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Weston

How did you knohen you’d met your match? Easy She creamed you in air hockey, and you weren’t even mad at her

That was the first time I considered her as a separate person, not an extension of Asa or a drag we had to babysit and censor our music and TV from

“Save Crosby some pizza for after dance class Turn the music down, Crosby doesn’t need to learn any sords Boys, go get your sister fro ho room at the pool”

I’d heard those admonishments from Mrs Dashen half s, and Crosby was part of the package deal, tagging along behind us dragging a stick, stopping to pet every da on the street She drove uess that was her job, and she was pretty darn good at it

The girl was a handful—there was nothing easy about her And since the Dashens were starting up a new business, they weren’t always available That iven free rein duringCrosby too Which, when you’re a kid, isn’t out with you It isn’t cool either when she can pitch like a pro, or is the first on your pickup team to actually break a

But we got used to it, we adapted, and she followed along Crosby, unsurprisingly, was also the first of the three of us to break a bone She was eight and ere twelve, tro thaw below We passed over a log bridge that someone had pushed across the ravine The water was cold, we could see our breath in the air, and dusk was fast approaching The mini nutjob would have made it just fine; her motor skills were intact Unfortunately, her common sense wasn’t She did a karate kick in theto show us how cool she was Her curls were bouncing, and she was

“Weston, Asa, watch!”

I laughed at the display until Crosby toppled over the side

Soaked and cold to the bone, we hauled her back to the neighborhood She cried, sure, but not so ht she was hurt It wasn’t until later that night when Mr Dashen made it home that he took one look at her wrist and declared it broken Crosby bit her lip and held back the tears When Mrs Dashen tried to ground us, Crosby came to our defense