Page 91 of Rules for Rule Breaking
“Leave these kids alone,” Mr. Graham cut in. “They’re young. They’ll have time for all that later.”
Kai was still onstage being the best emcee bingo had ever seen.
“I so badly want to make a joke that’s out of line, but, honey, the way Mrs. Fowler is looking at me, I must decline. O sixty-nine!” he called out.
Winter took in her surroundings. There was a tacky disco ball hanging in the center of the room and multicolored strobe lights bouncing off it. Cheap pink and lime-green streamers hung all over the room, as well as sparkling tinsel left over from Christmas. There were remnants of every holiday strewn about and champagne bottles on every table. If this was what getting old looked like, Winter might not mind it. Each person in that room had lived such a life. They had had kids and grandkids and heartache and happy times. They had probably seen every peak and every valley the world had to throw at them. If she was going to learn how make the most of her life, rather than just survive it, it was going to be from them.
Bobby Bae
44. WE WILL NOT DANCE TOGETHER
Hour Two
If you are a young man at a nursing home, it’s customary to dance with absolutely every single elderly woman in the room. Bobby was dancing middle school dance–style with Miss Joanne. She smelled like old-lady perfume and had on a sweater with a feather collar that made her look like someone who may or may not have at one time killed one of her ex-husbands.
“You’re such a handsome boy,” Miss Joanne said. “If I were fifty years younger...”
Bobby always found it interesting that when people said creepy things like that, they always trailed off at the end because they wanted you to make the creepy inference yourself. They wanted you to be complicit in your own gross-out.
Miss Joanne pulled him closer. Kai had the right idea. Bobby should have gotten up on that stage instead.
He politely excused himself from the dance floor and took a breather next to the stage. He couldn’t help but feel ignored by Winter. If he sat next to her, she went to the bathroom. If he brought her a drink, she already had one. It was driving him crazy.
“You good, dude? You’re moping,” Kai said as he wolfed down a slice of pizza with the cheese picked off.
“Winter’s been avoiding me.”
“Dance with me, then,” Kai said, wiping his hands on his pants. He pulled Bobby up, and they took a spot in the middle of the makeshift dance floor. Kai bear-hugged Bobby and held his head to his chest as they swayed. Bobby laughed for the first time all evening. Kai’s gangly limbs draped over him as he patted Bobby’s back and made a shushing noise.
“You’re wrinkling my jacket,” Bobby said.
“First of all, watch your tone. Second of all, you’re right.”
Kai extended his arm and spun Bobby. Right into Winter.
“Kai!” Bobby said, grasping after him.
Kai jumped back onto the stage and waved. “Have fun!”
Bobby turned to face Winter. She’d changed into a white dress, the first he’d seen her wear in years. It was no doubt one of Emmy’s.
“You look nice,” he said.
She let out a short laugh. “You can’t say stuff like that to me.”
“You’ve been avoiding me,” he said as he pulled her into a slow dance. “I wanted to tell you something.”
“Tell me what?” she said as she looked up at him, her dark eyes shining and expectant.
“My parents have been speaking with my uncle, and I think we’re going to spend Thanksgiving together.”
Winter lit up. “Bobby, that’s amazing.”
“Yeah, and also... I think I may consider computer science. I put the beta version of Uyu in the app store, and it’s gotten some positive reviews, so I booked a tour at Berkeley. Kai and I are flying out to California next month.”
Winter put her head down against his chest. “No Harvard?”
“I considered GW for Jacqueline, Princeton for my uncle, and Harvard for my father. I may choose Harvard, but maybe I won’t. I don’t know yet. I’ve always had this life planned out for myself, andI worked so hard to get it, I didn’t even realize I didn’t want it,” he said. “I have you to thank for helping me see that.”
