head. âBut I want to.â
We turn into the cul-de-sac, and the moment evaporates.
âLook!â Jorie squeals.
Eliâs shooting baskets in his driveway. No shirt on.
âOh my God,â she breathes.
I have to agree.
âMom, let us out.â Jorie unbuckles and scoots forward. Her mom stops, and Jorie tumbles out the door. âHey!â she calls, in a voice that gives âheyâ a whole new meaning.
Do I follow? Sit in the car? No rack of tank tops to hide behind.
âAre you getting out?â Jorieâs mom asks.
âUm.â
âIâll pull into our garage,â she offers.
âOkay. Thank you.â
I think that was a good thing from her. In some weird way.
âI like your shirt today,â I tell her. âThat color looks really good on you.â
She smiles at me in the rearview mirror. âReally? I wondered if it was a little too young for me.â
âNo, itâs cute.â
She gets out of the car and squeezes my arm. âThanks for noticing.â
Okay, thatâs number thirty-five.
Iâm more than halfway to my goal of sixty-five good things. Some of them havenât been exactly anonymous, but who says I canât change the rules midway? Itâs my plan, right?
I âm walking toward my house, trying not to look at Jorie and Eli, when Thomas runs up in his scarred cape. I kneel, and he practically knocks me over with his fierce hug.
âThe cape still works okay?â I ask.
âYeah! But who fixed it?â
I grin at him. âSomeone I know with special powers.â
If only this was true, then I could fix a lot more things.
âWho?â he demands.
âA person who tries to be good,â I whisper. âAnd fight off enemies, just like you.â He nods. âSo are you catching a lot of criminals?â
He makes a muscle. âYep! Lots of bad guys around here. But Iâm tough!â
I feel his upper arm. âYou sure are.â Out of the corner of my eye I see Jorie softly punch Eliâs bare stomach. He grabs her little fist, and she fake yells, âOw!â
Well.
âIâm going home, Thomas. Iâll see you later, okay?â
âDonât go!â he cries. âWant to help me kill the bad guys?â
I shake my head. âYou donât want to kill them. Just put them in jail, right?â
He frowns, then motions for me to come closer. He cups his mouth with his hand and whispers, âEli says Daddy has to give Mommy some money or else he might go to jail!â
I look at Eli. Whatâs going on?
âDaddy comes over. Mommy and Daddy fight. Daddy goes away. Eli tries to find him and get the money.â
Oh.
I pick Thomas up, and he cries a little on my shoulder. I carry him back to his mixed-up house and set him down on the grass.
âThanks,â Eli says, ruffling Thomasâs hair.
âNina,â Jorie says, laughing. âYouâre such a mom!â
Thomas is up in a second, leaping through the air, his cape streaming behind him.
Eli smiles as Thomas slashes a bush with his sword. He glances at me. âSo you sewed his cape, right? That day you watched him?â
âYeah.â
âHe kept asking me how it got fixed. I finally told him it was this new superhero called Mystery Girl. He loved that.â
âMy secret identity.â
âSomething everyone should have,â Eli says, and nods.
âI donât get it.â Jorie looks from Eli to me. âWhat are you guys talking about?â
Eli picks up the basketball.
âTell me!â Jorie begs.
Eli shoots the ball. Heâs got a few curls of hair on his chest. Where did those come from? I donât know if Iâm grossed out or fascinated.
âOkay,â Jorie says. âDonât tell me.â
Eli tosses me the ball, and I catch it. âTwo on one?â he says, raising an eyebrow, looking from me to Jorie.
Another thing I can do