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vaguely recognized him but could n’t remember exactly who he was. “ Huh? Oh hi, ” she replied without much interest.
    “ I—uh—I was just wondering … ” Gary cast wild, desperate eyes in my direction. I nodded again and smiled reassuringly.
    “ Yes? ” Colette prompted him.
    “ Uh—we’ve been having lots of weather lately, haven’t we? ” he blurted out.
    Colette looked mildly surprised for a moment, then turned her glamour-girl smile on high beam. “ Yes, lately it seems as if we’ve been having weather every day, ” she agreed, and continued walking down the hall.
    Gary shut his eyes and beat his head against the wall. “ I can’t believe I said that! She must think I’m a total moron! ” he moaned.
    I hurried over to him before he could knock himself unconscious. “ You weren’t all that bad, ” I lied, but Gary refused to be comforted.
    “ I was terrible ! What’s wrong with me, Molly? Why can’t I talk to girls? ”
    “ I’m a girl, ” I pointed out. “ You don’t seem to have any problem talking to me . ”
    “Y eah, but that's different. You're just Ma rk’s sister. ”
    F o r some reason, that remark upset me. Then I reminded myself that this was only Gary Hadley, and it really didn’t matter one b i t what he thought of me.
    “ All you need is a little practice, ” I insisted. Suddenly I had an inspiration. “ Why don’t you come over to my house after school? I just thought of a dynamite way to teach you how to carry on a conversation. It’ll work like a charm, or your money back. ”
    At that, Gary brightened a little. “ Just what I always wanted, ” he joked feebly. “ A fairy godmother with a money-back guarantee! ”
    “ Be sure to come dressed to play basket ball, ” I called after him as he started down the hall.
    Gary turned and stared at me. “ Dressed to play … ? I don’t get it. ”
    “ You will, ” I promised. “ See you this afternoon! ”
     
    For the rest of the day I had a hard time concentrating on my schoolwork. I was sure hit upon the perfect way to teach Gary the art of social conversation. All he really needed was a little confidence. And since he couldn’t talk to girls, we’d start off with something he could do: play basketball.
    When the final bell rang that afternoon, I practically ran the three blocks home. I went straight to my room, where I threw off my school clothes and put on boxer shorts and an oversize T-shirt. Then I pulled my hair up into a ponytail, grabbed my tennis shoes, and went downstairs to wait for Gary.
    He arrived about fifteen minutes later, dressed in gym shorts and a gray T-shirt bearing the words “ Carson H. S. Phys. Ed. ” in maroon lett ers. His long legs were incredi bly skinny, and his oversize feet in their heavily padded high-tops looked enormous. His goofy glasses were held in place by an elastic strap across the back of his shaggy head.
    “ Come on in, Gary, ” I said, opening the door wide. “ Let me get Mark’s basketball, and we’ll start. ”
    Mark h ad been watching TV in the den, but he heard what I said. “ Molly’s going t o play basketball? This I gotta see! ” he crowed, sticking his head out into the hall.
    “Oh, no you won't! ” I said firmly. “ Be sides, I'm not going to play basketball. I ’ m going to show Gary how to carry on a con versation with it. ”
    “ Why would he want to talk to a basketball ? ” Mark asked.
    “ Would you just cut the clowning and tell me where it is? ” I demanded impatiently.
    “ It’s up in my room somewhere. I’ll get it for you if you’ll let me watch, ” he offered.
    “ No way! I’ll get it myself. ”
    I started up the stairs with Gary at my heels. When we reached Mark’s room, I flung open the door and froze on the threshold. Mark’s bed was unmade, and the blue carpet was barely visible underneath mounds of dirty clothes. On top of the cluttered desk was a half-eaten sandwich that was curling at the edges. I shuddered to