Flipped BRYCE: All I ever wanted was for Juli Baker to leave me alone. It all began in te summer of !"#$% before te start of se&ond grade. '(E)E*: +ere we are. ,A('Y: +a% a. - at do /ou gu/s tink0 1Y*E((A: I like tis pla&e. BRYCE: It2s &ool. 1Y*E((A: 3% wat &olor is m/ room0 Just /ou wait. BRYCE: 1et2s see wat2s inside. '(E)E*: +e/% &ome on% budd/ Br/&e. / don2t% u% /ou and I go elp unload te van... ...and te womenfolk ere &an get in te kit&en and start setting up. 4ka/% 5ad. BRYCE: For me% it was te beginning of wat would be... ...more tan alf a de&ade of strategi& avoidan&e and so&ial dis&omfort. - +i% I2m Juli Baker. - +e/% e/% wat are /ou doing0 5on2t /ou want some elp0 *o. (ere2s some valuable tings in tere. - +ow about tis one0 - *o% no% no. Run ome. Your moter2s probabl/ wondering were /ou are. 4% no% m/ mom knows were I am. 'e said it2s 6ne. BRYCE: It didn2t take long to reali7e tis girl &ould not take a int. - It2s &rowded & rowded in ere wit tree people. - I don2t mind. BRYCE: 4f an/ kind. - You wanna pus tis one togeter0 Br/&e% isn2t it time for /ou to go elp /our moter0 +u0 4% /ea. BRYCE: I mean% noting would stop er.
I was about to tell er to get lost wen te weirdest ting appened. I &ouldn2t believe it. (ere I was olding ands wit tis strange girl. - +ow did I get into tis mess0 ,A('Y ,A ('Y:: ell% ello. ell o. - I see /ou2ve met m/ son. - 3-u. BRYCE: Finall/% I did te onl/ manl/ ting available wen /ou2re $ /ears old. 8BE11 RI*9I*9 +owever% m/ troubles were far from over. (e minute I walked walked into ;iss Yelson2s &lassroom... Br/&e0 You2re You2re ere. BRYCE: ...it was &lear: '&ool would not be a san&tuar/. 8C+I15RE* 1A39+I*9 +e/% Br/&e% were2s /our girlfriend0 BRYCE: I was branded for life. +e/% Br/&e% w/ don2t /ou ask er to marr/ /ou0 9IR1' 8'I*9I*9: Br/&e and Juli sitting in a tree <-l-'-'-l-*-9 BRYCE: ;/ 6rst /ear in town was a disaster. 9IR1: 1ook at tem. BRYCE: And te ne=t tree weren2t mu& better. But 6nall/% in te si=t grade% I took a&tion. I at&ed te plan. 'err/. 'err/% wait up. +i% Br/&e. +e. BRYCE: I asked out 'err/ 'talls. I was wondering if /ou wanted to go... BRYCE: (o full appre&iate te brillian&e of tis plan... .../ou ave to understand
I was about to tell er to get lost wen te weirdest ting appened. I &ouldn2t believe it. (ere I was olding ands wit tis strange girl. - +ow did I get into tis mess0 ,A('Y ,A ('Y:: ell% ello. ell o. - I see /ou2ve met m/ son. - 3-u. BRYCE: Finall/% I did te onl/ manl/ ting available wen /ou2re $ /ears old. 8BE11 RI*9I*9 +owever% m/ troubles were far from over. (e minute I walked walked into ;iss Yelson2s &lassroom... Br/&e0 You2re You2re ere. BRYCE: ...it was &lear: '&ool would not be a san&tuar/. 8C+I15RE* 1A39+I*9 +e/% Br/&e% were2s /our girlfriend0 BRYCE: I was branded for life. +e/% Br/&e% w/ don2t /ou ask er to marr/ /ou0 9IR1' 8'I*9I*9: Br/&e and Juli sitting in a tree <-l-'-'-l-*-9 BRYCE: ;/ 6rst /ear in town was a disaster. 9IR1: 1ook at tem. BRYCE: And te ne=t tree weren2t mu& better. But 6nall/% in te si=t grade% I took a&tion. I at&ed te plan. 'err/. 'err/% wait up. +i% Br/&e. +e. BRYCE: I asked out 'err/ 'talls. I was wondering if /ou wanted to go... BRYCE: (o full appre&iate te brillian&e of tis plan... .../ou ave to understand
tat Juli ated 'err/ 'talls... ...toug I never understood w/. 'err/ was ni&e% friendl/ and se ad a lot of air. At 6rst% m/ moter wouldn2t let me get m/ ears pier&ed% but I begged... BRYCE: (e idea was tat 'err/ would eat wit me... ...ma/be we2d walk around togeter% and opefull/ Juli would lose interest. But I still &an2t get te oops till I2m !>. 4% tat2s a same. 'o ;elanie wanted to get er ears pier&ed% but of &ourse er moter said no. 'o se trew a 6t and smased er Jonn/ ;atis 9reatest +its album... 81A39+' ...and se got grounded% so now se &an2t &ome to m/ pa?ama sleepover part/. BRYCE: (ings were unfolding unfolding @uite ni&el/. ni&el/. at are /ou doing for /our s&ien&e pro?e&t0 BRYCE: (at is% until m/ supposed best friend% 9arrett Einbinder... ...took an interest in 'err/ imself. I was tinking of sowing ow split ends rea&t wit dierent air &onditioners. (at2s fas&inating. BRYCE: 1o/alt/ gave wa/ to desire and 9arrett% te turn&oat... ...told 'err/ wat I was up to. '+ERRY: Jerk. BRYCE: 'e didn2t take it well. ord got ba&k to Juli% and prett/ soon se started up wit te goo-goo e/es again. 4nl/ tis time it was worse. 'e started sning me. (at2s rigt% sning me. at was tat all about0 ;/ onl/ &onsolation was tat ne=t /ear would be dierent. Junior ig% bigger s&ool. ;a/be we2d be in dierent &lasses
and it would 6nall/% 6nall/ be over. J31l: (e 6rst da/ I met Br/&e Br/&e 1oski% I ipped. It was tose e/es% someting in tose da77ling e/es. You You wanna pus tis one togeter0 J31l: +is famil/ ad ?ust moved moved into te neigborood... ...and I2d gone over to elp tem. I2d been in te van all of two minutes wen is dad sent im o to elp is mom. I &ould see e didn2t wanna go. 'o I &ased after im to see if we &ould pla/ a little before e got trapped inside. (e ne=t ting I know% e2s olding m/ and... ...and looking rigt into m/ e/es. ;/ eart stopped. as tis it0 ould tis be m/ 6rst kiss0 - But ten is moter &ame out. - ell% ello. J31l: And e was so embarrassed% embarrassed% is &eeks turned &ompletel/ red. I went to bed tat nigt tinking of te kiss tat migt ave been. I mean% it was &lear e ad feelings for me% but e was ?ust too s/ to sow tem. ;/ moter said bo/s were like tat. - 'o I de&ided to elp im out. - Br/&e0 You2re ere. 8C+I15RE* 9I991I*9 J31l: I would give im plent/ plent/ of opportunit/ to get over is s/ness. B/ te si=t grade% I2d learned to &ontrol m/self. (en 'err/ 'talls 'talls entered te pi&ture. pi&ture. 'err/ 'talls was noting but a win/% gossip/% ba&kstabbing irt. All air and no substan&e. And tere se was... ...olding ands wit Br/&e. ;/ Br/&e. (e one wo was walking around around wit m/ 6rst kiss. ;/ solution was to ignore er. I knew a bo/ of Br/&e2s &aliber...
