A Kiss in Time by Alex Flinn

Author:Alex Flinn [Flinn, Alex]
Language: eng
Format: epub, mobi, pdf
ISBN: 9780061909726
Publisher: Harper Collins, Inc.
Published: 2009-04-17T04:00:00+00:00

Chapter 13:

Jack

“An air mattress is a strange thing, indeed,” Talia says.

“It’s rubber,” I say. And the study is way too small for it. Talia’s going to be wedged between the desk and the door out to the garage, but I couldn’t talk Mom into letting Talia stay in the guest room. Too near our rooms. For my own security. So we’re putting a princess on an air mattress. By the garage.

“It is ingenious that people of your time have found so many uses for such an unpleasant substance.” She feels the top of it. “Is it not possible to put something else inside it, like feathers?”

“Look, I’m sorry. My mom, she’s a little weird about things. We’re not going to do much sleeping, anyway. We’ve got that party tonight.” I look at her. “Boy, is Amber going to freak when she sees you.”

“Amber?” Talia says.

“Yeah, you know, the girl you talked to on the phone. My ex-girlfriend.”

“She did not seem very nice.”

I shrug. “She’s usually nicer.” I’m not even sure that’s true. I realize that maybe Talia didn’t know that Amber’s going to be there tonight. “But anyway, you’re so beautiful, she’ll flip out when she sees you.”

“Flip out? I am sorry, but what does that mean?”

“It means she’s going to be really jealous when she sees us together.”

Talia puts her hands on her hips. “That is why we are going, then? To see this girl, Amber, to make her jealous?”

I don’t say anything. I mean, yeah, it’s the reason, but when she puts it that way, it sounds like I’m using Talia. Which I sort of am, I guess. But this party is the chance I’ve been waiting for all summer. Bringing Talia home was just about driving my parents nuts at first—but it will be incredible when Amber sees her and realizes I’m not just waiting around for her. Finally, I say, “Hey, I brought you back here. I talked my mom into letting you stay. I thought the least you could do was—”

“Fine.” She looks away. “But should you not be spending your first evening back with your parents?”

I shrug. “My mom’s got a meeting tonight, and Dad’s out of town. As usual.”

Talia nods like she understands, but I doubt she does. Back in her time, mothers didn’t go to meetings, and fathers worked on the farm, with their sons by their sides. But she’s being nice about it. Actually, she’s being nice about everything, the Chinese food that she choked on—I guess they don’t have soy sauce where she’s from—my weird mother and my weirder sister, and now the air mattress. They don’t have anything where she’s from, and she thinks it’s all awesome.

I change the subject. “So, you were actually talking to my sister?”

“Mm-hmm. She seems lovely.” I laugh, and she says, “What is funny?”

“It’s just…my sister and I mostly just insult each other.”

“Have you tried talking to her about something which interests her?” Talia pokes the air mattress with her finger.

I shrug. “I didn’t really think anything did.

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