Peaches

night. It should be perfect. Don’t be such a baby.”
    “You know.” Leeda put down the spoon she was playing with and pushed her chair back from the table. “Maybe it would be better if I got out of your hair. You’re so in sync. I could just spend the whole summer in New York. Or with Uncle Walter and Birdie. I could plan the party on my laptop.”
    Lucretia blinked at her a few times. And then she smiled. “I think that’s a nice idea.” Before Leeda could say more, her mom leaned behind Danay’s back to look at their dad. “Leeda wants to spend the summer at Walter’s. What do you think?”
    “Leeda, that’s great.”
    Leeda was a bug paralyzed by a spider. She wanted to say she hadn’t meant it, but her pride wouldn’t let her. Her chest ached.
    She whipped out her cell phone. “Do you have their number?”

    That night, Leeda lay in bed thinking about Murphy McGowen. She hadn’t thought of her much since the orchard, outside of the first few awkward days in Bio, when they’d both tentatively established that although they had known each other for a while, they didn’t know each other now.
    Leeda wondered what Murphy would have done in the same situation with her family. Not keep her mouth shut. Not lock herself into something she didn’t want to do. But Murphy was this full person. Leeda was mostly empty.
    She rolled over and stared at the clock. It was 2:13 A.M . Leeda wanted to go swimming in the lake. She wanted to do something daring, something that made her feel like she wasn’t this perfectly controlled mess, but a real, messy mess.
    A few minutes later, not wanting to wake her parents with her car, she hopped on Danay’s old Trek to ride over to Rex’s.
    She’d never ridden a bike through town in the dark, much less through Rex’s side of town, which was empty at this time of night except for the rows of fast-food joints and the lines of traffic lights, blinking aimlessly, red yellow green.
    She parked the bike on the edge of Pearly Gates Cemetery and then lifted his basement window open and slid in silently. He didn’t wake up. At home, Leeda had just pulled jeans on under her silky tank top, so now she just slipped out of them and slid silkily into his bed.
    Rex started, shrinking back against the wall.
    “It’s me,” Leeda whispered, planting a kiss on his warm, soft mouth.
    “God, Lee, you scared me.”
    “Sorry.” Rex’s body was toasty and relaxed, his hair wasmessy, and his body felt more fragile than it usually did—a little defenseless with sleepiness. Leeda snuggled into it like an old T-shirt. “I just wanted to see you.”
    She nuzzled up against his neck and kissed him just beneath his jaw. He began kissing her back, first on the top of her head, then on the lips.
    Leeda let him pull her tank top off and run his hands lightly over her body. This was all they had ever done. Rex had always been the perfect gentleman.
    “Rex,” she whispered, stopping his hands. “You’re working in the orchard for the rest of the summer, right?”
    “Yeah, why?”
    “Well, I kinda told Daddy I was going to spend the summer there.”
    Rex sat up, incredulous. “Why’d you do that?”
    Leeda sat up too. “I just don’t want to be around them this summer. And they don’t care if I’m around or not. So I might as well be at the orchard.”
    “Oh, Lee.” Rex put his palm to his forehead, laughing softly.
    “What?” Leeda frowned.
    “Lee, you’re so spoiled sometimes.”
    Leeda scowled. “What does that have to do with anything?”
    “When did you pull this diva maneuver?”
    Leeda frowned. “At Danay’s graduation.”
    “I see.”
    “Rex, you’re supposed to support me.” Leeda pulled her tank top on. “You don’t understand. They don’t love me like they love her.” Leeda stood up to leave, but Rex touched her back.
    “Come ’ere.” He took Leeda’s wrist and pulled her gentlyback onto the bed. He kissed her on the corner of her lips and then on the cheek. “Just tell your parents tomorrow that you didn’t mean it.”
    “I can’t. I already called Uncle Walter. I can’t take it back.”
    “Good one.”
    “Rex.”
    “Lee, look at your spaghetti arms.” He waggled her wrist, making her skinny arm wiggle. “You weren’t made for picking peaches.”
    “I’m leaving.”
    “Okay. Bye.”
    This was something Leeda hated and loved about their relationship. Other guys who liked Leeda would do anything to keep Leeda from freezing them out,