...would eventuall/ see troug a sallow &onniver like 'err/ 'talls. It took all of a week. (e/ broke broke up at re&ess. 'e didn2t take it well. *ow tat Br/&e was out of 'err/2s evil &lut&es% e started being ni&er to me. - +i% Juli. - +i% Br/&e. J31l: +e was so s/ and so &ute... ...and is air% it smelled like watermelon. I &ouldn2t get enoug of it. I spent te wole /ear se&retl/ se&retl/ sning watermelon... watermelon... ...and wondering if I was ever going to get m/ kiss. BRYCE: 'event grade brougt &anges% all rigt. But te biggest one didn2t appen at s&ool. It appened at ome. ;/ grandfater &ame to live wit us. ;om said e stared like tat be&ause e missed 9randma. (at was not someting 9randpa would ever talk about wit me. As a matter of fa&t% e never talked about mu& of an/ting wit me. (at is% until Juli appeared appeared in te lo&al newspaper. - 4% Br/&e. ;a/ I speak wit /ou0 - at0 +ave a seat% son. (ell (ell me about /our friend friend Juli Baker. Baker. Juli. 'e2s not e=a&tl/ e=a&tl/ m/ friend. 4. /2s tat0 / do /ou wanna know0 BRYCE: *ow% Juli Baker did not wind up in (e ;a/6eld (imes... (imes... ...for being an eigt-grade Einstein. *o% se got front-page &overage be&ause se refused to &limb out of a s/&amore tree. Juli Baker and tat stupid s/&amore tree. tree. 'e alwa/s tougt it was 9od2s gift
to our little &orner of te universe. +e/% Br/&e. anna &ome &limb te tree wit me and m/ broters0 *o% tanks. Br/&e. Come up ere. It2s fun. - You &an see ever/ting. BRYCE: I &an2t. ;/ dad needs me to elp im 6=... ...a ting. BRYCE: (at2s all I needed. Climb up a tree wit Juli Baker. I2d be dragged rigt ba&k into te se&ond grade. Br/&e and Juli sitting in a tree. / don2t /ou ?ust make me eat lima beans for te rest of m/ life. J31l: It2s tree blo&ks awa/. (wo blo&ks. 4ne blo&k awa/. - 1ike tat2s valuable information. - I ate it wen se does tat. I like to tink tere2s at least a &an&e te bus won2t sow. I tink te tree looks parti&ularl/ beautiful in tis ligt. 5on2t /ou0 If b/ DbeautifulD /ou mean Dunbelievabl/ ugl/%D ten% /es% I would agree. You2re ?ust visuall/ &allenged. I feel sorr/ for /ou. BRYCE: D)isuall/ &allengedD0 D)isuall/ &allengedD0 (is from te girl wo lived in a ouse tat was te ?oke of te neigborood0 (e/ ad buses growing over windows and weeds all over te pla&e. It bugged m/ dad bigtime. 4% tere e is. (e bri&kla/er wo tinks e2s a painter. (at tru&k2s not ugl/ enoug in real life0 +e2s gotta make a painting of it0 *o% e does lands&apes. 'ells tem at te &ount/ fair. ,eople sa/ te/2re beautiful.
1ands&apes0 1et me tell /ou someting. (e world would ave more beaut/ in it... ...if e2d do a little lands&aping on tat pie&e of &rap e &alls a /ard. ,A('Y: I feel bad for is wife. 'e married a dreamer. Be&ause of tat% one of te two of tem will alwa/s be unapp/. Yea% 6ne. But w/ do we ave to be unapp/0 BRYCE: As anno/ing as te /ard was to m/ dad... ...it was noting &ompared to ow anno/ing Juli Baker was in tat tree. J31l: (ree blo&ks awa/. BRYCE: Ever/ morning we ad to listen to te sound... ...of er blow-b/-blow tra& report. J31l: (wo blo&ks. 4;A*: (ere /ou go. / do te/ &all it (e (ree 'tooges0 - I mean% tere2s 6ve of tem. - at0 ell% /ea% tere2s ;oe% 1arr/% Curl/% 'emp and Curl/ Joe. - Yea% but te/ onl/ ave tree at a time. - Yea. You know% I ate Curl/ Joe. I mean% e souldn2t even be a 'tooge. ;A*: 1isten% girl% I2m tis &lose to &alling te poli&e. You are trespassing and obstru&ting progress on a &ontra&ted ?ob. 9ARRE((: at2s going on0 ;A*: Eiter /ou &ome down... ...or we2re gonna &ut /ou down. J31l: You gu/s% &ome up ere wit me. (e/ won2t &ut it down if we2re all up ere. - Bus% bus% bus. BRYCE: Juli was franti&. (e/ wanted to &ut down er tree.
I &ouldn2t understand w/ tat mutant tangle of gnarl/ bran&es... ...meant so mu& to er. J31l: Br/&e% please. BRYCE: I felt bad for er. 9ARRE((: 1eave er. BRYCE: But I wasn2t about to &ut s&ool over it. 9ARRE((: Come on% bro. C+E(: / isn2t se /our friend% Br/&e0 You2d ave to know Juli. ell% I2d like to. /0 (at girl as an iron ba&kbone. / don2t /ou invite er over sometime0 An iron ba&kbone0 'e2s ?ust stubborn... ...and se2s pus/ be/ond belief. Is tat so0 And se2s been stalking me sin&e te se&ond grade. ell% a girl like tat doesn2t live ne=t door to ever/one. 1u&k/ tem. Read tis. itout pre?udi&e. BRYCE: 1ike I needed to know an/ting more about Juli Baker. Juli wasn2t at te bus stop te ne=t morning. 4r te morning after tat. 'e was at s&ool% but /ou2d never know it. - 1ittle Joe0 +e2s got so mu& makeup on... - +e doesn2t age. BRYCE: I told m/self I sould be glad about it. I mean% isn2t tat wat I2d alwa/s wanted0 But still% I felt bad for er. I was gonna tell er I was sorr/% but ten I tougt% e/% no... ...tat2s te last ting I needed: Juli Baker tinking I missed er.
I see w/ /ou like to &ome out ere. ould /ou mind e=plaining it to /our moter0 J31l: I loved to wat& m/ fater paint. 4r reall/% I loved to ear im talk wile e painted. I learned a lot about m/ dad tat wa/. +e told me all sorts of tings... ...like ow e got is 6rst ?ob delivering a/ and ow e2d wised e2d 6nised &ollege. (en one da/ e surprised me. at2s going on wit /ou and% u% Br/&e 1oski0 at do /ou mean0 *oting. 4% oka/. ;/ mistake. / would /ou even tink tat0 *o reason. Just tat /ou... ...talk about im all te time. I do0 ;m-m. I don2t know. I guess it2s someting about is e/es. 4r ma/be is smile. But wat about im0 - at0 - You ave to look at te wole lands&ape. at does tat mean0 A painting is more tan te sum of its parts. A &ow b/ itself is ?ust a &ow. A meadow b/ itself is ?ust grass% owers. And te sun peeking troug te trees is ?ust a beam of ligt. But /ou put tem all togeter... ...and it &an be magi&. J31l: I didn2t reall/ understand wat e was sa/ing until one afternoon... ...wen I was up in te s/&amore tree. I was res&uing a kite. It was a long wa/ up% iger tan I2d ever been. And te iger I got%
te more ama7ed I was b/ te view. I began to noti&e ow wonderful te bree7e smelled. 1ike sunsine and wild grass. I &ouldn2t stop breating it in... ...6lling m/ lungs wit te sweetest smell I2d ever known. +e/% /ou found m/ kite. Br/&e% /ou sould &ome up ere. It2s so beautiful. I &an2t. I sprained m/% um... I ave a ras. J31l: From tat moment on% tat be&ame m/ spot. I &ould sit tere for ours% ?ust looking out at te world. 'ome da/s te sunsets would be purple and pink. And some da/s te/ were a bla7ing orange... ...setting 6re to te &louds on te ori7on. It was during one of tose sunsets tat m/ fater2s idea... ...of te wole being greater tan te sum of its parts... ...moved from m/ ead to m/ eart. 'ome da/s I would get tere e=tra earl/ to wat& te sunrise. 4ne morning I was making mental notes... ...of ow te streaks of ligt were &utting troug te &louds... ...so I &ould tell m/ dad... ...wen I eard a noise below. E=&use me. E=&use me. I2m sorr/% but /ou &an2t park tere. (at2s a bus stop. +e/% wat are /ou doing up tere0 You &an2t be up tere% we2re gonna take tis ting down. - (e tree0 - Yea. *ow &ome on down. - But wo told /ou% /ou &ould &ut it down0 - (e owner. /0
+e2s gonna build a ouse% and tis tree2s in te wa/. - 'o &ome on% girl% we got work to do. - You &an2t &ut it down. You ?ust &an2t. 1isten% girl. I2m tis &lose to &alling te poli&e. You are trespassing and obstru&ting progress on a &ontra&ted ?ob. *ow eiter /ou &ome down% or we2re gonna &ut /ou down. 9o aead. Cut me down. I2m not &oming down. I2m never &oming down. Br/&e. You gu/s% &ome up ere wit me. (e/ won2t &ut it down if we2re all up ere. Br/&e% please don2t let tem do tis. Come on% /ou gu/s. Br/&e% please. You don2t ave to &ome up tis ig. Just a little wa/s. Br/&e% please. ,lease. J31l: at appened after tat was a blur. It seemed like te wole town was tere. But still I wouldn2t move. (en m/ fater sowed up. +e talked a 6reman into letting im &ome up to were I was. 'weetie% it2s time to &ome down. 5add/% please don2t let tem do tis. - 'weetie... - 5add/% look. You &an see ever/ting. You &an see te wole world from ere. *o view is wort m/ daugter2s safet/. *ow% &ome on. I &an2t. Julianna% it2s time to &ome down now. ,lease% 5add/. It2s time. J31l: And tat was it. I must2ve &ried for two weeks straigt. 4% sure% I went to s&ool and did te best I &ould... ...but noting seemed to matter.
