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taunted.
    If there were ever a moment I could've killed my parents, that would've been it. I felt my face flame red. Dad must've watched the entire episode of Luke and me in the park. But would he have mentioned the hand-holding part to Mom? And would Mom have put it in her letter to Marty? I seriously doubted it, so I took my chances and called his bluff.
    "He did not," I said with force. "Mom didn't put that in your letter. You made it up."
    I knew he'd made it up when he leaned over the counter and snickered. "I bet you wanted him to, though."
    "No, not at all," I announced, primly raising my chin a notch as if to say I considered myself too good for the likes of Luke Carter. "I'm too smart to fall for a pretty face." I glanced over to where Abby was still chatting with Mrs. Bates. "Tell me, Marty. Is she as enlightening to talk to as she is to stare at? Or do you not bother with conversation?"
    "Shut up," he said, and glanced away.
    "Does her dad know?" I watched his face go noticeably paler. "I'm sure Principal Eggrow would just love the idea of 46
    The Stillburrow Crush
    by Linda Kage
    his daughter dating the boy who tried to break the record for most detentions."
    "Carrie." His voice was low, hard and spoken through unmoving lips. He turned to stare evil beams at me. "It's none of your business. Back off."
    Behind us, the front door of the store opened. The bell jingled above it but Marty and I continued to have our stand off. I was sure my expression matched the glaring-eyes, pointed-chin, flaring-nostrils look Marty had.
    "You didn't tell her you're the one who dubbed her dear father Mr. Egghead, did you?" I said.
    "No. But I told her that last year you taped up pictures of her cousin Rick on the walls of your bedroom."
    "Arg! You're such a jerk." I dug my index finger into his chest. He pushed it away with the back his hand. "Go ahead and make a fool of yourself over Abby. I really don't care what you do with her. But why don't you just come home once in a while?"
    He rolled his eyes. "Are we back to that again?"
    "Well, yeah. That's what I'm doing here in the first place."
    Marty sighed and stared at the ceiling for a moment.
    "Come on, now," he said, and rubbed his eyes as if he were tired. "I'm too old to be living at home. It was time."
    I laughed at him with a kind of snort. "I'm not talking about moving back in, bonehead. Heck, I'm glad you're gone and not hogging the bathroom every morning. I'm talking about visits, calls, e-mails, or a message to let Mom and Dad know you're still alive. Sometimes Mom asks me if I heard the phone ring in the other room when the house is perfectly 47
    The Stillburrow Crush
    by Linda Kage
    quiet. Now tell me, Marty. Why isn't it ringing? How hard can it be to dial seven little digits? What's so difficult about dropping by for five minutes? It's only four blocks away."
    "I have a phone too," he said, "and I never hear it ring."
    "Because they think you want to be left alone." I felt like kicking as well as hitting him at this point, just to pound some sense into his void of a head. "Because they think they're respecting your privacy. Quit acting so selfish and stubborn.
    Make the first move. And quit being such a moron." I slapped a hand over my mouth. My voice had raised a few decibels too high.
    I glanced around. Abby and Mrs. Bates had stopped talking and were staring down the aisle at us.
    Marty had murder in his eyes as he glared at me. His hands shook as he fisted them at his sides. "Fine," he said.
    "I'll call her sometime."
    I wanted to scream at him. Throw my fists. He looked mad, not sorry or remorseful. Where was the regret? How could he not care? Our parents weren't that terrible. They were strict and old fashioned, yes, but they were fair, and never once had they hidden their love and support for us.
    They had their faults but what parent didn't? I couldn't understand why he was being so cruel. I used to know him so well, but not anymore.
    "Fine," I repeated, and