Spud Read Free

as much. I feel bad that I don’t
give her as much attention, but I gotta branch out. She’s got friends; she can do
girly things with them, right? She’ll just deal, as far as I’m concerned. Truly,
the more she bashes Spud, the more I want to avoid her anyway. Sometimes, she’ll
do a 180 and be all nice and giggly. Fickle. Girls.
    “Cool,” I reply to Spud’s comment. “Ma will likely grill out, and we can maybe hit
up the video store for a flick or a Nintendo game.” Yep, I’ve still got the old,
original system. You know, with the first Super Mario Brothers. The original Zelda.
Gotta love it. Hours of old-school fun.
    “When we get back to yer place, I’ll call my ma and tell her I’m staying with ya.
I think Uncle Ned’s having a party tomorrow night, so maybe I can stay until yer
pops takes us there, then I’ll crash at Ned’s for a night or so.” His grin is gone,
and he’s looking for more hot pictures. Candi keeps glaring at us, surely ready for
us to leave.
    This is where I should explain Spud’s name. Uncle Ned is my dad’s brother, and his
wife is the sister of Spud’s step-mom. Ned’s the one responsible for nicknames for
all the nieces and nephews in the clan. I really don’t know why he insisted on embarrassing
us from birth. Anyway, Spud is the name Dan got at birth because he looked like a
potato, I guess, and the name stuck. Zoë’s nickname is Halfpint, because she’s a
tiny thing and reminded my uncle of the little daughter from Little House on the
Prairie , and mine is Buck. I don’t know why. There’re more cousins with more nicknames,
too.
    I hate hate hate my nickname, and only Ned uses mine. The rest of the aunts and uncles
call all of us by our nicknames, except me. Everyone else calls me Jack or Jackson,
but we kids don’t call each other by nicknames; it sounds kinda gay. For some reason,
though, Spud’s name stuck, and he’s the only one who is always called by his nickname.
Even by teachers!
    The only time, besides with Ned, that I’m ever called Buck is when Zoë and I are
joking around, and she calls me that. I laugh then, because we both think it’s retarded.
Buck… it’s like a dog, really, especially if, like me, you are a fan of Married…With
Children . The dog’s name is Buck. He is this family pet whose voice you can hear
as he mocks his pretty idiotic owners. That’s why it’s so dumb to be called that,
but it’s okay for Ned. He’s cool, so I let it slide.
    “All right, let’s get outa here. Look who just walked in.” Spud’s whispering as he
closes his magazine and looks down. I turn around to see a smirking Mike Hanson and
his angelic girlfriend, Deena, heading toward the pop coolers at the side of the
store, fanning themselves from the heat and breathing in relief at the feel of the
AC.
    I’ve had the biggest crush on the blonde, blue-eyed Deena forever! Star cheerleader,
smart, sweet, with one of those dimples in her chin. This is the summer I want to
win her over. I’ve known her since kindergarten, but I never ever had the nerve to
get on that level with her. We played on the same Pee Wee League ball teams, attended
the same Halloween parties and Valentine’s dances, but not together. She’s been in
a number of my classes for years, but I could never get the guts to talk anything
more than casual. You know, borrow a pencil, joke about a substitute teacher, comment
on her wacky Halloween costume the year she dressed as Marge Simpson. That hair!
Okay, well!
    Spud and Mike hate each other, and if we stay, there’s gonna be trouble. If Spud
gets in a fight, he won’t get to stay at my place. These two are from completely
different worlds.
    “Yeah, okay,” I agree, not thrilled, as we get up, peeling our sweaty-sticking legs
from the leather booth. Mike has seen us and makes his way over, sauntering like
some bad-ass in a western film. Damn.
    “So, it’s the Cooper cousins.” He stares at me, then Spud. “What kind of happy