(EAC+ER: Juli0 - +u0 5o /ou know te answer0 3% te ,eloponnesian ar0 I2m sure tat2s te answer to someting... ...but I was looking for te area of a romboid. 8C+I15RE* 1A39+ J31l: 'omeow% romboids and isos&eles rigt triangles... ...didn2t seem so important. I rode m/ bike so I wouldn2t ave to pass b/ te stump... ...tat used to be te eart2s most magni6&ent s/&amore tree. But no matter wat I did% I &ouldn2t stop tinking about it. 8<*4C
+e/% e/% e/. 9u/s. Edna2s found er breakfast. BRYCE: I mean% if a slim/ reptile found tem appeti7ing... ...tere was &ertainl/ no pla&e for tem in m/ diet. ;A((: 4% man% tat2s so &ool. 'e doesn2t even ave to &ew. I mean% tink of all te time /ou2d save. BRYCE: I &ould2ve gone m/ wole life not knowing tat snakes eat eggs raw... ...if it adn2t been for 1/netta. 'e ad a ma?or-league ting for 'k/ler Brown. I tink it2s gross. BRYCE: +e and Juli2s broters% ;att and ;ark% ad formed a band. And 1/netta would wat& tem pra&ti&e. ;A((: (at is so neat. +ow about tat% u% Br/&e0 Yea. *eat. 'o% Br/&ie% ow do /ou tink e2s gonna digest tat0 - 'toma& a&id0 - You2d like to tink tat. ait% ever/bod/ @uiet. +ere e goes. 8'+E11 CRAC
for /ou and /our famil/. - ;/ &i&kens are la/ing eggs. - at0 You remember Abb/ and Bonnie and Cl/de and 5e=ter and Euni&e and Floren&e0 - (e ones I at&ed for te s&ien&e fair. - +ow &ould I forget0 BRYCE: It was &lassi& Juli Baker. 'e totall/ dominated te fair. And get tis% er pro?e&t was all about wat&ing boring eggs at&. I mean% ere I ad a live-a&tion erupting vol&ano... ...and all an/one &ared about was Juli2s boring &i&ks... ...breaking out of teir boring sells. J31l: 4% I tink te last one2s at&ing. 4;A* !: It2s at&ing. 4;A* : 4% it2s at&ing. 4;A* !:
D5e-/odeledD0 You know. 5e-&o&k-a-doodle-doo2d. at te ell are /ou talking about0 1ike te/ de-bark dogs. Br/&e% w/ don2t /ou ?ust ask Juli0 - I don2t tink tat... 1Y*E((A: at0 - You afraid to talk to er0 - I2m not afraid to talk to er. 8;I;IC' C+IC
- at0 Juli. J31l: +ere% gu/s. 9o on% tere /ou go. - +ere% gu/s. 9o on. - Yea% te/2re all &i&kens. - (ere2s no rooster0 - at did I ?ust sa/0 +ow &an /ou tell0 - ell% none of tem are strutting. J31l: +ere% &ome on. - Roosters strut0 J31l: Come on% gu/s. - at did I ?ust sa/0 J31l: +ere. 9ARRE((: ,lus% ardl/ an/ of tem ave an/ rubber/ red stu. J31l: at are /ou doing0 - Yea. (e/2re de6nitel/ all &i&kens. (e/2re all &i&kens. I2m proud of /ou% Br/&e. - You over&ame /our fear. - +u0 - You talked to er. - 4% e. Yea. It2s no big deal. (at2s wat se told /ou0 (e/2re all &i&kens0 Yea. 'e2s a genius. You2re bot genius... 4f &ourse te/2re all &i&kens. A rooster2s a &i&ken. (e @uestion is: Is one of tem a rooster or are te/ all ens0 BRYCE: +ens0 o said an/ting about ens0 (en it it me. 9arrett didn2t know ?a&k sit about &i&kens. - 5o roosters strut0 - Yes% te/ do. at does tat ave to do wit an/ting0 (e/2re all ens. ell% te main ting is te eggs are oka/.
It2s all settled. BRYCE: *ot for me. (ere was no wa/ I was ever gonna eat an/ting... ...tat ad an/ting to do wit Juli Baker. I2m not eating tem. ell% w/ not0 +ave /ou seen teir /ard0 It2s... (ere2s not even an/ grass. It2s all mud and &i&ken turds. Ew. 9ross. 'almonella. 5o /ou suppose te/ &ould ave salmonella0 - It2s not ver/ likel/. - / take te risk0 at do we do wit te eggs0 9ive tem ba&k. - 9ive tem ba&k0 (o Juli0 - 'ure. You talked to er before% rigt0 It didn2t kill /ou. ell% wat do I sa/0 (ell er we don2t eat eggs. 3% we2re allergi& to tem or someting. Come on% use /our brains. BRYCE: It didn2t feel rigt to lie. Besides% even a sevent grader would know tat entire families aren2t allergi& to eggs. But I didn2t wanna urt er feelings eiter. 'o tat left me wit onl/ one option. And tus anoter near-deat e=perien&e... ...in m/ ongoing saga wit Juli Baker ad been su&&essfull/ avoided. 3ntil one week later. +i% Br/&e. Brougt /ou some more eggs. ow. - (anks. - 5id /our famil/ like te 6rst bat&0 5o /ou even ave to ask0 9reat. 'ee /ou at s&ool. BRYCE: at I oped would be
a one-time event... ...was ?ust te beginning of a life &onsumed wit lies% intrigue and de&eption. Ever/ morning I2d be on te lookout for Juli... ...so if se appened to &ome% I &ould wip te door open before se kno&ked. (anks. BRYCE: (en I2d dump te eggs before an/one noti&ed. And w/0 / &ouldn2t I ?ust fa&e er0 / &ouldn2t I ?ust sa/: D*o% tanks. 5on2t want tem. 5on2t need tem. 9ive tem to te snakeD0 as I reall/ afraid of urting er feelings... ...or was I ?ust afraid of er0 *ow% /ou wanna make sure /ou get it... J31l: en ;rs. Brube&k 6rst suggested at&ing eggs as m/ s&ien&e pro?e&t... ...I was less tan e=&ited. (at is% until I saw m/ 6rst sign of life. Is tat it0 - (at2s te embr/o. +e. (RI*A: ow. - It looks like a bean. - It does. 1et2s tr/ te oter ones. J31l: 'uddenl/ it felt real. All te eggs were alive. (ere were% like% little bean babies inside ever/ one. 4n te da/ of te fair% all si= &i&ks at&ed. at are te odds0 (is /ear2s top pri7e goes to Juli Baker... ...for er wonderful pro?e&t: DA Ci&ken is Born.D J31l: I won 6rst pla&e. And tat was &ool% but all I reall/ &ared about were m/ &i&ks. (ere /ou go. (ere /ou go% gu/s. J31l: ;/ mom wasn2t &ra7/ about us raising &i&kens.
But I begged and pleaded. I told er I would take &are of ever/ting. And I did. ere2s Cl/de0 Cl/de0 +e/% Cl/de. at2s te matter0 Are /ou oka/0 Aren2t /ou ungr/0 Come on. Come ere. at2s wrong% bab/0 Come ere. +e/% /ou2re not Cl/de. You2re Cl/dette. ;om J31l: As it turned out% m/ ens laid more eggs tan we &ould eat. At 6rst we tried to keep up... ...but after a mont of boiling% fr/ing and deviling... ...like tat movie (e Blob% we were being overtaken b/ eggs. (en opportunit/ in te form of our neigbor% ;rs. 'teub/% kno&ked. '(E3BY: +ello% dear. If /ou ever ave an/ e=tra% I2d be app/ to bu/ tem from /ou. - Reall/0 - Certainl/. And I appen to know tat ;rs. +elms would be interested as well. - 9reat. - *oting like fres eggs. - (anks% ;rs. 'teub/. - You bet% dear. B/e. J31l: Between ;rs. 'teub/ and ;rs. +elms% m/ egg overow problem was solved. (en I reali7ed tat ;rs. 1oski deserved eggs too. But I didn2t tink it would be rigt to &arge er. 'e ad been su& a good neigbor% lending us supplies wen we ran out... ...giving m/ moter a ride wen our &ar wouldn2t start... ...it was te least I &ould do. Besides% if I appened to run into Br/&e% tat wouldn2t be te end of te world.
