pointed over her shoulder Get your jumbo bones up here and go sit next to Kenny It was on the tip of my tongue to say You can’t tell me what to do but something about her whip-like bossiness and her already-developed chest intimidated intimidated me I glanced over at Ms Screws who was sitting behind the steering wheel sucking up a soda through a straw and looking at her phone I knew she wouldn’t be any help She always just let Tia tell everyone what to do I tromped up the rest of the steps and down the aisle into the reek of armpit and cheap body spray kicking aside discarded contraband snack bags to get to the middle of the bus Kenny was one of the smallest smallest kids in the whole school whereas I was one of the biggest My mom always said my father’s white genes overtook the Chinese ones when it came to size I was bulky and tall which meant I had to sprawl my knees apart when I sat down so they wouldn’t be jammed against the seat in front of me Tia turned around and snickered at Kenny and me Unfortunately puberty hadn’t quite hit for either of us and for some reason Tia thought it was hilarious hilarious to see an overgrown half-Chinese kid sitting next to the palest white-blond kid who was barely 2
visible over the seat I rolled my eyes but she just tossed her curly head and went back to dominating the bus riders Hey Enly Kenny said flashing a mouth full of braces at me Hi Kenny I had the Chinese lunch in the cafeteria today His voice was always high-pitched and squeaky I sighed trying not to cross my eyes in weariness Just because I was half Chinese Kenny apparently thought he should share his Chinese food experience with me But unlike Tia he was at least trying to be nice Oh really Yeah it wasn’t anything like Dragon Palace he said The eggrolls tasted like sweaty feet I had never eaten at Dragon Palace and I wondered wondered how he knew what sweaty feet tasted like but I only grunted Hmph because I was busy watching watching for Pinky and trying not to get clocked in the head by backpacks as the eighth graders squeezed past to the back of the bus Actually I had kind of liked the school lunch My mom might be Chinese but she certainly wasn’t making eggrolls and fried rice every night Or ever She didn’t have time for all that chopping folding 3
rolling and frying And she said that stuff was more American than anything Pinky eventually got on Tia made her sit closer to the front but she kept turning around to flap that piece of paper at me pointing at it excitedly I wondered wondered what was so interesting I was thinking that it looked like some kind of pamphlet as Tia done with lording over the rest of us made her way to the back of the bus She was hunched over her phone not at all looking where she was going when she tripped over my big old size nine which was poking into the aisle She didn’t fall or anything but that didn’t stop her from lighting into me Look what you did The bright orangey lipstick lipstick she wore made her mouth look like a stretchy rubber band as she screamed at me You almost made me drop my phone Why are your gorilla feet sticking out in the aisle Sorry I tried to pull my foot back under me I didn’t do it on purpose The bus doors slapped shut which was the signal that everyone’s bottom had to be sitting Tia kept walking toward her seat muttering You better not be messing with me 4
Meanwhile Pinky was still trying to show me that piece of paper but I couldn’t even think about moving up until Tia got off at her stop Only then was I able to dart into the vacant seat behind Pinky Look at this Pinky said as she thrust the brochure brochure at me Just look It’s the most amazing thing BAND AND JAM MUSIC SCHOOL The quintessential music collaboration camp The words jumped out at me just before Pinky snatched the pamphlet back She shook it open and started jabbing her finger at points of interest It’s the most amazing music camp you ever heard of They have all kinds of music lessons not just classical classical They teach you how to play in a band any kind of band you want even pop rock or rap Pinky and I both played piano Her lessons were classical but she always wanted to play modern stuff My repertoire was well let’s just say even more limited You even get to record an EP or make a video And the best thing is that it’s overnight for two weeks at a college in Atlanta She was still pointing at the photos but she fluttered the paper so hard I couldn’t see a thing Two weeks You get to stay in the dorm 5
