Page 24 of With a Little Luck

“What? That wasit?” blurts Maya. “Jude! You did it!” She jumps out of the car again, and before I realize what’s happening, her arms are around me. The hug is short but overwhelming, and as she pulls away I feel like my heart is going to burst out of my chest. “You are myhero,” she says, punching me lightly on the shoulder. “How did you know to do that?”

I can’t speak. This is the greatest moment of my life.

“Jude is full of surprises,” says Pru, jabbing me between the ribs. I recoil.

“Bloody brilliant.” Maya slams the hood shut. “Thank you! I can’t even. I’m so glad you stopped.” She exhales a loud breath. “Okay, we are all going to be so late. I’ll see you at school?” She turns away and starts talking into the phone again, explaining to her dad what happened.

I stand there gaping another second, until Pru grabs my arm and drags me back down the sidewalk.

“Howdidyou do that?” Penny asks. I’d forgotten she was there, but now she and Pru are both staring at me like I just went Super Saiyan.

“You know as much about cars as I do,” says Pru. “Which isnothing.”

I try to appear equally confounded, even though … I know it wasn’t me. It was the dice. “I can’t explain it. I just saw it and took a guess. I just … I got lucky.”

“These lucky coincidences seem to be happening to you a lot lately,” Pru mutters. She studies me a long moment, then gets an odd, faraway look in her eye. She turns away, sighing, “Enjoy it while it lasts.”

67

Chapter Eight

We should be late, but we’re not. After picking up Lucy in frontof the elementary school, we make every green light and even score a parking spot right by the main entrance, even though the lot is otherwise full. Now that I’m looking for the signs, I can’t help but think this is the magic helping me out yet again.

Pru and I are slightly out of breath when we hurry into Mr. Singh’s classroom just as the bell is ringing.

Maya comes in three minutes later, and despite the annoyed look she gets from the teacher, she beams at me as she makes her way to her seat.

Did you catch that? No? Let me say it again.

Shebeamsatme.

In fact, Maya is looking at me like I just saved her drowning cat, and it sets every nerve on fire. I know I should smile back. I know that a normal guy like Ezra (is Ezra a normal guy? let’s not dwell on that) would smile back. He’d act all suave and carefree and like,No big deal, I fix things and stuff. But evidently I’ve got all the game of pre-Spider-Man Peter Parker, because I start riffling through my backpack until I’m sure Maya is no longer looking at me.

Mr. Singh starts in on a lecture, but within seconds I notice Maya passing notes with Katie, who sits behind her. I chew on the cap of my pen, wondering if they’re talking about me. That seems presumptuous, though, and at some point I catch Maya whispering,I forgot!

Katie looks aghast. What did Maya forget? Her birthday? With a look68like that, I’d half expect her to say that Maya forgot to stop by the hospital and donate a kidney.

Maya glances up at the clock, then surreptitiously reaches for her backpack and pulls out her phone. She’s hiding it under her desk, but I crane my neck to see the screen. She opens up her web browser. A site pops up, bold letters and numbers at the top. KSMT 101.3.

A radio station?

“I’ll take that, Miss Livingstone,” says Mr. Singh, swooping in out of nowhere and grabbing Maya’s phone away. She gasps, reaching for it, but he’s already turned off the screen and spun back toward the front of the room.

“Wait! I just need to do something real quick!”

“It will have to wait until after class.”

Maya and Katie exchange distraught looks, before Katie shoots her hand into the air. “Can I use the restroom?”

Mr. Singh glares at her. “Five minutes into first period? You should have gone before class started. Let me get through this explanation, then you can go.”

“But—” Katie clenches her jaw and looks up at the clock.

“You’ll survive,” says Mr. Singh. He deposits Maya’s phone on top of his desk and sorts a stack of papers. “Ah, but before I forget …” He glances up, scanning the class. His gaze lands on me. “Jude, could you run this up to the office?”

“Me?” I ask, perplexed.

When a teacher needs an errand run, they almost always ask Pru. Stalwart, dependable Pru. It’s not like I’m a troublemaker or anything. I’m not reallyanything. I skate by unnoticed as often as possible. That’s how I like it.

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