Watch Me Disappear

doesn’t trust me to be either of those things without her firm hand guiding me. She has no clue what a walking contradiction she is. “What did you think of the adult crowd?” I ask, changing the subject.
    “They seemed nice,” Mom says, not looking up from the box she’s unpacking.
    “Did you talk to any of them?”
    That makes her look up. “We were introduced to just about everyone there. They seemed very nice.” She bends back over the box for a moment and then pauses again. “Are you going to help me or are you going to just sit there?”
    I had been planning on just sitting there. “I have to go do summer reading,” I say, excusing myself.
     
    *          *          *
     
    I know eavesdropping isn’t nice, but is it eavesdropping if you are sitting in your own backyard, minding your own business, and someone else talks so loud that you cannot help but hear? The fact is, my new neighborhood is a ghost town from nine to five, with one little exception: Our cul-de-sac, or more specifically, the Morgans’ pool deck. Apparently, Maura is used to being able to gab all day without anyone overhearing. All the adults are at work and all the kids are either at camp somewhere or are hiding in the air-conditioning playing video games. And I guess it doesn’t occur to her that I might be on the deck in the middle of the day; it’s not like we have a pool to sit by. But as it happens, I like being outside, and while the house is a mess of boxes and clutter, the deck is clean and calm. If I go out there to do my summer reading, my mom leaves me alone and even applauds my studious efforts. So while I sit as quiet as a librarian, book in hand, Maura gabs away at the top of her lungs, and once Maura gets started, she’s hard to ignore. Earlier today I overheard her half of a conversation that went something like this:
    “She’s not going to be around this weekend… Nope. One of her pageants… You should come over… Uh-huh, I’m babysitting my brother… My parents won’t be home until like two A.M…. Hardly. I can’t, like, have a party with Billy in the next room…Just you and me…Play Monopoly!” She laughed. “I’m sure I can keep you entertained… OK, I’ll be waiting for you.”
    It’s pretty much what I expect of a girl like Maura, obviously luring some boy over while she’s supposed to be watching her brother. She’d been off the phone only a minute when it rang again.
    “Hey,” she answered. “I know. I was on the other line… Shit, I have to babysit… My brother. I can’t get out of it… Yeah, you should see if she wants to go… She seems like a real party animal.” Maura laughed. “No seriously, though, she can probably drink you under the table.” More laughter. I wondered if they were talking about me. I knew they could have been talking about anyone, and I also knew that girls like them probably find plenty of people to ridicule, but still, I couldn’t help but wonder. “And what’s up with Jess? Why do we even hang out with that moron? Did you see the way she was hanging all over John? Talk about obvious… I know, right?... Well, I can’t go, and Katherine’s got some pageant, so it looks like you’re stuck with her… Oh, please, everyone knows she does pageants… She tells people herself! You can’t tell one person and expect that no one else’ll find out… Hold on, I got a beep.
    “Hey… Yeah, she’s on the other line… Yeah, I heard about the party… Nope… Lemme call you back later.
    “Tina?... Yeah, it was Jess… Listen, I gotta go. I’m supposed to drive Billy to karate… I know, right?... Good luck with Matt… Yeah, call me if you need to… okay. Bye!”
    I heard a little shuffling from the other side of the fence, the slider opened and shut, and quiet returned to the neighborhood.
    I feel a little bad for listening to her conversations, but then again, it isn’t like Maura is acting secretive. It is hilarious to think of Katherine doing a pageant smile and wave. She wasn’t too smiley at the party. I do feel bad for Jessica, though, knowing her so-called friends talk about her like that. But then again, at least she has friends.
     
     
     
     

Chapter 2
     
     
    I’m not surprised when Mrs. Morgan knocks on the door on Friday afternoon to ask if I can babysit. I listened to Maura’s entire plot unfold the day before. The plan went something like this: Friday morning Maura told her mother that Tina’s boyfriend