“That would be hard. I do like sleeping.”
He brought his hands together and I saw the muscles in his forearm flex. “If you leave in May, will you go straight back to school?”
“I don’t know,” I answered. “I guess it depends on whether I’m all caught up or even ahead. I might not need to be there except for finals, and I might be able to take them at home. I’m sure my parents will have an opinion on it, too.” I ran a hand through my hair. “They’re supposed to come visit me at the end of the month.”
“I’m sure it will be nice for you to see them.”
“Yeah,” I agreed, but the truth was, I felt ambivalent about it. Unlike my aunt, they weren’t the most relaxing people to be around.
“Do you have any crazy cravings?”
“I love my aunt’s beef Stroganoff, mainly because it’s the best ever. And right now, I’m kind of in the mood for a grilled cheese sandwich, but I don’t know if that counts as a craving. I’ve always liked them.”
“Do you want me to make you one?”
“That’s sweet, but I’ll be okay. My aunt will be making dinner soon.”
He scanned the room, as if casting about for something else to ask. “How are your studies going?”
“Oh, don’t ruin the conversation,” I said. “I don’t want to think about school right now.”
“I will admit it’s a relief to be finished with high school.”
“When do you have to leave for West Point?”
“In July,” he said.
“Are you excited?”
“It’ll be different,” he said. “It’s not like being homeschooled. There’s a lot of structure and I hope I’ll be able to handle it. I just want to make my parents proud.”
I almost laughed out loud at the absurdity of what he’d just said. I mean, what parent wouldn’t be proud of him? It took me a moment before I suddenly realized he was serious.
“They are proud of you.”
He reached for the camera, lifted it, then carefully set it back in the same position. “I know you’ve mentioned that your sister, Morgan, is the perfect one,” he said, “but it’s not easy having Richard and Robert as brothers, either.” His voice was soft enough that I had to strain to hear him as he went on. “Did you know that they took the SAT last September? Remember, they’re only twelve, and both of them got nearly perfect scores: 1570 and 1580, which were a lot higher than I scored. And who knows if Richard will even need to go to college? He could go straight into a career in coding. You know about the internet, right? It’s going to change the world, trust me on that, and Richard is already making a name for himself in the field. He earns more than my grandfather does, working part-time and freelancing. He’ll probably be a millionaire by the time he’s my age. Robert will do the same. I think he’s a bit jealous about the money, so for the last couple of months, he’s been working with Richard on programming, in addition to building his plane. And of course, he finds it laughably easy. How can I compete with brothers like that?”
When he finished, I couldn’t say anything. His insecurity made no sense at all…except that in his family, it kind of did. “I had no idea.”
“Don’t get me wrong. I’m proud of how smart they are, but it still makes me feel like I have to do something extraordinary, too. And West Point will be a challenge, even though I’m under no illusions that I’ll ever be able to replicate what my father did there.”
“What did he do?”
“Every West Point graduate receives a final rating based on academics, merits, and demerits, which are influenced by character, leadership, honor, and things like that. My dad had the fourth-highest score in West Point history, right after Douglas MacArthur.”
I’d never heard of Douglas MacArthur, but by the way Bryce said the name, I figured he’d been someone pretty important.
“And then, of course, there’s my mom and MIT at sixteen…”
The more I thought about it, the more his insecurity began to seem justified, even if the standards in his family belonged in outer space.
“I’m sure you’ll be a general by the time you graduate.”
“Impossible.” He laughed. “But thanks for the vote of confidence.”
Outside, I heard my aunt’s car pull onto the rutted drive and a loud squeak as the engine wound down.
Bryce must have heard it, too. “The drive belt makes that noise. It probably needs to be tightened. I can fix that for her.”
I heard Aunt Linda coming up the steps before she pushed open the door. Her eyes went to the two of us and though she didn’t say it, I was pretty sure she was happy about the fact that we were on opposite sides of the couch. “Hey there,” she said.
“How’d it go?” I asked.
She took off her jacket. “No leaks and the generator is working fine.”
“Oh, good. Bryce says he can fix your car.”
“What’s wrong with my car?”
“The drive belt needs to be tightened.”
She seemed confused by the fact that I’d said it, not Bryce. When I glanced at him, I could tell he was still pondering his recent admissions. “Can Bryce stay for dinner?”
“Of course he can,” she said. “But it’s not going to be anything fancy.”
“Grilled cheese sandwiches?”
“Is that what you’d like? Maybe with soup?”
“Perfect.”
“Easy for me, too. How about in an hour?”
I felt my craving burst forth like popcorn cooking in the microwave. “I can’t wait.”
* * *
After dinner, I walked Bryce to the door. On the porch, he turned around.
“I’ll see you tomorrow?” I asked.
“I’ll be here at nine. Thanks for dinner.”
“Thank my aunt, not me. I just do the dishes.”
“I already thanked her.” He tucked a hand into his pocket before going on. “I had a nice time today,” he said. “Getting to know you better, I mean.”
“I did, too. Even if you lied to me.”
“When did I lie?”
“When you said I didn’t look pregnant.”
“You don’t,” he said. “Not at all.”
“Yeah, well”—I gave a wry smile—“just wait a month.”
* * *
The next week and a half was a blur of test prep for finals, getting a head start on next semester’s assignments, and photography. I had a quick examination with Gwen, who said that both the baby and I were doing well. I also started paying for the film and photography paper I was using; Bryce’s mom ordered in bulk so it was less expensive. Bryce was hesitant to take the money, but I was using so much film, it only seemed right. Best of all, with every roll I seemed to be getting a little bit better.
Bryce, for his part, almost always developed my film at night, when I did my extra schoolwork. We would review the contact sheets the next morning and decide together which images to print. He also helped me make flashcards when I thought I needed them, quizzed me on the chapters I needed to know in every subject, and pretty much had me ready for anything by the time my finals came around. I’m not going to say I aced them, but considering where my grades had been, I almost pulled a shoulder muscle patting myself on the back. Aside from that—and watching Bryce tighten the drive belt in my aunt’s car—the only big thing left to do was have my aunt teach us how to make biscuits at the shop.