AllFreeNovel
Share Us
"Dana is sophisticated, Zipporah. He comes prepared. You know what that means?"
"Yes," I said. "Stop talking to me as if I were a child, Karen."
"Good. So, you know what to do, then."
"I'm not saying I know everything I need to know. I know about that, at least. Why is my sexual progress so important to you now, anyway?"
She smiled and sat back. "Because I want us to be together, silly. I want us to share everything. We're closer than sisters. We're practically two parts of the same person. Les oiseaux d'une plume, remember? Well? Are we, or are we not?" she demanded.
"Yes, of course, we are," I said.
"So, then? You've got to catch up. I can't go flying higher and higher and leave you behind and below. I love you too much," she said. She held her gaze on my face. I felt the tears come into my eyes. "I hope you love me too much, too."
"I do," I said.
"Then remember the Bird Oath. We're friends forever and ever, sworn to protect and help each other as much as we would ourselves. Isn't that still true?"
I nodded, and we hugged.
She looked at Jesse's journal in my hands.
"Go on and put it back," she said. "I understand and respect your feelings about it."
I smiled. That was the right decision. Ironically, however, I resented the fact that she knew what was written in it, and I didn't. Would that eventually get me to read it?
We heard the phone ringing below.
"I'd better answer it. It might be my father," I said, and leaped up. I nearly fell down the stairs rushing to my room, but I got to the phone on the fourth ring.
"Hello," I said.
Karen had followed slowly and stood in the doorway. She saw my eyes widen.
I covered the mouthpiece and whispered, "It's Dana Martin."
She nodded, smiling.
"Tonight? I don't know. I have so much homework. My parents don't like me going out on a school night, anyway."
Karen smirked and shook her head.
"No," I said. "Not this weekend. My parents and I are going to New York City to see a show. We'll see," I said. "I'll talk to you tomorrow. Bye."
I hung up before he could say another word. "Actually," Karen said, tilting her head a bit and leaning against the door frame, "that's good."
"What do you mean? What's good?"
"Your reluctance. It makes you more desirable when you play harder to get. I like it," she said. "I wish I had been that way, but I didn't exactly have the benefit you have."
"What benefit is that?"
"Me, silly. Don't be thick. You have the benefit of my experience. By the time I'm finished with you, you'll seem as sophisticated as any girl he's been with. Boys like to think that they're using you, getting the better of you, but by the time we're finished with Dana Martin, he'll be the one who will feel he's been used, believe me. C'mon," she urged. "Let's go back up to the nest. We have lots and lots to talk about now."
She turned and headed for the stairway.
Somehow, I thought, some way, all that was terrible that had happened, even the fact that today was her stepfather's funeral, was forgotten.
We really were like two small birds in our own nest, totally unaware that the woods were on fire around us. Upstairs, we could shut it all out.
