taking photos and developing them, making sure they are just right. It's really boring to see him examining all his photos."
"I can imagine. Just hearing about it makes me want to fall asleep. What else? I haven't seen Miles in such a long time, and even though he talks a lot about France, I know that there are plenty of things he wouldn't tell me. He might be weird, but he knows when not to give me ammunition against him. Oh, let me get that." Jesse took Ana's empty bowl from her and went to the sink.
Ana laughed. "Wow, you must be really curious about your brother's French life. Well. he's very popular. With the ladies, of course."
"I knew it!" Jesse said triumphantly. "How many girlfriends has he had?"
"None. That's the strange part. He doesn't like any of those girls. They're totally crazy for him, but he couldn't care less about any of them. Unless they had his photos in their possession, of course. I wonder why he doesn't like any of them, some of them are actually rather pretty."
"Oh." Jesse knew why, but it was something else that he did not want to tell Ana. That was Miles' private business, and he would let Miles do the telling.
"Now, who is she, Miles?" Tuck asked.
Miles shifted uncomfortably. "She's my housemate, and she works with me as well, at the magazine. I take the photos, she writes the articles."
"So you must be spending a lot of time with her," Mae remarked.
Miles blushed. "Well, yeah. but that doesn't mean anything. We're just friends. Sometimes we aren't even friends. Especially now. I bet she followed me. I could really kill her!"
Jesse said nothing as Miles and his parents talked over Ana's arrival. He sat in his little corner, thinking back on the last time something like that had happened. Well, it wasn't exactly the same. For one, Winnie had not been following anyone. Suddenly, he didn't want to hear this conversation anymore. It felt too much like the family discussing how to handle Winnie. He stood up and crept out of the room, unnoticed.
He went to the kitchen, where Ana was eating and poring over the newspaper. He helped himself to a pack of potato chips, and plopped himself opposite her, studying her. She looked up at him, not in the least bit shocked or startled, and gave him a quick smile. "Hi." Then she was back to her reading.
"Miles thinks you followed him," Jesse told her, crunching on his chips. He felt like talking to this girl, and he hoped that she would want to talk to him too, instead of reading the boring newspapers.
To his satisfaction, Ana put aside the newspaper and looked at him. Her eyes shone brightly as she laughed. "Miles thinks he's the smartest guy on this earth, when he's in fact the biggest dork. I didn't follow him at all. He left your address on our kitchen table. Probably to remind himself where he was going. Strange fellow. First he doesn't want me to come to New Zealand. Then he leaves the address where everyone can see it."
Jesse laughed. "Yes, that sounds like something Miles would do sometimes. He thinks he's very careful, but he overlooks the biggest clues. I remember one time." He stopped. He had been about to tell her about their old escapades, trying to lose that strange man in the yellow suit. He couldn't tell her THAT, of course. Firstly, it would totally freak her out. Secondly, it was a great secret in the family. Thirdly. it reminded him too much of Winnie. It was something sacred to him, and he wasn't very comfortable sharing it with someone he had met just ten minutes ago.
Ana gave him a look, then shrugged before going on. "At last I've found someone who thinks Miles is a real weirdo."
"Same here. My parents think that he's such a proper, sensible boy. Anyway. tell me what he's like in France. It must be either very boring or very funny."
"It's both. Sometimes he seems to be in this kind of trance or something, and he leaves stuff all around and forgets where he left them. Other times he seems to be thinking of something, and doesn't hear you when you talk to him. Those are the times when it gets funny. When he is all flustered, desperately searching for his things, or desperately trying to figure out what people are talking about now, and what he just missed. The boring part is when he gets really serious about his work, and spends hours taking photos and developing them, making sure they are just right. It's really boring to see him examining all his photos."
"I can imagine. Just hearing about it makes me want to fall asleep. What else? I haven't seen Miles in such a long time, and even though he talks a lot about France, I know that there are plenty of things he wouldn't tell me. He might be weird, but he knows when not to give me ammunition against him. Oh, let me get that." Jesse took Ana's empty bowl from her and went to the sink.
Ana laughed. "Wow, you must be really curious about your brother's French life. Well. he's very popular. With the ladies, of course."
"I knew it!" Jesse said triumphantly. "How many girlfriends has he had?"
"None. That's the strange part. He doesn't like any of those girls. They're totally crazy for him, but he couldn't care less about any of them. Unless they had his photos in their possession, of course. I wonder why he doesn't like any of them, some of them are actually rather pretty."
"Oh." Jesse knew why, but it was something else that he did not want to tell Ana. That was Miles' private business, and he would let Miles do the telling.