+i% Br/&e. J31l: B/ te tird time I brougt eggs over to te 1oskis... ...I reali7ed Br/&e was waiting for me. aiting to pull open te door and sa/% D(anks% Juli. 'ee /ou at s&ool.D And in return% I got a few moments alone... ...wit te world2s most da77ling e/es. (anks% Juli. 'ee /ou at s&ool. J31l: It was a bargain. 3ntil te da/ it wasn2t. It was two weeks after te s/&amore tree was &ut down... ...and I was ?ust starting to feel normal again. +e/% Juli. Rigt on s&edule. Yea% well% neiter rain nor sleet. - +u0 - You know% te mailman ting0 4. Rigt. 'o% um% will /ou start riding te bus again0 I don2t know. I aven2t been up tere sin&e... It doesn2t look so bad an/more. It2s all &leared awa/. ell% um% I better get read/ for s&ool. 9uess I2ll see /ou tere. 'ee /ou. J31l: ;a/be Br/&e was rigt. ;a/be it was time I started riding te bus again. After all% didn2t e ?ust tell me e wanted me to0 Could it be tat Br/&e 1oski a&tuall/ misses me0 8544R 4,E*' Juli0 at are /ou still doing ere0 I was ?ust tinking. It2s pi&kup da/. (e &ans are in front. I know. You need some elp0 *o. ;a/be I2ll do it later. Are tose m/ eggs0
Yea. Yea% I dropped tem. (e/2re not broken. / are /ou trowing tem awa/0 5on2t /ou want tem0 It wasn2t me. ;/ dad didn2t tink it was wort te risk. Risk0 at risk0 'almonella. at0 +e2s afraid of being poisoned0 ell% Juli% I mean% look at /our ba&k /ard. It2s a &omplete mess. It2s% like% &overed in turds. (at2s not true. I &lean up after m/ girls ever/ da/. e ?ust didn2t wanna urt /our feelings. +ave /ou alwa/s trown tem awa/0 You know% ;rs. 'teub/ and ;rs. +elms pa/ me for m/ eggs. - (e/ do0 - (e/ pa/ me >G &ents a do7en. I didn2t know. +ow &ould /ou0 I2m sorr/. *o% /ou2re not. BRYCE: It didn2t take me long to reali7e... ...tat I2d traded in m/ old problems wit Juli Baker... ...for a wole set of new ones. It was a&tuall/ worse aving er mad at me tan aving er anno/ me. (e wa/ se ignored me was a &onstant reminder... ...tat I2d been a ?erk. (en one da/ I was &oming ome from pla/ing basketball wit 9arrett... ...and tings got weird. C+E(: 5on2t be so timid. Come on% /ou won2t urt tem. J31l: 1ike tis0 C+E(: Yea% tat2s it. BRYCE: ;/ grandfater. All I ever saw im wear was slippers. *ow% were did e get tose work boots0 I &ouldn2t stop looking over tere.
And te more I looked% te madder I got. ;/ grandfater ad alread/ said more to Juli in one our... ...tan e2d said to me in te wole time e2d been living wit us. I was prett/ sure I2d never seen im laug. And wat was is deal wit Juli Baker0 8<*4C
You2re lu&k/. I don2t even ave grandparents an/more. 4. I feel sorr/ for im. +e misses /our grandma. Can /ou believe it0 +e sa/s I remind im of er. - at0 - I know. (at2s wat I said. But e meant it in a ni&e wa/. 'ometing about er spirit. Yea. ell... 9ood lu&k wit te grass. I2m sure it2ll &ome up great. (anks. I guess I2ll see /ou around. I guess so. 8B4*A*HA (+E;E ,1AYI*9 BRYCE: ile Juli2s a&&eptan&e of m/ apolog/ was not all tat I2d oped for... ...at least te eggs ting was 6nall/ beind me. (e 6rst time in monts I &ould trul/ en?o/ Bonan7a. ere /ou going and w/ /ou dressed like tat0 'k/ler2s. ;att and ;ark are bringing over re&ording stu and te/2re gonna make a demo. 5emo0 1ike te/ know ow to make a demo. - You don2t even know tem. - I don2t ave to. I know te t/pe. - You don2t know an/ting. - 5on2t talk to me like tat. - I2m late. - Be ba&k b/ !!. BRYCE: Yep. Ever/ting was ba&k to normal. Is tat girl working /ou too ard0 (at girl2s name is Juli. And% no% se isn2t working me too ard. You2ve developed @uite a soft spot for er% u0 'teven.
*o% ,ats/. Just wanna 6nd out w/ /our fater as te energ/... ...to befriend a &omplete stranger... ...wen e won2t trow a baseball around wit is own grandson. - It2s oka/% 5ad. - *o% it2s not oka/. Juli reminds im of 9randma. 4f Renee0 +e. (at2s ridi&ulous. You know w/ te Bakers aven2t 6=ed teir /ard0 Yea% be&ause e2s too bus/ wit is paint-b/-numbers kit. If /ou ad a broter wit a severe andi&ap% wat would /ou do0 at te ell does tat ave to do wit an/ting0 Juli2s fater as a retarded broter. 'o wat0 +e2s not te gardener% is e0 +e. - 'teven. '(E)E*: +a-a-a. It was a ?oke. You know% oter people ave famil/ troubles... ...and te/ manage to mow teir own lawns. I don2t know were teir pride in ownersip is. (e/ don2t own tat ouse. (e landlord2s supposed to maintain it. ;r. Baker puts ever/ e=tra penn/ e as into å for is broter. 5on2t te/ ave government fa&ilities for tat sort of ting0 ;a/be te/ tougt tat a private fa&ilit/ would be better for im. Eiter wa/% it2s not our fault tat teir famil/ as some &romosomal abnormalit/. It as noting to do wit &romosomes. en Juli2s un&le was born% e ad te umbili&al &ord wrapped around is ne&k. If e2d ad enoug o=/gen% e would2ve been a perfe&t little bab/% ?ust like /our son. 9oddamn it% Cet.
- ,ats/0 ,ats/0 ,A('Y: 1eave me alone 8544R '1A;' 'orr/ about tat. / is ;om so upset0 Be&ause... ...but for te gra&e of 9od... .../our moter &ould be standing in ;r. Baker2s soes. 5id er broter ave te &ord wrapped around is ne&k too0 You did. 1u&kil/% te do&tor wo delivered /ou was on te ball and got it untangled... ...but it easil/ &ould2ve gone te oter wa/. - anna go for a walk0 - +u0 I 6nd it elps &lear te mind. at would te/ ave done wit me0 You &an2t dwell on someting tat migt2ve been% Br/&e. (e wa/ m/ dad was talking% sounds like e would2ve trown me in a nutouse. *o% no. *ow% tat2s not fair. You &an2t &ondemn im for someting e asn2t done. 8C+3C<1E' (is is were tat tree was% wasn2t it0 Yea. ;ust2ve been a spe&ta&ular view. 'e2s @uite a girl. 'ome of us get dipped in at... ...some in satin... ...some in gloss. But ever/ on&e in a wile... .../ou 6nd someone wo2s irides&ent. And wen /ou do... ...noting will ever &ompare. BRYCE: Flat% gloss/% irides&ent0 at te ell did tat mean0 Juli Baker ad alwa/s ?ust seemed plain to me. 3ntil now. And te wa/ se talked about
wat it felt like to be up in tat tree... ...to be eld above te eart% brused b/ te wind. o in ?unior ig talks like tat0 (is weird feeling started taking over in te pit of m/ stoma&... ...and I didn2t like it. I was slipping% man. And it was time to get a grip. J31l: I2d never been embarrassed b/ were we lived before. I also never reall/ tougt about mone/. I knew we weren2t ri&% but I didn2t feel like we were missing an/ting. (at is% until Br/&e 1oski &alled our ome a &omplete mess. ;AR< 8'I*9I*9: at2s /our name0 - 8'I*9I*9 at2s /our name0 8I* 3*I'4* Is it ;ar/ or 'ue0 at2s /our name0 5o I stand a &an&e wit /ou0 It2s so ard to 6nd a personalit/ it &arms like /ours for me 4o-ee% oo-ee% oo-ee J31l: I ad to do someting and I knew wat it was. 8'I*9I*9 at2s /our name0 8B4(+ 'CA((I*9 8A11 1A39+I*9 - 4% /ou2re sounding reall/ good. - Yea. e2ll re&ord it in 'k/ler2s garage. (at2s a wonderful pro?e&t. 'peaking of pro?e&ts% I was tinking it migt be &ool to 6= up te /ard. - at0 - I mean% ow mu& &an grass seed &ost0 I &ould plant a lawn% ma/be some owers. I &ould even put up a fen&e. +one/% tat2s a ma?or undertaking. - I &ould pa/ for it wit m/ egg mone/. - *o. (at2s /our mone/. (e landlord sould be te one
taking &are of all tis. But e doesn2t. And we live ere. And it looks so bad. Jules. at2s going on0 *oting% 5ad. It2s oka/% sweeteart. You &an tell us. (e 1oskis ave been trowing awa/ m/ eggs be&ause te/2re afraid of salmonella. Be&ause our /ard is su& a mess. 5id ,ats/ sa/ tat0 *o. Br/&e did. But it must ave been a famil/ dis&ussion. A bo/ doesn2t &ome up wit tat on is own. - o &ares wat te/ tink0 - Yea% wo &ares0 - I &are. RIC+AR5: (rina. 1et2s not get into tis. *o% I2m tired of living like tis% Ri&ard. I2m tired of aving to take temp ?obs ?ust to make ends meet. I2m tired of aving to pus a &air up against te wasing ma&ine... ...?ust to keep te door sut. I2m tired of aving to borrow ;rs. 'teub/2s va&uum &leaner... ...ever/ time ours breaks down. 5o /ou tink tis is te life I pi&tured for us0 'ometimes /ou ave to sa&ri6&e to do te rigt ting. e alwa/s end up agreeing tat 5evonurst is te rigt ting for 5aniel. ell% ma/be we sould start tinking about wat2s rigt for us. 4ur daugter is suering be&ause we won2t 6= up our own /ard. It2s not our /ard. +ow &an /ou sa/ tat% Ri&ard0 +ow0 e2ve lived ere for ! /ears... ...and for ! /ears we2ve been sa/ing it2s temporar/% but it2s not.
