We all turned to see a girl sitting on top of her bike. Her very pink and sparkled-up bike.
“I’m Arianna Peterson, but I go by Ari.”
Ellie immediately walked up to the girl. “I love your name!”
“And your bike!” Lynn added.
Rodney stared at her in a way I didn’t like. He and I were the same age, three years older than our sisters, and this girl looked to be Ellie’s age.
“Hey, I’m Rodney.”
Pushing past me, Rodney stuck his hand out to Ari. She gave him a quick smile, then turned to me. The way her mouth moved into a full-blown smile was something I would never forget for the rest of my life.
“And what’s your name?” she asked.
I opened my mouth, and nothing came out.
“That’s my older brother, Jefferson.”
My sister saying my name caused my mouth to work again. “Jeff, I like going by Jeff.”
Ari’s eyes seemed to shine. “I like the name Jeff.”
“What about Rodney? You like that name?” Rodney interjected.
Lynn and Ellie both giggled.
“I just moved here.”
Ellie jumped. “Oh my gosh. We can all be best of friends.”
Glancing over to Lynn, I saw she was glaring at Ari. She walked over to me and whispered, “I don’t like her.”
Not taking my eyes off the new girl, I asked, “Why not?”
“Do you see the way she’s looking at you, Jeff? She likes you, and she ignored my brother.”
I laughed and patted Lynn on the head. “And let’s hope it always stays that way.”
“Milo!”
I snapped out of the memory and watched Ari as she lay on the ground with two dogs now attacking her with kisses.
“You know, I would say it’s kind of creepy the way you watch her every Tuesday and
Friday.”
Ignoring Ralph, I kept my eyes on the beautiful brunette in the play yard.
“But then again, it’s also pathetic.”
“Hey!” I said to the old man as he made his way over to me and sat on the bench.
“You can see her a hell of a lot better from the bench.”
“I know that, Ralph. I don’t want her to see me.”
“Why?”