Page 32 of Not Bad for a Girl

Just then, George and Nancy came ambling around the side of the house, dressed for gardening. “What’s all this yelling?” George said in a naturally gruff voice.

“This guy”—I gestured to Shane—“suggested I get a fish. Now I have like five because there’s birth happening in this bag!”

George ambled over to Shane and removed one of his gloves before giving Shane a firm handshake. “I’m George. This is Nancy,” he said, pointing to her. She lifted her little sun hat and gave a wave. They were both in their sixties, with white hair and usually some form of matching clothing. Today, they were both in plaid capris.

“It’s nice to meet you,” Shane said.

“You have a nice voice, young man,” Nancy said. “Are you Ana’s new friend?”

“We live upstairs in the house,” George explained, “but we tend to think of her as part of the family.”

I ran over and gave Nancy a brief hug, then scurried to my front door. “It’s good to see you, butbirthin abag!”

Shane didn’t seem to feel my urgency. “Doing some gardening?”

George leaned back and wiped sweat from his forehead. “Yup. First frost is coming soon, so we have to get our more delicate annuals inside.”

I unlocked the door and waved for Shane to follow me into the apartment, not even caring what his first impression might be.

He followed me, but Nancy put a hand on his arm. “Have you met Ana’s dad, honey?” she asked.

Shane looked over at me, and I bugged out my eyes at him, gesturing frantically to the bag in my hand. Then he looked back at her. “No, ma’am, I haven’t.”

“Oooh,” she said. “I’m sure he’d love to meet you.”

“I’m sure he would, too,” I said and grabbed Shane by the shirtsleeve, “but again, new life!”

I pulled him inside and shut the door firmly. Then I floated the bag in the tank and stared at it in wonder as I tried to calm my racing heart. “What have I done?” I whispered.

“Well, for starters, we got a supergood deal on that fish, don’t you think? What, twenty for the price of one?”

“They just keep coming,” I said in awe.

I took a few deep breaths. There wasn’t anything more I could do for Hopper at the moment, so I left him and his babies floating in the tank and led Shane into the main area of the apartment.

“Your neighbors seem nice,” he said.

“Yeah, I love them, but they’re going to call my dad and tell him all about you, and then he’s going to call and insist on meeting you, because they all still treat me like a kid. Which is super embarrassing for me. But that’s a problem for future Ana. Right now, I can’t believe I let you talk meinto this,” I said, pointing at the tank. I blew out a breath. “Want some coffee?”

“Honestly, I can’t either,” he answered. “And sure.”

I made us each a cup from my single-serve brewer and sat next to him on the couch. “I like your apartment,” he said conversationally.

I blushed. “Thanks.”

“You know Ihaveto stay now to see what happens, don’t you?”

“You’d better. You can’t leave Hopper and me alone in this vulnerable state.”

He nodded toward my Nintendo Switch setup and raised his eyebrows. “Ready to have your butt kicked atMario Kart?”

I bumped his arm playfully. “If I had a nickel for every time someone said that and then weredecimatedby me, I would never need to work again.”

I hooked up the game and tossed him the extra pair of controllers. The first course he picked was Baby Park. We were actually pretty evenly matched. There was a lot of laughter and pillow tossing as we deliberately ran each other off the track and threw cartoon bananas. I was breathless by the time the match ended. I’d won, but just by a couple of points.

I did a sort of chicken-beak victory dance when Shane tossed a pillow straight at my head.

I threw it back and settled next to him on the couch. “Why did you push me so hard to get a fish?” I asked.