“Our fair day,” he says, like he is clarifying my words.
“That’s right.”
“I have to confess,” he says. “When you came and got me this morning, I was fried and thinking of ways to leave Hedgebrook, at least for a little while. Your timing was surprising.”
“Or a convenient coincidence. You obviously haven’t been paying attention.”
I hear the tone in my voice, and I see Seth look away. Does he feel like he has just been soundly patted on the head? It wasn’t my intention, but it seems to be the result nonetheless. I search for something to say to diminish my last words. It is clear that I am not good at small talk.
“It was more than your scruffy hair,” I blurt out.
His gaze darts back toward me. “What?”
He heard me. Why must I repeat it? “It was more than your uncombed hair that I noticed.”
“Like?” I hear the caution in his voice.
“On your first day, I noticed how you moved around in a room. Chemistry. The library. The dining hall. Everywhere. The way you talked. There were no strangers for you, even when that’s exactly what everyone was.”
“And that surprised you?”
“Not surprised. I didn’t even know you. It just stood out to me, and
I found it curious that on your first day you were comfortable striking up conversations with people you had never met. Anyone and everyone.”
“Is that how I looked? Comfortable?” He smiles and shakes his head. “I was nervous. I always am. But I’ve learned to live with that.”
“Live with it? What does that mean?”
He shifts on his rock so he is facing me straight on. “I move a lot because of my father’s job. I’ve lived all over the world, but I’ve never lived anywhere more than a year, so I can’t waste a lot of time trying to get to know people. I have to jump right in; otherwise, I would never make a single friend before it was time for me to move again.”
Never more than a year? How is that possible? He has moved more than I have.
“How long will you be at Hedgebrook?” I ask.
He grins. “After today, who knows? But technically I’ll be here until I graduate. My parents are in Singapore for my dad’s new job, but with college looming, they didn’t think my mom should tutor me anymore. I’m ahead in all my subjects, but I need some college prep, and they thought the consistency of a couple of years at the same place would be best for me. Collegewise, that is.”
“Do you miss them?”
He stands and wipes his hands on his pants and finally nods. “Yeah.”
In all the times I watched Seth at a distance, I never would have guessed he was nervous. I never would have guessed that he missed anyone. I never would have guessed that he had slept in more beds than me. I never would have guessed that we had anything in common at all.
I see Mira and Aidan approaching and I stand. Seth swings around and sees them too.
They hop the brook, Lucky in Mira’s arms, and she sets him on the ground between us. He immediately occupies himself with a golden dandelion.
“Lucky took care of his business!” Mira proudly announces.
“You won’t believe this,” Aidan says, shaking his head.
“He’s brilliant,” Mira continues. “I said to him, Lucky, my man, we have places to go and people to see, and you need to stop eating and take care of your business. That’s what I said, just like that, and then I pointed at the ground, and right then—”
“He did. He took care of business, all right,” Aidan finishes. “I had to jump out of the way.”
Mira beams. “What do you think of that!”
I shake my head. “Some people might choose to call it impeccable timing.”