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shrugs.
“Sorry for not telling you. Do you forgive me?” She looks at me in
the mirror with please-don’t-kill-me eyes.
    “Ugh. You’re like an annoying little sister.
Not that I would know, but if I had one, I bet she’d be just like
you.”
    She presses her lips together, smearing shiny
pink evenly. “Are you done?”
    “Yeah. But I’m still mad.”
    We walk out of the bathroom, thankful for
fresh air. The boys sit at the table, staring at the pizza like
starving dogs. When Evan’s gaze makes it over to us, he stands
again, and Caleb follows.
    The standing and stuff is starting to creep
me out. It’s not like we’re royalty or anything.
    “Sorry about that. You could’ve started
eating.” I slide into the booth. Rainy scoots next to me, trapping
me. Evan sits in front of me, grinning.
    “Would you like a slice?” He uses the spatula
to pick up a slice of pizza and puts it on the plate in front of
me. “It’s real cheesy.”
    And, uh, so are you. “Thanks.”
    I can’t get over how sparkly his eyes
are—like they’ve been sprayed with a coat of Rainy’s shiny lip
gloss, but without the pink tinge. He seems happy, even while he
eats. People aren’t usually happy for no reason. Maybe he really
likes pizza.
    Caleb, on the other hand, seems downright
frustrated, like he can’t think of a single word to say. There’s
awkwardness painted around him that Rainy isn’t helping out with.
She’s chowing down pizza and slurping her soda like nobody’s
business.
    “So, uh, where do you guys go to school?” I
ask to break the silence.
    Evan says, “We’re homeschooled.”
    “Really? Weird.” I sip my root beer. “I’ve
never met anyone that was homeschooled. I bet it’s awesome not to
have to get up so early every morning and deal with lame
teachers.”
    “We still have to get up, but, yeah, no
teachers.”
    “Are you related or something?” I point
fingers at Evan and Caleb.
    “We’re cousins. But, we don’t live together
or anything like that.” Evan stuffs half a slice of pizza into his
mouth.
    Caleb grabs another piece. “We might as well
though. Our family is pretty close and we see each other all the
time.”
    “Cool,” I say.
    Evan shrugs. “We’re very blessed.”
    Rainy’s eyes bug out for a second. She takes
another bite. I can imagine what she’s thinking: “Fruit Loops.”
    “Good pizza,” I say.
    Rainy snorts soda then coughs to cover it up.
“Yeah, this is great pizza.”
    I kick her under the table. “Evan—do you, uh,
play any sports?” Goodie guys like to talk about sports, I
think.
    “Not really. I run though.” He points to
Caleb. “We’re training to run a marathon on New Year’s.”
    “Really?” I ask. “I can’t even run a mile,
let alone, like…eh. How many miles are in a marathon anyway?”
    Caleb grabs another slice of pizza.
“Twenty-six. It’ll be our first marathon. We’ve run in
half-marathons before, but never a full one.” He shrugs, like it’s
no big deal.
    Rainy sets her soda down and swallows. “No,
seriously? That’s flippin’ crazy. Why do people run in marathons
anyway? It’s not like someone is chasing them for twenty-six miles.
I just don’t get it.”
    Evan laughs. Caleb crinkles his brows,
offended like.
    I say, “ Some people like to challenge
themselves to do better and achieve goals. And some people actually
like running.”
    Evan looks at me, still smiling.
    “Is that why you do it? Or is there another
reason?” I ask.
    “It is for me,” Evan says. “When we ran the
half-marathon last year, it gave me a great sense of accomplishment
to cross the finish line. I had to dig deep to find the strength.
It was like being in a meditative state.” He pauses. “This may
sound a little corny…”
    Not any cornier than anything else about him.
But he’s cute, so that’s okay.
    “…but when I get to a point where I think I
can’t go any further, where every single fiber of my body hurts, I
pray. And when I do, it