(is is our ome. Is it wrong to wanna live somewere /ou &an be proud of0 (o ave enoug to send /our kids to &ollege0 ;a/be it2s time we &onsidered government &are. e are not moving m/ broter. +e2s more important tan /our own &ildren0 - 5ad - +ow dare /ou 'top it% 5ad ,lease% ?ust stop. I2m sorr/. Julianna% tis is not /our fault. e2ll work tis out% I promise. J31l: (at was te 6rst time I ever eard m/ parents reall/ /ell at ea& oter. I2m sorr/ about tonigt. J31l: (at nigt te/ ea& &ame into m/ room. ;/ fater talked about is broter and ow mu& e loved im... ...and ow e promised is parents e2d alwa/s take &are of im. ;/ moter talked about ow mu& se loved m/ fater... ...for is strengt and kind eart. en se kissed me good nigt... ...se wispered tat of all er man/ blessings% I was er best. I felt sorr/ for m/ fater. I felt sorr/ for m/ moter. But most of all% I felt lu&k/ for me tat te/ were mine. I wanted to tink te reason I started working on m/ /ard... ...ad noting to do wit Br/&e. It was about making our ouse better. After wat e did wit te eggs% w/ sould I &are wat e tougt0 But I did. Are /ou pruning tat or tr/ing to a&k it to deat0 +i. I2m Cet 5un&an% Br/&e2s grandfater. 'orr/ it2s taken me so long
to &ome over and introdu&e m/self. *i&e to meet /ou. 'o are /ou trimming all tese to te same eigt0 ell% /ea% tat2s wat I was tinking% but I don2t know. 5o /ou tink it would look better to take tem out0 4% tese are +i&ksii srubs. (ese will prune up ni&el/. 1isten% ;r. 5un&an. Call me Cet. Cet. If /ou2re ere be&ause of wat Br/&e said... ...I don2t need /our elp. Read about /ou in te paper. Renee would2ve sat up in tat tree wit /ou. 'e would2ve sat up tere all nigt. Renee0 ;/ wife. You remind me a lot of er. J31l: e worked on te /ard for weeks. And te wole time we worked% we talked. - Rigt tere0 - ,erfe&t% /ea. J31l: +e wanted to know more about te s/&amore tree. +e knew e=a&tl/ wat it meant... ...about te wole being greater tan te sum of its parts. +e said it was te same wit people... ...but sometimes wit people% te wole &ould be less. I tougt tat was prett/ interesting. I started looking at people I2d known sin&e elementar/ s&ool... ...tr/ing to 6gure out if te/ were more or less tan te sum of teir parts. Cet was rigt. A lot of tem were less. 4f all m/ &lassmates% te one person I &ouldn2t seem to pla&e was Br/&e. 3ntil re&entl/% I would2ve said
wit absolute &ertaint/... ...tat e was greater% far greater% tan te sum of is parts. But now I wasn2t so sure. It2s looking good% Juli. *i&e ?ob. (anks. Cet did most of it. I2m sorr/ for wat I did. I ?ust don2t get it% Br/&e. / didn2t /ou ?ust tell me0 J31l: as e reall/ sorr/0 4r was e ?ust sa/ing tese tings to make imself feel better0 (en I tougt ma/be I ?ust wanted im to be more tan te sum of is parts. But as I looked into is e/es... ...tose da77ling e/es... ...for te 6rst time... ...I was prett/ sure tat Br/&e 1oski was less. e2re going to invite te Bakers over for dinner. - at0 - I don2t know% ;om. I tink tat2s a marvelous idea. ,ats/% wat purpose does tis serve0 (rina Baker is a ver/ ni&e person. - And ;att and ;ark are reall/ &ool. - I ate &ool. 'ometing we sould2ve done /ears ago. Yea% but we didn2t. And now we &an2t. (e statute of limitations as run out. e2re aving te Bakers over for dinner. If tis is about wat I said last nigt% I2m sorr/% oka/0 But% /ou know% aving tem over for dinner is not gonna 6= is broter. It2s going to be a sit-down dinner. And I e=pe&t ever/one to dress a&&ordingl/. 4% 9od. Can2t we ?ust ave a barbe&ue0 It2s going to be a sit-down dinner. Just soot me now. Careful wat /ou wis for. BRYCE: 'o tat was it.
A dress-up% sit-down dinner wit Juli Baker was in m/ immediate future. And tat made seeing Juli at s&ool more un&omfortable. I found m/self staring at er in &lass. And te wa/ er air fell ba&k over er soulders... ...se looked ?ust like te pi&ture in te newspaper. 5ana (ressler &augt me wat&ing. If I didn2t do someting fast% tis &ould spread like wild6re. (ere was a bee in er air. 'ee% tere it goes. (ere2s no bee. It ew out te window. BRYCE: I &onvin&ed m/self I2d dodged a bullet. I ad to put Juli out of m/ mind.
I ad to talk to someone. / not 9arrett0 ;a/be e &ould elp me get ba&k on tra&k. 9arrett was surprisingl/ sensitive in matters of te eart. Are /ou freaking mental0 Juli Baker. You ate er. (at2s wat2s weird. I don2t tink I do. I &an2t stop tinking about er. - You got it bad% man. - ell% wat do I do0 ell% /ou gotta nip tis in te bud. (ese aren2t real emotions. - (e/2re not0 - You feel guilt/ be&ause of te egg ting. Yea% and I insulted er /ard. E=a&tl/. 4f &ourse% te pla&e is a dump an/wa/s. +er dad2s got a retarded broter and all teir mone/ goes to elping im. A retard0 ell% soot% tat ougt to tell /ou someting. - About wat0 - About Juli. at are /ou sa/ing0 (e apple doesn2t fall far from te tree. BRYCE: I &ouldn2t believe it. I wanted to /ell at im. (ell im tat e didn2t know Juli like I did. But all tat &ame out was: +e% o. - Rigt. - Yea. Rigt. 3m% I2ll talk to /ou later. BRYCE: I was supposed to go to 9arrett2s after s&ool... ...but I &ouldn2t be around im. +e2d &rossed te line. And standing rigt ne=t to im a&ross tat line was m/ fater. I didn2t &are wat te/ tougt. I liked Juli Baker. J31l: 'unda/ mornings are pea&eful in our ouse. ;/ dad lets imself sleep in.
;/ moter lets erself not 6= breakfast. If m/ broters ave been out late pla/ing wit teir band... .../ou won2t even know te/2re around till noon. But tis 'unda/% I woke up feeling weird. I ad to do someting to sake o te &onfused feelings about Br/&e... ...tat were starting to &reep ba&k in. You reall/ did it% didn2t /ou0 +e. - ,roud of /ou. - (anks% 5ad. - ere /ou going0 - (o see 5aniel. It2s is birtda/. I wanna &ome wit /ou. 4% one/% ?ust en?o/ te morning% sta/ wit /our mom. *o% 5ad. I wanna &ome. 'weeteart% listen. 'ometimes% wit 5aniel... I2m &oming% 5ad. 4ka/. e2d better leave a note for /our moter. J31l: In all te /ears% I2d never visited m/ 3n&le 5aniel. I don2t know w/. It was alwa/s someting m/ dad did alone. e didn2t sa/ mu& to ea& oter on te drive to 5evonurst% but I didn2t &are. I ?ust liked being wit m/ dad. 'omeow te silen&e seemed to &onne&t us in a wa/ tat words never &ould. (e residents tend to te grounds as part of teir terap/. It takes some getting used to. (e/2re good people% toug. 5aniel0 5aniel. Ri&ard You2re ere Ri&ard for m/ birtda/. o0 Ri&ard% wo0 o0 o0 o0 Ri&ard% wo0 o0 5aniel% 5aniel% it2s Julianna. It2s m/ daugter. Your nie&e. Julianna.
