Free Every Single Second by Tricia Springstubb

Nella had surreptitiously borrowed the long-handled claw thing Nonni used for reaching things she dropped. Once she was armed with this mighty weapon, no piece of pukey plastic could defeat the CRAPP.
    Invincible, Nella and Clem bought lemon ices from Terraci’s, then ate them sitting on the steps of the church. This morning, they had taken the magnet school admission test. They definitely were not talking about it.
    “My mother took Vinny for a checkup this week, and the doctor said he recommends a neurologist.”
    “Einstein didn’t talk till he was three.”
    “So maybe Vinny’s a genius?”
    “Maybe on his third birthday he’ll say, I have unlocked the mystery of dark matter. ”
    “Or maybe This family is certifiably crazy. ”
    They passed the souvenir shop. In Nella’s pocket was the stolen scarf, which she’d brought to the test as a good-luck charm. This was how pathetic she was. The admission test had been so hard, her brain was still gasping like a hooked fish.
    It wasn’t like she wanted to go to a math-and-science magnet school anyway. Nella was terrible at math and didn’t care about science. Girls were not supposed to say things like that anymore, but it was the truth.
    All she wanted was to stay with Clem.
    She tripped.
    “Invisible gnome alert!” Clem laughed and pushed her new glasses up her nose. The lenses were even thicker than the last pair. Nella kept growing clumsier and Clem kept growing blinder. The clouds parted, turning the rain-washed air all silvery.
    “Did I tell you what Bobby did? He dropped Legos in the cake batter. My father chipped a tooth.”
    But Clem was distracted. She scratched her head with the claw.
    “There’s no known law of physics that says time has to run forward. But it always does. It never reverses. Time always moves toward the next thing, not the last. It’s like the future is . . . irresistible.” She spun to face Nella. “The Leap Second I was telling you about? The extra second they’re adding to the clock in August? Remember?”
    “Umm . . .”
    “Okay, listen. To stay in synch with the Earth’s rotation, sometimes they have to fiddle with how we keep time. So this August, we get a free extra second of future. Think about it. It’s a colossal gift. Nell, we can’t waste it. We need to catch that special second and make it officially ours. Clem and Nell, Time Sisters!”
    Holding the claw at arm’s length, Clem marched like a drum majorette. They reached the top of the hill and the gates to the university campus. Hung between two massive stone columns, they loomed heavy and important, just like the gates to the cemetery. Clem gave back the claw and headed for her father’s lab.
    Maybe time never reversed, but Nella had to. Pulling the scarf out of her pocket and looping it around her neck, she retraced her footsteps down the hill to Nonni’s.
    Who sat on her porch, wearing her black sweater buttoned to her chin, a plastic visor, and the giant sunglassesthey gave her last time she went to the eye doctor. Not exactly a relaxed, springtime look. Dad had un-burlapped the fig tree, and its leaves glowed with green gratitude. Adjusting her Kryptonite-deflecting sunglasses, Nonni pointed across the street.
    “No like.”
    Bright purple curtains billowed in the upstairs window. Today, the music was dazzling as a skipping stone. On the porch a girl with one of those red dots on her forehead sat reading.
    “Gypsies!”
    “No, Nonni. She’s a student at the college up the hill.”
    “Baby snatchers!”
    “I’m going to make you some lunch.”
    When she came back with a sandwich, Hairy Boy was hopping off his bike, dashing inside. A moment later, the music stopped midsong. Nella imagined him and Turtle Girl kissing. He’d hold her face between his hands. She’d go up on her toes to meet his hungry lips. Imagining it, Nella tottered. Her head bumped into a hanging pot. Her body had grown again without her permission. A stealth body, that’s what