Quite an Undertaking - Devon's Story Read Online Free Page B

stalker-chick or something. Her skin was silky smooth and her eyes were bright and playful. She wore her hair pulled back in that cool-looking bun that her mother had worn at the wake, but Rebecca had a pencil in it in instead of a chopstick. The exposed curve of her neck definitely had my attention. Yeah, maybe I was a stalker. She had on black capri pants and tiny shoes that looked like dancer’s shoes or something. I didn’t think Rebecca played on the basketball team, but the purple and white Grasse River girls’ basketball sweatshirt she wore made me wonder.
    I took a deep breath when reality came waltzing in again uninvited. We buried Grandma yesterday. I looked down at the uneaten PB & J sandwich in front of me and tried to swallow the enormous lump growing in my throat. I wished the stupid bell would ring, so I could go to class and have something else to think about. I looked up hoping to catch another glimpse of Rebecca, and to my surprise, she was staring right at me. I gulped. Her smile brightened my heart while a tremor traveled down to my toes and back up again. I smiled back. I couldn’t help it.
    Rebecca mouthed to me, “Are you okay?”
    I shrugged my shoulders and rolled my eyes.
    She nodded in sympathy and mouthed the word, “Breathe.”
    I nodded and couldn’t help grinning. I mouthed, “Thank you” to her across the courtyard and this time her smile got bigger.
    I wanted to get up and talk to her, but Rebecca looked away just as Jessie turned back toward her. I got the distinct feeling that she didn’t want Jessie to see her talking to me. As their conversation continued, I realized I must have been staring at them because Jessie challenged me with her eyes as if warning me to mind my own business. I looked away quickly, sure she had been able to read my thoughts.
    Gail nudged me in the side again. We were going to have to talk about all this side-nudging soon.
    “Who’s that?” She nodded her head toward Rebecca.
    “Oh, she’s—her family owns the funeral home, and she helped me get through it yesterday.”
    “That was nice of her.”
    Gail and I were as close as you could get, except when it came to certain things. Certain things like the fact that Gail would rather go out with somebody named Travis or Joe or Bob while I would rather go out with somebody named Rebecca or Marcy or Susan, but Gail did not know this, and I wasn’t sure I was ever going to tell her.
     
     
    I LAY ON my bed throwing Seymour, my stuffed teddy bear, into the air and catching him. I’m sure he didn’t appreciate it, but throwing him around helped me chill out after the longest day of school ever. It had taken forever for eighth period French to arrive, but the wait was worth it the second Rebecca made her way to my desk in the back of the room and handed me the notes from the two days I’d missed. The class started, so I couldn’t talk to her, but I practically held my breath until the class ended. When the bell rang to end the period, I jammed my books into my backpack and looked up. My heart froze when I saw that she was already on her way out the door. At least she turned around when she got to the door and said, “See ya later, Devon.”
    I said, “See ya,” right back. See ya. Yeah, I wanted to see her. I wanted to go out with her. What was the difference between seeing someone and going out with someone? I’d have to ask Missy.
    I threw Seymour in the air again and then held him tight when I remembered about Jessie. Rebecca’s friend Jessie had been waiting for her right outside the door to our French classroom. How she had gotten there so fast was beyond me.
    I threw Seymour in the air again just as Missy walked into our room.
    “Hey, Squirt,” she said smiling. “Why are you torturing Seymour?” I moved over, so she could sit on the edge of my bed.
    “He’s okay with it. Really.” I grinned at her, but hugged Seymour to my chest instead of throwing him.
    “How was school today?”
    I