The next day I woke up early and crept downstairs without Mum knowing. There was no sign of Dad yet, so I took the scuttlebutt from its hiding place under the sink and went outside.
The scuttlebutt lay beside me, looking up at me expectantly.
"All right," I said. "Let's see if we can find this thing of yours."
I turned the corner and started walking toward town.
At first, nothing seemed to happen. Then I heard a car coming toward me. It sounded like Dad's car, but I couldn't be sure. It was a green van.
As it pulled up alongside me, I recognized the driver.
"Hello, Andy," he said. "How are you doing?"
"Fine."
"You look well."
"Thanks."
"I've been meaning to come and say hello," he said. "I hope you don't mind."
"No. Not at all."
"I'm sorry about the other night. I shouldn't have spoken to you like that. I didn't mean to hurt you. I was angry and I spoke too soon."
"That's okay."
"Do you want to walk back to the house together?"
"Sure."
We set off side by side. The sun had risen now, and everything looked different in the light of morning.
"Have you seen your father lately?" Andy asked.
"Not for a while."
"He's been working hard on the project. Rumour has it that he's going to present his findings at the conference next month."
"What sort of findings?"
"I think he'd rather not talk about them just yet."
"Why not?"
"It's a bit premature. He wants to get the results verified before they're announced."
"Oh."
"So how is school? How are your studies going?"
"They're okay."
"You seem to be getting along with Mrs. Kirkpatrick. She seems very impressed with your work."
"She does."
Andy was acting a bit strange. I had a feeling he liked me and was looking for an opportunity to let it out which is why he was asking a lot of awkward questions. But then, that wasn't really my business.
"I suppose you'll be heading back to Toronto soon?" he asked after a few moments.
"Yes."
"Good luck with your thesis."
"Thank you."
We walked in silence for a few minutes. Then Andy stopped suddenly and turned around.
"Listen," he said. "I'm sorry about what happened last night. You know I don't hold grudges or anything, right?"
"Sure."
"Well, I want you to know that I won't do anything like that again."
"Okay."
"It's just that I've got this problem where I'm afraid that something bad might happen to my friendship with you if I tell you how I feel about you. So I'm trying to learn to deal with it."
"You mean you're afraid of being rejected?"
"Exactly. And it will be very embarrassing ."
"But why would anyone not want to like Andy?"
At those words, his eyes lit up as he understood I liked him too.
"Well, you see . . ." he began.
"I'm going to miss you when you leave."
"I'll miss you too."
"I'll write to you."
Maybe we will sort our feeling out when I return, I thought in my heart as I bade him farewell.