- +a% Julianna. - +app/ birtda/% 3n&le 5aniel. +a-a-a. Ri&ard. It2s m/ birtda/. I ave /our pi&tures% Julianna. I ave /our pi&tures. e ave a present for /ou. A pu77le0 A pu77le% Ri&ard0 *ot ?ust a pu77le. A pu77le and a... ...pinweel. A pinweel (ank /ou% Ri&ard. Yes. 4range. 4utside0 4utside% Ri&ard0 You wanna go outside0 All rigt% we2ll go to% u% ;&EIliot2s. - e2ll walk out tere for an i&e &ream. - I&e &ream 4% no. *o% no% we &an2t. 5aniel doesn2t like i&e &ream. Aw. - I do like i&e &ream% Ri&ard. - I2m onl/ kidding. - I know /ou like i&e &ream. - A You love i&e &ream. All rigt% &ome on. - +ere /ou go. 9ot it0 - A +ere /ou go. It2s m/ birtda/. 81A39+I*9 1ollipop. It2s m/ birtda/. You like it0 4 - All rigt% 5aniel. 4ka/% wait% wait. - I&e &ream. I&e &ream. - ;/ i&e &ream. ;/ i&e &ream. 3g - It2s oka/. 5aniel. 5aniel 5aniel 1eave it% I2ll get /... 5A*IE1: I&e &ream on te oor. I&e &ream on te oor. ould /ou go get im anoter &one0 - Yea. - I need i&e &ream% Ri&ard It2s m/ birtda/% Ri&ard. It2s m/ birtda/ I&e &ream% Ri&ard I&e &ream% Ri&ard
'top 'top it - I need it - 'top it 'top it 8YE11I*9 - +ere we go. - I&e &ream Aa - Ri&ard - 4ka/% oka/. I2ve got some i&e &ream. Birtda/ i&e &ream. (at2s good% Ri&ard. I2m so sorr/. +e asn2t done an/ting like tat... J31l: I2d often eard m/ fater talk about ow di&ult life was for 5aniel. But I never reall/ understood it until now. - Yea% tere /ou go. - +e. 4range. J31l: 4n te walk ba&k% 5aniel a&ted like noting ad appened. 4ter wa/. 4ter wa/. J31l: 4n te ride ome% m/ dad told me tat 3n&le 5aniel... ...used to live wit im and ;om before we were born. But after a wile% it be&ame too di&ult. en we got ome% ever/ting looked te same. But it wasn2t. Before toda/% 5aniel ad alwa/s been ?ust a name to me. *ow e was part of te famil/. 8544R C14'E' 8RIC+AR5 'I9+' - +e/. - +e/. +ow2d it go0 I2m glad I went. I2m glad /ou went too. (rina% it2s 'unda/. at are /ou doing mopping te oor0 ,att/ 1oski invited us over for dinner Frida/ nigt. RIC+AR5: 'ouldn2t se be mopping er oor0 4r did se ask to borrow ours0 8C+3C<1E'
*ervous energ/. - 5id se invite all of us0 (RI*A: Yes% se did. Even our friend 'al ;onella0 Ri&ard. /% after all tese /ears0 ell% se said se felt reall/ bad tat te/ adn2t invited us before... ...and apparentl/ te/ want to get to know us better. And /ou wanna go0 ell% se insisted. And I tink it would be reall/ ni&e. All rigt. e2ll go. J31l: I wasn2t too trilled about dinner wit te 1oskis... ...but I &ould see it meant a lot to m/ moter. 8BE11 RI*9' At s&ool te ne=t da/% I &ouldn2t seem to &on&entrate. ;/ tougts kept running ba&k to 5aniel. I wondered wat m/ grandparents ad gone troug aving a son like im... ...wen realit/ interrupted. - Br/&e 1oski likes /ou. - at0 +e2s got a big &rus on /ou. at are /ou talking about0 Br/&e 1oski does not ave a &rus on me. 4% /ea0 In s&ien&e% I &augt im staring at /ou. +e said it was be&ause tere was a bee in /our air. Is tat te lamest &over-up or wat0 ;a/be tere was a bee. (e onl/ bee /ou2re attra&ting is B-R-Y-C-E. I2m telling /ou% tat bo/ is lost in love land. - Come on. - ere0 I saw im sneaking o wit 9arrett. Come on. 9ARRE((: Are /ou freaking mental0
Juli Baker. You ate er. BRYCE: (at2s wat2s so weird. I don2t tink I do. I &an2t stop tinking about er. 9ARRE((: You got it bad% man. BRYCE: at do I do0 9ARRE((: You gotta nip tis in te bud. - (ese aren2t real emotions. BRYCE: (e/2re not0 9ARRE((: You feel guilt/ be&ause of te egg ting. BRYCE: Yea% and I insulted er /ard. 9ARRE((: E=a&tl/. (e pla&e is a dump an/wa/s. BRYCE: +er dad2s got a retarded broter and all teir mone/ goes to elping im. 9ARRE((: A retard0 ell% tat ougt to tell /ou someting. BRYCE: About wat0 9ARRE((: About Juli. BRYCE: at are /ou sa/ing0 9ARRE((: (e apple doesn2t fall far from te tree% m/ friend. BRYCE: 4% e. Yea. Rigt. 9ARRE((: Yea. BRYCE: I2ll talk to /ou later. 9ARRE((: 4ka/. I2m sorr/. I tougt... It2s oka/. It2s 6ne. J31l: And it was. Be&ause now m/ &onfusion was gone. I was sure I no longer liked Br/&e 1oski. ;om% are /ou tr/ing to make te Bakers feel totall/ wortless0 I want it to be ni&e. - And w/ aren2t /ou dressed0 - I2m going. BRYCE: I wanted to look good for Juli.
But I didn2t want er to tink tat I wanted to look good for er. It was a 6ne line. A ver/ 6ne line. 8544R BE11 RI*9' ,A('Y: Br/&e% te/2re ere. Come on down. Coming +e/% &ome on in. ,A('Y: Come in% &ome in. - (ere goes te waistline. I2m glad /ou &ould make it. 1/netta% 'teven% &ompan/2s ere. 1Y*E((A: Coming - at is tis0 +omemade pie0 Yes% it2s pe&an and blueberr/ &eese&ake. 1et2s take tem to te kit&en. - +i% gu/s. - +e/% looking good. - (is is m/ dad. - +i% I2m 1/netta. - +i% ni&e to 6nall/ meet /ou. - *i&e to meet /ou too. - ;/ bo/s are telling me tat... '(E)E*: +e/% big gu/. +e/% 'teven. +ow are /ou0 e sould2ve done tis a long time ago. Come on in. (is is a &ool pla&e. Yea% it2s all rigt. Come on% I2ll sow /ou m/ room. ;A((: You gotta ear tis new song we wrote. ;AR<: It2s so good. +i. You look ni&e. I eard /ou and 9arrett making fun of m/ un&le in te librar/. And I don2t wanna speak to /ou. *ot now% not ever. C+E(: And I sa/ /ou &an. RIC+AR5: But wat /ou2re proposing... ...would re@uire a perpetual-motion ma&ine% so it2s not possible.
If /ou ad two opposite &arged poles wit a neutral &ondu&tor... BRYCE: ,erpetual motion0 +ere I was% d/ing inside% and te/ were talking about perpetual motion. And ow did Juli know about all tat stu0 Come on% ever/bod/% dinner2s read/. 1/netta 5inner Juli% &an I talk to /ou0 It was wrong% wat 9arrett said. I know it. 5id /ou know it was wrong wen e said it0 Yea. I wanted to pun& im. But we were in te librar/. 'o instead /ou ?ust agreed wit im and lauged. Yea. (en tat makes /ou a &oward. BRYCE: I ad to sit a&ross from Juli for an entire dinner. ;/ dad was rigt. e sould ave barbe&ued. I ?ust want to sa/ ow wonderful it is to ave /ou sare a meal wit us. ;a/ it be te 6rst of man/. 8C439+I*9 rong pipe. ell% we &ouldn2t be appier. e are ?ust all so trilled to be ere. Juli% /ou did a reall/ ni&e ?ob on /our /ard. (anks. Cet was a big elp. '(E)E*: Yea% I know. You gotta tell me /our se&ret. I &an2t get im to do a ting around ere. - 'teven. - I kid. 8(RI*A 1A39+' I2m telling /ou% te neigborood is reall/ &oming to life. I mean% tat new ouse is taking sape.
i& one0 You know% te one were te/ &ut down tat big ugl/ tree. BRYCE: I wanted to sa/ tat a lot of people liked tat tree% but I didn2t. I didn2t want to go against m/ dad. 'ome people tougt tat tree was te ?ewel of te neigborood. Yea% well% tere2s no a&&ounting for taste. 'o% ;att% ;ark% ;ark% ;att... You gu/s are% u% gonna be graduating soon% u0 Yea% tank 9od. You don2t like ig s&ool0 - You kidding0 '(E)E*: *o. +ig s&ool was te best time of m/ life. - *ot for us% no. - Yea% we2ve ad enoug of tat s&ene. A. 'o &ollege is probabl/ out of te @uestion% u0 *o% it2s a possibilit/. (e/2ve a&tuall/ been a&&epted... ...at several pla&es alread/. - Yes% te/ ave. Reall/0 ell% tat2s good. But% um% we2re gonna give musi& a sot 6rst. - Reall/0 - 4% te/ are ver/ talented. 4% teir band is reall/ boss. (e/ did a bun& of demos and te/2re reall/ &ool. (anks% 1/n. en 'teven and I 6rst met% e was pla/ing in a band. You pla/ed in a band0 +e was a wonderful sa=opone pla/er. - Cool. You still pla/0 - ell% l... ell% if /ou want% /ou &an &ome ?am out wit us sometime. 3% /ou...
