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“Well… when we were picking reading groups, I was the last one chosen,” he said. “I’m the most advanced reader in the class. I would be an asset, but… no one chose me."
“I’m sorry, Rex.”
“I don’t think the other children like me.”
“Have they said anything to you?”
“They don’t have to,” he answered. “No one asks me to play ball with them. I spend recesses alone. I… please don’t tell Dad this. But I wish I had friends.”
I sighed, thinking about how to approach this subject. Underneath it all, Rex was a sensitive kid. I wanted to make my point, but I didn’t want to hurt his feelings.
“Rex, you’re a smart person. You know that, right?” I started.
“I’m in the top one percent academically for my age, yes.”
“And you know how proud I am of you, right?”
He nodded.
“Well, I’m absolutelynotsaying that being smart is bad. Or that you should be ashamed of it or hide it or anything like that,” I continued. Fuck, Desmond did a number on me the other night. “But, Rex, sometimes you make the other kids feel bad because they’re not as smart as you. You roll your eyes. You’ve called them names. I mean, I wouldn’t like someone who did that to me.”
“So… what do I do about that?” he wondered. “When I know the answer… I don’t raise my hand?”
“No, Rex, if you know the answer, you raise your hand.” I sighed, feeling a little of that exasperation myself. “But you don’t laugh at the kid who gets it wrong, either. And you don’t act like you’re better than everyone else like…”
I caught myself before I saidlike your dad does to me.
“Like what, Mom?” he asked, wide-eyed.
“Like…”
I looked around the room for an answer, but all I found was a distraction. Carter Kane walked through the front door ofPizza Pizzafollowed by another guy who had to be his twin brother Elias. The resemblance was unmistakable. Same eyes. Same square jaw. Same walk. The only difference was that while Carter had broad shoulders and a definiteI’m a man who works with my handsvibe, Elias had a smaller, more wiry build and looked like he was always calculating in his head. He lookedcareful.
Carter waved at us and wandered over.
“Hi, Zoe,” he said, coolly.
Rex narrowed his eyes at Carter. “You look familiar. Who are you?”
Carter offered Rex his hand. “I’m Carter Kane. I live next door. We haven’t officially met, have we?”
“I don’t believe so,” Rex said. I tried not to laugh. Rex has manners like a little old man sometimes. “I’m Rex Hodgkins.”
They shook. Rex raised an eyebrow. He looked suspicious.
“Are you a friend of my mom’s?” Rex asked.
I smirked. I wasn’t sure what I’d call Carter at this point. My neighbor? My fix-it guy? The guy I complained about my ex to all last night and bored into the arms of another woman?
“Yeah, I’m a friend of your mom’s,” Carter answered. “And this is my brother, Elias.”
“Nice to meet you, Rex. Zoe,” Elias said with a small wave.
A beat passed between the four of us.
“Are you guys, um… here for dinner? ‘Cause we don’t mean to keep you,” I started. “Or you guys could join us if you like. We can order another pie.”
“We’d have to,” Rex said. “Mom ordered pineapple on her half.” He shuddered, which made the guys laugh. “Ugh.”
