Free Love or Something Like It by Laurie Friedman Page A

Sophie’s grandpa teased her. She did, but neither of us put them on. Sophie wanted Gaga to teach us how to knit even though I didn’t want to learn.
    â€œTry it,” said Sophie. “Knitting is very retro.”
    Gaga gave me a told-you-so wink. But I didn’t want to do it, so Gaga told Sophie she would teach her while I’m gone.
    This morning, we finally got dressed and went on a bike ride with Billy and Brynn. It was the same ride Billy, Brynn, and I have always gone on—to Rock Creek, then on to Mr. Agee’s farm to count cows, and then to 7-Eleven for Slurpees. “This is the closest I’ve ever been to a real cow,” Sophie said as we settled in on Mr. Agee’s fence.
    â€œI guess they don’t have many cows in New York City,” said Billy.
    Sophie laughed and told him they don’t have any.
    I could tell Billy thought that was funny. He was making jokes about the cows and he was being super friendly to Sophie. He asked her lots of questions about where she lived and her school and her friends. Brynn wasn’t as friendly. She was actually kind of standoffish.
    â€œI think she was upset that we’re spending so much time together while you’re here,” I told Sophie when we got back to Gaga’s. But Sophie disagreed.
    â€œI think she didn’t like that Billy was talking to me. I think she likes him. I mean, likes him.” That’s not news to Sophie. We’ve talked about it lots of times before.
    But I reminded Sophie about the pact Brynn and Billy and I made this spring, that no one would be anything more than friends.
    â€œI don’t know,” she said. “It seems like that’s a pact Brynn might not want to keep.”
    â€œBut Billy wouldn’t break it,” I said.
    Sophie did a half-shrug, like it’s hard to know.
    Billy is a lot of things, but I just don’t think of him as a pact breaker.
    Wednesday, June 11, 4:45 p.m.
Sophie met Matt
    Ever since Sophie arrived, she’s been asking when she would meet Matt.
    It wasn’t like I wasn’t trying. But every time I asked if he wanted to hang out, he was busy. Tonight was finally the night. Sophie and I were walking Gilligan, and we saw Matt coming home from a game. “He’s even cuter in person!” Sophie whispered as he walked toward us in his uniform.
    I gave Matt a come-over-and-meet-Sophie wave.
    He walked towards us, but slowly, like he wasn’t in a hurry to meet Sophie. And he wasn’t very friendly. She was asking him all about baseball and his team, but he didn’t ask her anything about herself.
    Which seemed kind of weird. Like he didn’t like her or something.
    â€œWhat did you think of Matt?” I asked when we walked off.
    Sophie turned and looked at him like she needed a second look before she could give her opinion. When she turned to look, my eyes followed hers, and I saw that Matt had turned to look back over his shoulder too. It was totally embarrassing. We were all looking at each other. Everyone turned around quickly, like no one wanted anyone else to know they’d been looking.
    â€œSo what’d you think?” I asked again.
    â€œI’m not sure,” said Sophie. She opened her mouth like she was going to add something, but she closed it again. I thought it was odd, because Sophie always says what’s on her mind.
    When I got home, I texted Matt and asked what he thought of Sophie. But he didn’t respond. I don’t know why, but his lack of an answer bothered me even more.
    Friday, June 13, 10:42 p.m.
Good-byes
    The first good-bye wasn’t so bad.
    We had a family going-away dinner for May and me at Gaga’s. Everyone was there, including Sophie. Gaga had fondue pots set up, so we made beef and chicken fondue for dinner and then we had chocolate fondue for dessert. I don’t know what gave her the idea, but everyone had fun doing it. When it was time to go home, I said