*o% I mean... +e. (at2s not me an/more. ,A('Y: +ave /ou bo/s ever performed in front of an audien&e0 ;A((: A lot of times. BRYCE: (e more ;att and ;ark talked about teir musi&al e=ploits... ...te @uieter m/ dad got. +e tried to plaster on a smile now and ten... ...but underneat e seemed reall/ sad. But m/ parents didn2t like im at 6rst. Republi&ans fougt like &ra7/ against te *ew 5eal. BRYCE: (e rest of te evening was painless enoug. But troug it all% Juli didn2t sa/ a word to me. *ever even looked at me. 3ntil se was about to leave. I2m sorr/ I was so angr/ wen we 6rst &ame in. I tink ever/one ad a good time. Your mom was reall/ ni&e to invite us. 'ee /ou. BRYCE: +er apolog/ made tings worse. - +e/% wait for me. BRYCE: I knew I wasn2t forgiven. It was like I wasn2t even important enoug to old a grudge against. ell% I tink te/2re a deligtful famil/. (ose bo/s were noting like I e=pe&ted. I tougt te/ were ver/ ni&e /oung men. - +oodlums. - at0 +ow /ou tink te/ &an aord all tat re&ording gear0 'teven% please. You &an2t ?ust make an a&&usation like tat. 5on2t be so naive% ,ats/. 5o /ou know ow e=pensive it is to re&ord a demo0 (e/2re probabl/ stealing ub&aps% for &rissake.
You are su& an assole. at is te matter wit /ou0 9o to ell. 5on2t /ou talk to me like tat. 'teven% stop '(E)E*: *obod/ talks to me like tat... ...in m/ own ouse ,A('Y: 'top BRYCE: I2d seen m/ fater angr/ before% but tis was dierent. As I la/ in bed tat nigt... ...I tougt about ow m/ dad alwa/s looked down on te Bakers. And ow e2d &alled tem tras and made fun of ;r. Baker2s paintings. And now I reali7ed e was ?ust mad at imself. But w/0 Juli &alled me a &oward. as it possible m/ dad was a &oward too0 I didn2t know. at dieren&e did it make0 Juli Baker was out of m/ life. 4r% more a&&uratel/... ...I was out of ers. J31l: As I was getting dressed for te 1oskis2 dinner part/... ...I found m/self staring at te painting m/ fater ad given me... ...and be&ame furious all over again. Br/&e ad never been a friend to me% ever. +e adn2t taken m/ side about te tree... ...e2d trown awa/ m/ eggs... ...and e made fun of me at m/ un&le2s e=pense. en m/ moter &alled tat it was time to go... (RI*A: Juli% let2s go% we2re late J31l: I went out wit ever/ intention of telling er tat I wasn2t going to te 1oskis. ,lease old tese. I need to &e&k m/ air reall/ @ui&kl/ one more time.
- Your air is perfe&t. - Reall/0 J31l: But se looked so app/... ...and se2d gone to so mu& trouble over te pies tat I &ouldn2t. 4o 4% m/ gos. 4% 9od% wat a disaster. 4ka/. +ere% old one% and /ou old tis. - I don2t wanna old it. - I won2t ave /ou old it. 1et2s go% bo/s. J31l: But tat didn2t mean I ad to be ni&e to Br/&e. And I don2t wanna speak to /ou. *ot now% not ever. J31l: It felt good to take &arge. I felt strong% in &ontrol. I told Br/&e wat I tougt... ...and I was determined not to talk to im for te rest of te evening. At dinner it stru&k me tat we were saring a meal wit a group of strangers. e2d lived a&ross te street from te 1oskis for /ears... ...but e=&ept for Cet% I didn2t know tese people at all. ;r. 1oski was &lean and smoot on te outside... ...but it seemed like tere was someting rotten buried ?ust beneat te surfa&e. B/ te end of te evening% all I felt was deta&ed% neutral. *o 6reworks% no leftover anger... ...no utters% noting. 'ee /ou. J31l: I went to bed tat nigt feeling pea&eful. - You oka/0 - Yea. I was grateful tat I ad te famil/ I ad. And it felt good to no longer &are about Br/&e 1oski. BRYCE: (e dinner wit te Bakers ad taken its toll on me.
(en te annual s&ool fundraiser arrived... ...and I found m/self wit a wole new set of problems. I was a Basketbo/. (o full/ appre&iate te umiliation of being a Basketbo/... .../ou need to know tat te &osen few are au&tioned o in front of te student bod/... ...to te igest-bidding females. Yes% te&ni&all/% ea& of us &omes wit a lun& in a basket... ...but let2s not kid ourselves. (is was a beef&ake parade. (ere e is% m/ idol. 4ne word% /ou2re a dead man. *o% man% I2m serious. 1isten% /ou won2t believe tis. at0 (wo of te ottest &i&ks are 6gting over /ou. - at are /ou talking about0 - 'err/ is breaking up wit ;it&. 'e and ;elanie are aving a bidding war over /ou. I don2t &are. Are /ou nuts0 'err/ dumped ;it& be&ause of /ou. You2re m/ idol. BRYCE: As &omforting as it was to be 9arrett2s idol... ...it didn2t diminis te orror of being Basketbo/ number nine. And m/ onl/ ope was tat a giant tornado would destro/ te s&ool before te event. It was a long sot. el&ome% ever/one... ...to tis /ear2s ;a/6eld Boosters Club Au&tion. 4n&e again we are pleased to present... ...G of ;a/6eld2s 6nest /oung men... - Br/&e% Br/&e% Br/&e. - at are /ou doing ere0 - Juli2s in te tird row. - 'o0 - 'o se2s got a wad of &as.
- Bullsit. - Bull-true. I saw er &ounting it b/ er lo&ker. ;&C13RE: And now... ...please give a big ;a/6eld '&ool wel&ome... ...to /our !"> Basketbo/s. BRYCE: Juli wit &as0 at did tis mean0 as it possible se was gonna bid on me0 First up% we ave... ...Ra/mond +uges. Ra/mond2s on te &ess team... ...and is obbies in&lude stamp &olle&ting and te /o-/o. Remember% wen /ou bid... .../ou2ll not onl/ be getting te andsome ;r. +uges... .../ou2ll also be en?o/ing... ...a lovel/ &i&ken-salad sandwi&... ...and wat looks to be a tast/ bean dip% and... 4. E=&use me% onion dip. And a big sli&e of &err/ pie. 4ka/% wo will start te bidding at #0 BRYCE: (us began te bidding. ;&C13RE: An/bod/0 BRYCE: 4r in Ra/mond +uges2 &ase% te la&k of bidding. )er/ good% ere we go. - Five. ;&C13RE: 'old. - (en dollars. ;&C13RE: 'old. - Fifteen. ;&C13RE: 'old. Come on. 5o I ear !G0 9IR1 !: (en. 9IR1 : (en. 9IR1 : (en. - ,eanut-butter-and-banana sandwi&. 9IR1 K: Fifteen. 'old for !#.
