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you.”
    My eyes fluttered back to Noelle’s hands. I held my breath, waiting for my grandfather’s camera to crash to the ground, smashing its lens into a thousand tiny pieces.
    â€œIs there any film in here?” With one hand, Noelle shielded her eyes from a wave of sunlight that burst from behind a passing cloud.
    â€œI loaded a roll this morning,” I said. I held out my hands, and Noelle passed the camera over. “My dad had to help me figure it out.”
    Noelle stood up, pulled at the waist of her tank top, and ran barefoot into the Pendeltons’ grassy backyard. “Take one of me!”
    â€œUh-oh,” Coop said. “This could be trouble.”
    â€œCome on, Noelle. My grandpa used this camera for serious stuff.”
    â€œI’m not a serious subject?” Noelle flung her arms in the air and spun in looping circles, like we used to do as kids, trying to get that drunken-dizzy feeling and seeing who could stand up the longest.
    â€œJust this morning, my dad spent twenty minutes on a grueling version of his this-is-not-a-toy lecture.” I stood and pointed the camera at a red bird perched on the branch of a tree that butted up to the back of their house. “He’s waited three years to give me this camera. It’s the one thing Grandpa Lou left just for me. I don’t want my first roll of film to—”
    â€œHow offensive.” Noelle stopped spinning and placed one hand on her chest, holding the other out into the air to steady her balance. “I’m pained beyond words that you don’t feel I’m good enough to photograph.”
    â€œYou’re a drama queen.” Coop balled up his Popsicle wrapper and launched it at Noelle. She ducked, her hair flaring out, and the paper spiraled over her head.
    I secured the camera’s strap around my neck and centered the bird in the frame. My finger found the shutter-release button and pressed. The shutter clicked and the bird startled, flying into the air.
    â€œHey!” I placed the camera against my stomach, walked back to the table, and sat. “Stupid bird.”
    â€œI won’t run away,” Noelle said in a singsong voice.
    â€œNo,” Coop said. “We’ll never be that lucky.”
    Noelle stuck her tongue out at her brother. “You love me, and you know it.”
    â€œLike I love gnarly foot fungus,” Coop said.
    â€œJust one, okay?” Noelle propped a hand behind her head, her elbow sticking up toward the deep blue sky, jutting her hip into the air in a way that made her teal miniskirt sway back and forth.
    I sighed, stood up from the table, and stepped into the silky grass. “Fine,” I said, raising the camera to my face.
    â€œHave I ever told you,” Noelle said as she moved toward me with a huge grin on her face, “that sometimes I feel like a shooting star?”
    â€œStop there,” I said, pressing the shutter-release button.
    â€œBut I’m a star, and I’m going to fly!” Noelle leaped toward me, her face filling the entire frame just as the camera snapped her picture.
    â€œNoelle, you ruined the shot,” I said with a slight whine. “I want this entire roll to be perfect.”
    She giggled and started spinning again, her long chestnut-colored hair twirling around her body.
    â€œLeave it to her,” Coop said from behind me, “to mess everything up.”
    â€œOh, shut up, Pooper,” Noelle said with a giggle.
    Coop shoved the Popsicle stick into his mouth and crunched it, smiling at Noelle.
    â€œThat drives me crazy,” she said.
    Coop crunched again, splintering the wood into several tiny slices. When he pulled it from his mouth, it looked like a miniature broom. “I live to drive you crazy.”
    â€œI’m gonna go,” I said, reaching for the camera case and tucking the Nikon into its cool dark security. “I’m gonna head to the park and get some shots of