"Oh. " Kate didnt know what to say except, "Im sorry. " Quiet pressed into the room. Instead of making eye contact with Tully, Kate studied the table. Never in her life had she seen so much junk food in one place. Pop-Tarts, Capn Crunch and Quisp boxes, Fritos, Funyuns, Twinkies, Zingers, and Screaming Yellow Zonkers. "Wow. I wish my mom would let me eat all this stuff. " Kate immediately wished shed kept her mouth shut. Now she sounded hopelessly uncool. To give herself something to do—and somewhere to look besides Tullys unreadable face—she put the casserole on the counter. "Its still hot," she said, stupidly, considering that she was wearing oven mitts that looked like killer whales.
Tully lit up a cigarette and leaned against the pink wall, eyeing her.
Kate glanced back at the door to the living room. "She doesnt care if you smoke?"
"Shes too sick to care. "
"Oh. "
"You want a drag?"
"Uh . . . no. Thanks. "
"Yeah. Thats what I thought. "
On the wall, the black Kit-Kat Klock swished its tail.
"Well, you probably have to get home for dinner," Tully said.
"Oh," Kate said again, sounding even more nerdy than she had before. "Right. "
Tully led the way back through the living room, where her mother was now sprawled on the sofa. "Bye, girl from across the street with the cool neighbor attitude. "
Tully yanked the door open. Beyond it, the falling night was a blurry purple rectangle that seemed too vivid to be real. "Thanks for the food," she said. "I dont know how to cook, and Cloud is cooked, if you know what I mean. "
"Cloud?"
"Thats my moms current name. "
"Oh. "
"Itd be cool if I did know how to cook. Or if we had a chef or something. With my mom having cancer and all. " Tully looked at her.
Tell her youll teach her.
Take a risk.
But she couldnt do it. The potential for humiliation was sky-high. "Well . . . bye. "
"Later. "
Kate stepped past her and into the night.
She was halfway to the road when Tully called out to her, "Hey, wait up. "
Kate slowly turned around.
"Whats your name?"
She felt a flash of hope. "Kate. Kate Mularkey. "
Tully laughed. "Mularkey? Like bullshit?"
It was hardly funny anymore, that joke about her last name. She sighed and turned back around.
"I didnt mean to laugh," Tully said, but she didnt stop.
"Yeah. Whatever. "