Page 49 of The Doctor's Surprise Family

“So we all decided some revenge was in order, to knock old St. Spider off his high horse.”

Jesse chuckled. “St. Spider.”

I rolled my eyes. “Ha. You guys are real funny.”

“We’re hilarious,” said Sam. “Or, actually, you were.” He grinned at Claire, smug as a tick. “So, me and Joelle, we built this huge spider. Like, out of… what was it?”

“Pipe cleaners,” said Joelle. “Black and yellow pipe cleaners, and a couple of pompoms. And we dirtied it up a bit, and shaped it, y’know…”

“All the leg-segments, the markings, the eyes. We sculpted this thing like theDavid.”

I buried my face in both of my hands. Sam nudged my arm to make me look up.

“You deserved it,” he said. “You wouldn’t shut up. You were like ‘save the spiders,’ and… really?Really?”

Claire bit her lip. “So, what did you do? Throw it in his face?”

“Better than that.” Sam straightened up. “The next time we were studying, we set it up by the trash. Halfway between the can and the wall.”

“In the shadows,” said Joelle. “So he couldn’t see clearly.”

“And when St. Spider went over to throw out his cup, I pulled on this thread I’d tied to its leg. The spider wentwoup, and this guy?—”

“Shut up.”

“He wentapeshit,” said Shelley.

“I did not. Claire?—”

“Yeah, you did,” said Sam. “He screamed like a kid and he grabbed the whole trash can, and he didn’t just smash this thing. He beat it to fluff. He’s yellingdie, dieand he’s swinging this trash can, and we’re all justcackling. Catch and release, my ass.”

“I wasn’t yellingdie, die,” I said, when the laughter wound down. “I swear, it gets worse every damn time they tell it.”

“I’d have paid to see that,” said Claire, like she hadn’t heard me. I tried to act mad, but itwaskind of funny, and Shelley was right. I’d lost my whole mind. In my defense, it was going on midnight, and we’d been studying since ten a.m. And that giant spider looked totally real. Itjumped at my foot. Whowouldn’thave smashed it? I guessed that was the point they’d been trying to make.

“You’re not mad, are you?” said Claire, when I’d been quiet a while.

I smiled. “No, of course not. This just takes me back.”

“Me too,” she said. “The band’s back together.”

These guys had been my friends first, but now they were Claire’s. Or maybe both of ours — or they could be again. I hadn’t been certain they’d give me a chance, and I guessed the spider’d been sort of a test. That, or a penance before they’d forgive me. But now they were smiling, and the mood felt relaxed, and even Sam was meeting my eye. I could still see the hurt there, and sense the distance, but we’d taken our first step back toward friendship.

It was late by the time the party wound down, and when we got to our cars, Claire shook her head.

“I think I’m still buzzed.”

“I’ll drive you back.”

“No, I’ll need my car. Let’s go for a walk. There’s a café near here. You can buy me a coffee.”

We set off down the street in the dwindling twilight, and I couldn’t shake the feeling of having gone back in time. Claire had walked a lot back in our school days, and I’d gone along to make sure she was safe. It helped her think, she’d said. What was she thinking now?

“I missed this,” she said, once we had our coffees.

“Our late-night walks?”

“No. Or, notjustthose. Us. Our whole group.”

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