Free What I Saw and How I Lied by Judy Blundell

the change in my pocket and went back on a run.
    I stood in the back of the theater for a minute, waiting for my eyes to adjust. Peter had moved over into my seat. Mom's blond head was close to his as she whispered something. The rest of the theater was dark except for those two blond heads, those white, white shirts gleaming in the darkness.
    What I thought then was I needed to do that, think of a remark to tell Peter so I could lean with my lips close to his ear.
    I slid into the seat next to Peter and passed the candy to Mom and the popcorn to him.
    Peter held the popcorn in his lap. Mom and I dipped our hands in and out, occasionally bumping fingers, watching the plot tangle and untangle as the bad guys got shot.
     
    It was mid-afternoon when we came out, the time of day when the heat bounced up from the sidewalk and slammed you in the face, and you felt like you could lick moisture out of the air.
    "How about a soda at Walgreens?" Peter asked.
    "A soda at the drugstore," Mom said. "That sounds keen!" She said it with a too-chirpy voice, and Peter grinned, even though I guess she was teasing him about being young, and not that nicely, either. He was a good sport not to get mad, and I wanted to kick Mom for being mean to him.
    We sat at the soda fountain and ordered Cokes. The ice was crushed, and the soda was cold and delicious. There was a local high school crowd there, and I saw Wally again. He looked different now, in loose pants and a short-sleeve shirt, his hair unruly. Instead of looking younger, he looked older, my age. In his evening clothes and his bellhop uniform he'd looked like he'd been wearing his father's clothes. I was glad that he could see me now. I tossed my hair as I smiled up at Peter, just so Wally would know I was on a date.
    He raised a hand to wave at me, and I gave him a little wave back.
    "Friend of yours?" Mom asked.
    "He works at the hotel," I explained.
    "Why don't you go talk to him?"
    "I don't want to."
    Peter gave me the tiniest push at the base of my spine. "Come on. Give the fella a thrill."
    I could feel that one tiny spot burning as I walked over to Wally and said hello. "We've been to the movies," I said.
    "Yeah, that's the way to keep cool. I saw that picture, too." Wally slurped up some soda and looked at his shoes. He didn't even know enough to ask me to sit down. "So, New York, have you ever been to the Empire State Building?"
    "Sure," I said.
    "How about Radio City?"
    "You bet. You can get free tickets to the radio shows." I wondered if Wally was going to lead me through a list of New York tourist attractions. He was trying to make conversation, and he was a bore. Behind me I heard Peter laugh at something Mom had said. Was he being a good sport again? I was dying to get back so I could protect him from her.
    "I went to Washington, D.C., once, before the war," Wally told me. "My dad is going to take me to Tampa."
    "That sounds nice," I said politely.
    "We go out on the boat every Saturday. It's not a big boat, but it's fun. There's plenty of stuff to see, neat places to go. Have you ever seen a cypress swamp?"
    True, I was in a whole new state. But could it be that a boy was getting up the nerve to ask me to tour a
swamp}
    "You want a cherry Coke? I'll get Herb to mix you one."
    "I'd better get back to my date," I told him.
    "Your date?" He looked surprised as he looked over my shoulder at Peter and Mom. "Well, okay. See you around." No boy had ever asked to buy me a soda before. A month ago, it would have felt nice, even though it was only Wally the bellhop. Now it didn't mean anything, because all I could think of while I was talking to him was how quickly I could get back to Peter.
    Mom was looking in her compact and Peter was tossing coins on the counter when I finally rid myself of Wally. It was the end of my date, and I'd hardly said more than ten words to Peter. On the drive back to the hotel I wondered how I could see him again. Ahead stretched an evening of cards and