tried smiling at her, but she turned and looked at Cary,
her eyebrows raising as she gazed at me again. She
didn't see us argue often.
"We'll talk about it later," I said.
"There's nothing to talk about," Cary retorted. "Why did you follow us?"
"Why?" He shook his head. "I went to the
dance to see what it was like and then, when I saw
you two leave early, I just knew I had better keep my
eye on you. Lucky for you, I did. I can't believe you
have the nerve to question me. If it weren't for me,
you wouldn't have made it home in time for curfew." "You've got to let me--"
"Let you what, Laura? Go on. What?" "Grow up," I said.
He stared, blinking rapidly, and then turned to
the ocean again.
"I appreciate your concern, but I need my
space, too, Cary."
"Fine," he said through gritted teeth.
He spun around and glared at the house, his
anger spilling over like water boiling out of a pot. "I
don't know why we have to wait around for them to
stop gossiping. I'm hungry. We hardly had anything
for breakfast this morning."
"So, go tell-Grandma," I challenged.
He pounded up the steps to the door, nearly
ripping it off the hinges when he pulled it open. May
tugged on my hand and started to sign her questions. "Cary's hungry," I explained. "He wants to see
how much longer before we eat."
She stared after him and then glanced at me, her
suspicious eyes small and troubled. I lowered my
shoulders in defeat. Why did my most wonderful, new