The Dragon Tree Read Free Page B

“It’s cool. I live in this neighborhood anyway.” He stepped out of the Buick but kept one hand on the open door and leaned down to smirk at Hiroki. “One last thing, before I forget… I like your girl jeans.”
    Hiroki stepped on the gas and peeled out. The passenger door hung open for a moment, then swung closed on its own.
     
    ***
     
                  Later that night, Eva leaned against her bedroom door with her full weight. Her sisters had joined forces on the other side. “Stop pushing! You’ll break the door!”
                  “Yeah right!” said Anita. “Let us in!”
                  “Yeah, let us in!” echoed Myra.
                  “We just want to borrow some clothes!”
                  “Yeah, that’s all!”
                  “Just a couple of tops!”
                  “Yeah, and a couple of skirts!”
                  “And a few pairs of jeans!”
                  “Yeah, and some shoes!”
                  “And some makeup!”
                  “Right, makeup!”
                  Eva was so focused on holding the door shut she didn’t have enough breath in her lungs to yell back. Besides, her mother Rosa would somehow manage to only hear Eva and blame her for the noise pollution. When it came to avoiding punishment, the twins’ identical “who me” smiles got them off the hook every time.
                  Anita snuck her foot between the door and the frame. Eva drew a deep breath, stomped on the foot, and slammed the door shut. She ignored her sister’s melodramatic howl and spun the lock. There were a few shrill protests from the hall but her sisters padded away giggling.
    Eva flopped back on her bed and returned her nose to her history textbook. She was three sentences into a paragraph when a sudden tapping on her window startled her so badly she went tumbling off the bed. She rose to her knees and glared at Hiroki as he slid the unlocked window up, folded his dripping umbrella and climbed into the room.
                  “You get scared every time,” he said with a smile. “It’s always me.”
                  “What can I say, Hiro? You’re pretty scary,” Eva said sarcastically. She flung one of her textbooks at him.
    Hiroki caught the book with one hand and tossed it back on her bed. He kicked off his wet shoes, sat down on Eva’s bed and propped up her pillows behind his back.
    Eva chuckled. “Make yourself at home. Please.” She wandered over to her window and peered out. “Is that your grandpa sitting in the car? Hiro, how can you just leave the sweet old guy out there in the rain?!”
    “Trust me, he’s happier sitting in the car than sitting in his room at home. Especially when it’s raining. It’s a meditative thing for him, I think.” Hiroki wiggled to get comfortable, a coy smile on his face. “One of these days I’ll show up outside your window and Aidan will be the one looking out at me. Will he drag me inside and murder me here, or will he mind the carpet and just throw me off the roof?”
    Eva covered her mouth to muffle a laugh. “He’s not that bad. My mom and sisters adore him. Every time he speaks they just gaze at him, like every word that comes out of his mouth is poetry.” She flopped backwards on the floor and swung her arms and legs to make a carpet angel.
    “I’m sure them adoring him has got nothing to do with his rich father and the fact he looks like a catalog model,” Hiroki rolled his eyes even while he spoke, but made sure to force a smile too. “Give me one good reason why you’re wasting your time with that jerk.”
    Eva draped her hair across her face. “He does have a rich father. And he does look like a catalog model.”
    “Come on, be serious. You’re not impressed with any of that,” said Hiroki.
    Eva uncovered her face and sighed. “I