“Scout, look what just came in!” The hand and voice belonged to Bruce Parker, a rather unfortunate looking guy. He works as the assistant manager at MovieMart, an accomplishment he is extremely proud of. When he isnʼt extolling the genius of Guy Ritchie to the locals, he can be found bumming around the library. I would have found it pathetic if I wasnʼt there as often, if not more often, than he was.

“Is that a new manga? Iʼve never heard of this series.” I took the book and flipped through the pages. The artwork was fairly unambitious, but Bruce usually had a good eye for graphic novels.

“It reminds me of Kishimotoʼs work.”

“The guy who does Naruto?”

“Yeah, itʼs huge in Japan right now. You want it when Iʼm done?”

“No thanks. Iʼm more of a Death Note girl.” I was already moving towards the back corner where Alex waited, regarding me with a bemused expression.

“Sorry you had to wait,” I said, sitting my things on the table.

“No problem.” He looked like he was suppressing a laugh. “You had your many fans to attend to.”

I felt my cheeks turn red. I must have looked like the Queen of Geeks, talking to everyone in the library as I came through. “I come here while Jase is at basketball practice. We live pretty far out in the county, so it doesnʼt make much sense to drive home and then back into town again.”

“Oh, I figured that you were the kind of girl that hung out at the library. Iʼm somewhat surprised that youʼre into manga, though. I guess that explains all the angst.”

“You found me out,” I deadpanned. “Iʼm a closet emo. Not all of us can be a ray of freaking sunshine like you.”

“You think of me as a ray of sunshine?” His smile effectively proved my assessment, lighting up the normally dark library.

“Yes, and Iʼm a little black rain cloud. Now, can we please get down to business so that I can go home, change into my My Chemical Romance inspired wardrobe, and write poetry on my arm with a Sharpie?”

“Iʼm one step ahead of you, Amy Lee,” he said, handing me a couple of reference books.

“This is everything the library has on socialized medicine.” An hour later we had combed through the books Alex had found, plus some articles we came across online. It was all making my head hurt.

“God, this is boring,” I said. My eyes were glazing over as I stared at the computer screen.

“I donʼt even see why this is an issue. Who would want the government making decisions on what kind of medical treatment they receive?”

“You think itʼs better for the insurance companies to make that call?”

“No, I think that itʼs for a doctor and patient to decide.”

“Like that is how it works.” Alex looked like he was ready to go on a tirade, so I frantically started digging through my bag.

“Wait a sec.” I finally found what I was looking for and sat it on the table. “Okay, now go.” Alex looked questioningly at the machine I had produced from my bag. “What is that?”

“A tape recorder.” It was pretty obvious.

“Why do you have a tape recorder?”

“My mom brought it home for me when I joined the newspaper staff last year. She said that all reporters needed a tape recorder.”

“And we need it now because...?”

“Because weʼre going to argue this out now, Iʼll type it up tonight, and tomorrow you will turn it into a journalistic masterpiece. You cool with that?” Alex replied by pushing the record button and going off on the current state of our healthcare system. We were really on a roll when we were interrupted by my sisterʼs tear streaked face. I reached over and hit pause on the recorder. “Whatʼs wrong, Angel? Are you hurt?”

Angel threw herself onto me and stared bawling. I pulled her into my lap and wrapped my arms around her. She might be a brat, but sheʼs still my baby sister. It almost caused me physical pain to see her so upset.

“Emma said I was a baby,” she sobbed into my shoulder. “She doesnʼt want me to play with her any more.”

I never did like that Emma kid.

“Somebody thought you were a baby?” Alex leaned back in his chair and looked Angel over. “What are you? Like eight or nine?”

Angel turned her head to peek through the curtain my hair provided. “Iʼm six and a half.” I had to admit that Alex was a pretty decent actor. I almost believed that he was really shocked. “Six and a half? Man, you seem a lot older than that to me.” Angel sat up and brushed the hair and tears from her face. “Iʼm very manure for my age.” I had to bite my lip very hard to keep from laughing at her word confusion. Alex didnʼt even flinch.

“You are. Why would you want to play with that little kid for anyway? You should stay here and hang out with us.”

Angel looked up at me, eyes huge. The only time she ever got to hang out with the big kids was when Talley was in a particularly generous mood. I had never seen her look so hopeful.

“Yeah, we could really use your help,” I said, wiping the last remnants of tears from her face. “Do you think you could hold the tape recorder while Alex and I argue?” Angel eagerly nodded her head in agreement before casting a glance in Alexʼs direction.

“You should know that Scout is a really good arguer. She always wins against me and Jase.”

“Is there anything your sister isnʼt really good at?” I was surprised that Angel had to actually think about it. “She sounds like a dying cat when she sings,” she finally concluded. “And she always sets off the smoke alarm when she tries to cook.”

Alex tried to look serious, but his dimples got in the way. “Well, Iʼll have to remember not to ever let her sing lead on Rock Band or make me dinner.” By the time we left, Alex had managed to wrap my little sister around his finger. She was defenseless against his charm and infectious laughter. I was horrified to realize that I wasnʼt as immune as I had hoped.

Chapter 5

“I have a new friend,” Angel announced at dinner that night. I was carefully trying to extract all the bell peppers from my spaghetti sauce, and therefore not paying much attention to the conversation. “Heʼs really nice and funny and cute.”

Dad reached over to peel a noodle from the side of Angelʼs face. “Is he in your class?”

“Nope. Heʼs Scoutʼs friend. He let me help him and Scout work on their homework because I am so manure.”