When We Collided(13)

“Shut up.” God, I’m a loser.

I used to be good at talking to girls. Or at least not bad. With three sisters, I know girls aren’t that mysterious. They’re just people. I used to talk my friend Zach through this like, Dude, just ask her questions like you would anybody. What’s she interested in? What does she care about? It’s not that hard. So I think I’m just rusty.

Leah and Vivi settle onto one of the benches at our huge farmhouse table. There are single chairs at each end, one for my mom and one for my dad. I always found the benches annoying during family dinners. You can’t shift around without making two of your siblings move with you. But now, I’d do anything to have a table filled with eight people. One of us always sits in my dad’s chair and another in my mom’s. It’s awkward, and it feels wrong. But it’s better than staring at two empty chairs.

Armed with a whole stack of coloring books, Leah explains every picture.

“See,” she tells Vivi. “This is where she goes out in the snow and wears the green dress.”

I try to keep focused on the dessert, but I can’t help eavesdropping on Vivi. She’s asking Leah about all of us, about how old we are and what we like to do. Vivi’s a snake charmer, making words rise out of Leah’s mouth. My sister chatters on—three bigs, three littles, but thankfully no mention of our parents.

“Smells great, Jonah!” Vivi calls when the pizza is hot enough to melt the cheese.

“Thanks.” Back to my cobbler. Because my talking-to-her track record is at crash-and-burn, screaming-as-we-plummet status.

Vivi squares her shoulders back toward Leah. “Okay, I think I’ve got them all. Naomi, Silas, Rutherford, Bekah, Isaac, and Leah.”

Leah dissolves into giggles. “No! Not Rutherford. Jonah.”

“Oh, right.” Vivi smacks her forehead. “Duh, Viv. Okay, tell them to me one more time.”

Taking a big breath, Leah recites all our names. “Naomi, Silas, Jonah, Bekah, Isaac, and me.”

“Naomi, Silas, Jonah, Bekah, Isaac,” Vivi repeats, “and me.”

The giggling starts all over again. “No, me . . . Leah!”

“My name’s not Leah!” Vivi says. “It’s Vivi!”

Leah’s a goner, sideways on the bench with laughter. I feel myself smiling.

“Sounds like a party in here.” Naomi appears in the kitchen doorway, work bag on her shoulder. She stops short when she sees a stranger at the kitchen table. “Um. Hello.”

“Hello!” Vivi says, sitting up straight. “You must be Naomi.”

Naomi stiffens. Maybe it’s the surprise of an unexpected addition who somehow knows her name. Maybe it’s that Naomi is not exactly a warm person to begin with. Maybe it’s that Naomi is perpetually tired from the commute to her internship. But whatever it is, my sister is not thrilled. “And you are . . . ?”

“Vivi,” she says simply, as if her name is an explanation in itself. And, as I’m coming to find out, it sort of is.

“She’s my friend,” Leah announces, lifting her chin up.

“Leah invited me over for dinner after she found me wandering around Main Street like a stray cat, with no one around to feed me. Does that sound about right, Leah? Meowwww.” Vivi glances at my little sister, who nods confidently through her giggles.

“Umm . . . okay.” Naomi’s not even fake smiling. “Jonah, I think we have some soda in that garage refrigerator. That’ll be good with pizza. Help me carry it?”

She’s giving me an intentional look. In response, I throw a glance at Silas. I don’t have to—he’s already lifting himself off the couch. We each play referee for the other two. Silas and I rarely fight, but we’ll both get into it with Naomi every once in a while.

When we’re all three in the garage, my sister turns with her hands on her hips. “In the future, I’d appreciate if you didn’t invite total strangers into our home.”

“She’s not a stranger. And Leah invited her—not me.”

“We agreed. We agreed to keep things quiet around the house for Mom.”

“Yeah, and look how far that’s gotten us. Besides, I like her. She’s . . . sunny.”

She snorts. “I’m shocked. You like a girl who looks and dresses like that.”

Okay, as if I wasn’t pissed already. That’ll do it. My face goes hot. “You know what, Naomi? I don’t really give a shit what you think.”

“That’s just charming, Jonah. Very mature.”

“You’re not even here most of the time. I don’t know why you think you can move home for the summer and start telling everyone how it is. We did this for months without you.”

Her eyes narrow. “So my opinion no longer counts because I have to be in college some of the time?”

“Hey, you said it, not me. This is our full-time reality. You get to come and go.”

Naomi recoils. Her voice becomes a scary whisper. “I come home every chance I get. Most kids my age go on spring breaks and study abroad, and I’m here. Do you know how insane my commute is?”

“And I dropped baseball to be home with them after school.” I gesture to include Silas. “We get up at the ass crack of dawn; we help with homework and school projects. We—”