Free Where We Belong by Catherine Ryan Hyde

to it, because I wasn’t used to seeing her walk any distance in a semi-straight line, with purpose.
    I found myself looking at her a lot. Part of the time because I was worried about her, but part of the time because she was fun to look at. She was wearing her pink skirt over thick black tights, and a pink top, and sneakers that were blinding white except for the grass stains on the toes. My mom had put her hair into two big, curly pigtails. Her legs were long and skinny and cute.
    Whenever I passed somebody, they’d give me a little nod or not look at me at all. Or sometimes they smiled at me. Then their eyes would go down to Rigby, and usually they’d jump a little. Like she was a grizzly bear or something. Sometimes they smiled at her. But every single person I passed broke into a smile when they looked at Sophie.
    I started thinking maybe I should take her every day.
    Then I realized this was about five times more exercise than she was used to, and I got worried for the long run. What if she got tired and couldn’t walk home? Could I carry her that far? Would she even let me?
    Then again, if she could go the distance… man, would she ever be nice and tired for the rest of the day. Maybe for every day. That could only be good. Right?
    If
. And if not, I was out there alone.
    I tried to pull myself back into the moment. Because the short run was going fine.
    I stopped at each corner and waited for the light to turn, or, if it was just a four-way stop, for cars to go through and leave us a big space to cross. Rigby sat and patiently waited. Sophie sat and patiently waited. Then Rigby and I stepped into the street, and Sophie came scrambling after. She never did get the hang of taking off when we did. Just of catching up pretty fast.
    Of course, I looked back at her constantly. But she was always doing the same thing. And if there was one thing I could always tell you about my sister… once she fell into a rut of doing the same thing, she just kept doing that same thing.
    After a while, my mind even drifted off a bit. Then I’d jerk it back, thinking I’d already caused some kind of major disaster by letting my attention slip. I’d quick look back. And there she’d be, just rambling along, slightly behind us. It was kind of nice. I mean, not nice as in it wasn’t a total freaking disaster. Nice as in… nicer than it would have been without her along.
    All of a sudden, I looked forward again and realized I was almost at Nellie’s Books. It made my heart pound to see it there in the middle of the block, but I wasn’t sure why. I hadn’t been back there to look at the book. Not even to give her my phone number. Probably she’d put the book back in stock by now. Maybe she’d even sold it. Thinking that made the bottom of my stomach feel kind of sick and disgusting. But it was probably true. It was probably gone.
    I had to decide if I was going to hurry by and hope she wouldn’t notice or if I’d stick my head in and ask if she still had it. I could give her a ten-dollar deposit on the book later in the day. If she still had it.
    That decided me.
    I stuck my head in the door, my heart pounding so hard, I could hear and feel it in my ears, both. It was making me a little dizzy.
    It took her a minute to look up. She was looking down at the counter—probably reading—and chewing on a long twist of black licorice. I stared at the side of her face for a while, and then when she saw I was there, I quick looked away.
    “There you are,” she said.
    “Yes. Here I am.”
    “I thought you might not come back.”
    Me, too. I didn’t say so.
    “Well. I’ve been busy. You know. Starting in the new school and all. Trying to catch up. Anyway, later today, I’ll have ten dollars, and I’ll come back and put a deposit on that book. If you still have it. Do you still have it?”
    Her face just completely fell. That made me feel like crap. For two reasons. Because it meant she’d probably sold it. And because I liked to