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"I didn’t say it’s weird," I said "Let rabbed his array?" I whispered

"Purple," Cubby corrected

I nodded my head "Yep I like that one the best If you were in a sci-fi movie, that eye would be the source of all your powers"

Both of his eyes widened, and then he smiled, a slow, surprised drizzle that started at his ht up to his mismatched eyes That was the moment I realized there were two different ways to look at boys There was the regular way--the way I’d done my whole life--and then there was this way A way that otten in Mickey Mouse irons

The sparkler send-off for the need couple was a joke Not only did ally tipsy oldest brother atte one of the rosebushes on fire, but carooain until we ran out of sparklers and even the an to brayat six thirty sharp," Aunt Mel yelled over her shoulder as Uncle Number Three carried her back into the hotel The train of her dress dragged behind her, sweeping up bits of confetti and dried sparklers The send-off had been just for show They were staying at Ross Manor tonight with everyone else

"Finally free to go," h her hair Her ed, and it made her eyes look blurry

The rest of us followed behind her, slogging silently up the billiard-green staircase to our floor, then filed one by one into our closet of a roo two college football players ere roughly toddler-size versions of King Kong, Aunt Mel had assigned us what had to be the smallest room in the hotel

Fuzzy floral wallpaper decorated the walls, and my brothers’ cots occupied most of the space, so all that was left over was a tiny corridor running along the base of the beds And of coursesupply of junk--candy wrappers, tangled-up phone cables, and more sneakers than should really exist in the world I had a tered to clai the tub on at full blast I had no intention of actually taking a bath I just needed to drown out the sound of everyone crashing around the roo with my family madeit with an oversize T-shirt and a pair of black pajama shorts, then brushed my teeth as slowly as possible

"Gotta pee, sis!" Walt shouted, banging on the door "Gotta pee, gotta pee, gotta pee pee peeeeee"

I yanked the door open toYou should tradeht you’d like it"

I pickedhalf a dozen sneaker landdeep into et It had beenskill over the past ten days--ever since Ian had burst into my room to tell me how badly I’d screwed up his life His life Like he was the one ould have to spend the whole upco Cubby and everyone who knew Cubby My stohtly as the sheets

"So what’s the strategy exactly? Wear et it’s hto iving turkey, and Archie lay with his face planted on his cot, still wearing his suit Ian propped himself up on a eneral direction

"You gave it tomy voice for what a sitcom writer would mark as RETORT, SASSY It was an exceptionally comfortable T-shirt with a black collar and sleeves and SMELLS LIKE THE ONLY NIRVANA SONG YOU KNOW written across the chest in block letters