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“Then why’d you go to her house?” asked Stuart.
“You said you went to a fire station,” said Nick.
“She lives in an old fire station,” said Marvin. “That’s why I went there. I wanted to slide down the fire pole.”
His friends nodded. That seemed to make sense to them. Marvin knew they’d like to slide down a fire pole, too.
“Are you going to her house again today?” asked Nick.
“No way!” Marvin insisted.
Just then, Casey Happleton came walking toward them. The boys stopped talking and stared at her.
“Hi, Marvin,” Casey said. “I’ll see you after school today.”
Marvin felt his cheeks redden.
Casey skipped away. Her ponytail bounced up and down.
“I’m not going to her house,” Marvin explained. “She’s coming to my house.”
After school, Casey walked home with Marvin. He knew that Nick and Stuart were following them, making stupid jokes and laughing. He knew what they were thinking, but it wasn’t true. She wasn’t his girlfriend. He didn’t even like her.
Casey talked nonstop the whole way home. She talked about Clarence’s fat thumb, and Gina throwing up, and her favorite cartoon shows, and wall-ball, and a million other things.
Casey was funny, but Marvin tried not to laugh. He knew Nick and Stuart were watching.
There was a white fence around the Redpost house, with one red post next to the gate. Marvin’s father painted the red post once a year. Casey laughed when she saw it.
“A red post!” she said. “I get it.”
“It’s good luck,” Marvin said. He tapped the red post as he walked through the gate.
Casey tapped it, too.
Marvin’s little sister, Linzy, met them at the door. She stared at Casey a long time, then said, “Who are you?”
“I’m Casey,” said Casey. “Who are you?”
Linzy didn’t say anything.
“That’s my sister, Linzy,” said Marvin.
“Hi, Linzy,” said Casey.
“You’re a girl,” said Linzy.
Casey turned to Marvin and said, “Your sister’s really smart.”
Marvin laughed.
“I know a boy named Casey,” Linzy said. “He’s in my kindergarten.”
“I used to be a boy,” said Casey. “I kissed my elbow and turned into a girl.”
Linzy giggled. “Your ponytail sticks out of the side of your head,” she said.
“Yes, it does,” said Casey.
