“You don’t know anything about me,” I said, cutting her off sharply.
She turned, absorbing the blow of my statement, and then put the shot glass back on the shelf. For a moment she just stood there, aligning it neatly with the others. Then she nodded, as if accepting the ugly fact.
“You know, I used to have a collection,” she said finally.
“Of what?”
“Condoms.” She grinned slyly. “Unused, of course.”
“Sophie…,” I started, but she pulled on my arm and sat me down on the bed next to her.
“I’m serious! I did!”
I extricated myself from her grip. “Whatever. You’re acting really weird.”
Sophie’s eyes narrowed. “Why? Because I’m talking about things like sex?”
“No, because you’re talking about things like sex with me. We’ve never talked about stuff like this, Sophie, because we don’t talk more than two or three times a year, and when we do, it’s about school or grades or the weather. I mean, I don’t even know how I’m supposed to respond when you tell me things like that.”
The expression on Sophie’s face changed from amusement to annoyance to confusion—all in five seconds. “What do you mean, how you’re supposed to respond?” she asked. “It’s just a conversation, Julia, not a test.”
“Well, it makes me uncomfortable,” I said firmly.
“Okay. Fine. I’m sorry I brought it up.”
I headed for the door. “I’m going down. You coming?”
Sophie sighed. “Yeah,” she said, dragging herself off the bed. “I’m coming.”
chapter
6
Dad was sitting at the dining room table drinking a glass of seltzer when Sophie and I came downstairs again. “It’s the head cheese!” he said, slipping an arm around my waist. I kissed the top of his head. Sophie stood behind one of the dining room chairs, cracking her knuckles. Mom walked in from the kitchen, placed a salad down on the table next to a vase of pink tulips, and nodded to Sophie and me. “You girls have a seat. I just have to finish up the pasta, and then we can start.”
Sophie eyed Dad, who was staring into his water glass, and then reached for her own. Taking a long, slow swallow, she wiped her mouth with the back of her wrist and set the glass back in its place. “You guys don’t have that silly no-smoking rule in this house anymore, do you?”
“We sure do.” The ice cubes in Dad’s glass rattled as he brought it to his mouth. “If you need to smoke one of those things, take it outside.”
Sophie took another sip from her water glass. Above the rim, her eyes had formed two dark slits. Suddenly, she held it up. “Julia, here’s to you.” I bumped my glass clumsily against hers. Dad extended his glass toward Sophie and me. We clinked and then set them back down. Sophie pushed back her chair. “I was going to wait until later but…” She raised her eyebrows, looking first at Dad and then at me. “Well, I guess I can do this now.”
I watched carefully as she leaned down and retrieved an envelope from her back pocket. She held it against her chest for a moment and looked at me. “I’m really proud of you, Julia, for everything you’ve accomplished.” She took a deep breath and then let it out, cocking her head as she did. “This is for you,” she said, leaning over the table and handing me the envelope. “From me and Goober. For all your hard work.”
I took the envelope gingerly, giving Dad a sidelong glance as I ran my finger under the flap. He was holding his breath. Literally. My cheeks felt hot. “You didn’t have to do anything,” I said. “Really.”
Inside the card were two tiny envelopes. One was pink. The other was blue.
“Open the blue one first,” Sophie said.
Mom came back in, setting a large platter of shrimp and linguine down as I opened the envelope. She put her hands on the back of her chair and watched us, smiling. Inside the envelope was a large silver key. The letters VW were printed on the rubber edge. I held it up and looked over at Sophie, confused.
“It’s yours,” she said, calm as daylight. “The Bug. Sitting outside. It’s yours, Jules. I’m giving it to you.”
I swallowed. Closed my eyes tight for a moment and then opened them again, as if the words I knew I should say would appear suddenly in front of me. They did not.
“She’s speechless!” Sophie laughed. She got up from her chair and came around the back of mine, putting her arms across my shoulders. “What do you think? Are you excited?”
I nodded. There was no way I could take it. The gift totally outdid Mom and Dad’s, which had been a Prada briefcase for my internship at the courthouse.
“Wow,” Dad said softly. He cleared his throat. “That certainly is generous of you, Sophie.”