Page 54 of Rebound With Me
“No bags of frozen peas, unfortunately.”
As I clean up Charlie’s hands with Bactine, and he hisses because of the minor sting, I ask him: “What’s the worst time you ever wiped out?”
“On my bike.”
“Yeah?”
“Oooh, that was ugly. Right into a tree. Didn’t break anything though, you were lucky.”
“We were with Sadie,” Charlie says, wistfully.
Vince goes silent.
“Yeah? The worst time I wiped out was on a bike too, when I was ten. I was going down a hill really fast and the front wheel hit a big branch and I went flying.”
“Whoah. Did you bleed?”
“Oh yeah. It wasn’t that bad though. Had to get a few stitches. You ever had stitches?”
“No.”
“You are lucky, then. Stitches is when a doctor sews up your skin so it grows back together.”
I put the last bandage on Charlie’s hand. “Gross! With a needle?”
“Yup. With a needle and this bright blue kind of thread.”
“Can I see?”
“Nope—I don’t have them anymore. See?” I hold up my palm to show him where the stitches were. “The thread they use just kind of disappears eventually. They like melt into your skin or something.”
“No way.”
“Yeah way. You ready to get up?”
He nods and gets up, still holding his Roald Dahl book. I toss everything back into my bag.
“Can I have a cookie?”
“I don’t know,” I say, looking up at his big brother. “Can he?”
“Just one, but only if I can have one too.”
I open the container and hand out two cookies, then put the container back in my bag. Vince takes a bite before holding out his hand to help me up. “Mmmm! That’s so good. Right, Charlie?”
“I like it.”
“All the boys in your class must be so in love with you, Miss Parks,” he whispers into my ear as I’m standing.
“I do get a lot of shiny apples on my desk.”
“I’d give you a banana.”
“And I’d make you sit in the corner all day until you learned some manners.”
“I’d never learn any manners if it meant I got to stay in your corner all day.”
“Why is your voice like that?” Charlie asks him. “You sound like a girl.” It’s not entirely true, but Vince does sound different.