*umber eigt is Eddie (rulo&k. Eddie is a member of te debate team. BRYCE: *ow onl/ Eddie (rulo&k stood between me and te au&tion blo&k. I wasn2t interested in is obbies or wat was in is basket. ;&C13RE: 1et2s start te bidding at #. BRYCE: All I &ould tink of was Juli. ;&C13RE: An/bod/0 BRYCE: at if se did bid on me0 at if se got in a bidding war wit 'err/ and ;elanie and lost out0 ;&C13RE: *o bidders0 BRYCE: I was &ontemplating te orrors of tis wen... J31l: Eigt dollars. ;&C13RE: (ere /ou go. Eigt dollars% tat2s more like it. 5o I ear !G0 BRYCE: Juli Baker was bidding on Eddie (rulo&k0 ;&C13RE: 4ka/% L going on&e. BRYCE: +ow &ould se bid on Eddie0 ;&C13RE: Eigt going twi&e. BRYCE: +ow &ould se bid on an/one0 'old to Juli Baker. 8A,,1A3'E *e=t is Basketbo/ number nine% Br/&e 1oski. BRYCE: I knew I was supposed to step forward% but I &ouldn2t move. ;&C13RE: 'tep up% Br/&e% don2t be s/. Better late tan never. +a% a. Br/&e likes to pla/ baseball. - Five dollars. ;&C13RE: 4% well% wait until l... - (en. ;&C13RE: 4. ell% it appears te bidding is underwa/. - Fifteen. - (went/. '+ERRY: (went/-6ve. ;E1A*IE: (irt/. - (irt/-6ve.
;E1A*IE: Fort/. - Fift/. ;&C13RE: 4% m/. Fift/ dollars. ... Fift/ going on&e. Fift/ going twi&e. 'old to ;iss 'err/ 'talls for #G. An all-time re&ord. 4% te boosters will be ver/ grateful for su& a generous donation. BRYCE: It2s strange. +ere I was% aving lun& wit te ottest girl in s&ool... ...and I was miserable. e2re going up to te lake. ;/ dad as a &abin tere... ...and /ou get te most outrageous tan. BRYCE: Be&ause less tan G feet awa/ from me was Juli. ;/ Juli wit Eddie (rulo&k. 'e2s lauging. at was se lauging about0 +ow &ould se sit tere and laug and look so beautiful0 Br/&e% are /ou all rigt0 at0 at are /ou staring at0 *oting. 1un& is reall/ deli&ious% Br/&e. Br/&e% did /ou ear me0 (is is a reall/ deli&ious lun&. Can we not talk about tans or food0 ell% wat do /ou wanna talk about0 I don2t know% perpetual motion0 5o /ou know an/ting about tat0 ,erpetual wat0 BRYCE: I don2t know wat &ame over me. It was like I was possessed or someting. - Juli% I gotta talk to /ou. - at0 at2s going on% Br/&e0 at are /ou doing0 Br/&e% stop it. B4Y: Br/&e% /ou didn2t even make it to 6rst base.
9IR1: I2ll kiss /ou. +a% a. Juli Juli Juli% wait. Can we talk0 Juli - at2s te matter wit /ou0 - 1eave me alone% 9arrett. You get a date wit te 6nest girl on &us and /ou blow it for Juli. - You wouldn2t understand - I &ompletel/ don2t understand e2re talking about Juli Baker ere. *igtmare neigbor% know-it-all nuisan&e. (e &oop-poop babe. 'ut up +e/% ave /ou ipped0 at2s te matter wit /ou0 You know wat% if /ou2re gonna be like tis% I don2t need te asso&iation. - ell% good% be&ause neiter do I. - Yea% neiter do I BRYCE: As I walked ome wit te dirt/ dises &lanking inside m/ pi&ni& basket... ...all I &ould tink of was Juli. And I reali7ed 9arrett was rigt about one ting: I ad ipped. Completel/. 8<*4C
as I made m/ wa/ into s&ool... ...I was de&iding wi& of te Everl/ Broters I2d rater marr/... ...wen 5ana (ressler for&ed Br/&e ba&k into m/ brain. Juli. (e list is out. (ere e is% number nine% /our main dis. Br/&e 1oski2s not m/ main dis. - 4% /ou2re sti&king to /our diet. - It2s not a diet% 5ana. - I2m over im% oka/0 - I2m glad to ear it. Be&ause rumor as it 'err/2s alread/ staking er &laim on im. 'err/0 'err/ 'talls0 4% 1i7. ;a&/. (e list is up. 89IR1' C+A((ERI*9 J31l: (at afternoon% I found m/self obsessing about te Basketbo/ au&tion. I &ould feel m/self ba&ksliding about Br/&e. But w/ sould I &are if 'err/ liked im0 I souldn2t even be tinking about im. I ad to rise above tis. Br/&e 1oski was no longer in m/ life. 8C13C
- I2m going to pa/ /ou. - I don2t want tat. I don2t want it. Yea% I want /ou to go out and bu/ /ourself someting festive. ,edal pusers. +a% a. - ;rs. 'teub/. - B/e% dear. - ;rs. 'teub/% I don2t want pedal pusers. - *o% no. You2ll look great. 8'I9+' It2s oka/. It2s oka/. *o big deal. Just pretend like I don2t ave it. I ear /ou2re planning to bid on Br/&e. at0 o told /ou tat0 *o% I2m not. 'omeone saw /ou wit a wad of &as tis morning. - +ow mu& do /ou ave0 - It2s none of /our business. And I2m not bidding% oka/0 I don2t even like im an/more. 4% tat2ll be te da/. It2s true. 9o aead% waste /our mone/ on im. I don2t &are. And now% will /ou all give a big ;a/6eld '&ool wel&ome... ...to /our !"> Basketbo/s. J31l: I &ould sa/ I didn2t &are all I wanted... ...but seeing Br/&e walk out in is ?a&ket and tie... ...olding tat pi&ni& basket... ...set m/ ead spinning again. Fifteen going on&e. J31l: (e au&tion seemed to / b/. - Fifteen going twi&e. 'old to ;a&/ (a/lor for !#. J31l: Before I knew it% Eddie (rulo&k was &alled. *umber eigt is Eddie (rulo&k. J31l: i& meant Br/&e was ne=t. ;&C13RE: Eddie is a member of te debate team. And is obbies in&lude 6sing... ...and model-airplane building.
o will give me #0 - / isn2t an/one bidding0 +e2s so ni&e. - E=a&tl/. ;&C13RE: *obod/0 Eigt dollars. ;&C13RE: 'old to Juli Baker for L. J31l: +ow did tis appen0 as it be&ause I felt bad for Eddie0 4r was it be&ause I &ouldn2t trust m/self wit Br/&e0 As I made m/ wa/ to te multi-purpose room... ...I &ontemplated te startling turn of events. +ere I was% about to ave lun& wit Eddie (rulo&k... ...wile te bo/ I mooned over for alf m/ life... ...was going to sare a meal wit m/ mortal enem/. I wanna tank /ou for bidding on me. It was tou&-and-go tere for a wile. *o% I wanted to. (is will be fun. - I ear /ou like building model airplanes. - Yea. ;/ fater and I ?ust 6nised a Russian ;i9-!". It was made in !"##. ;i92s 6rst supersoni& 6gter. (ri&k/ be&ause te &o&kpit was re&essed... J31l: I tried to give Eddie m/ full attention. But it was di&ult% be&ause Br/&e was rigt beind im. Eddie was sa/ing someting about intake valves... ...wen out of nowere% Br/&e stood up and mar&ed straigt towards me. +e/% Juli% I gotta talk to /ou. at are /ou doing0 J31l: +e was going to kiss me. (o kiss me. All m/ life I2ve been waiting for tat kiss. But not like tis. *ot tis wa/.
I pedaled ome so ard% I tougt m/ lungs would burst. (RI*A: Julianna0 Julianna. 8<*4C
+e2s digging a ole. RIC+AR5: I told im e &ould. J31l: But w/0 RIC+AR5: I told im e &ould. J31l: It was torture seeing im dig up m/ grass. +ow &ould m/ fater let im do tis0 Br/&e knew I was tere too. +e2s gone. A tree0 +e2s planting a tree0 Is it a0 J31l: I didn2t reall/ need to ask. I &ould tell from te sape of te leaves... ...and te te=ture of te trunk. It was a s/&amore tree. BRYCE: en se walked out of te door% I tougt ba&k to te 6rst time I saw er. +ow &ould an/bod/% ever% ave wanted to run awa/ from Juli Baker0 J31l: +e looked at me wit tose e/es. (ose on&e again da77ling e/es. And I knew tat Br/&e 1oski was still walking around wit m/ 6rst kiss. But e wouldn2t be for long. As we stood tere% I reali7ed tat all tese /ears... ...we never reall/ talked. 5o /ou need some elp0 Yea. J31l: But tat da/% we started. BRYCE: And I knew we2d be talking for a long time. REI*ER: 1et2s do it from te beginning again. You read/0 And a&tion. ;&A31IFFE: Juli% &an we talk0 CARR411: at2s going on0
REI*ER: And... 8;&A31IFFE M CARR411 1A39+ REI*ER: 4% 9od. 4% 9od% ere we go. CARR411: (e s&ene were we2re doing te Basketbo/ ting... ...were we almost kiss% tat one was so ard. Br/&e% wat are /ou doing0 ;m... 'top it. +a% a And ten I leave0 +a% a. REI*ER: 9od. You gotta be serious about tis. You &an2t be giggling during tis. CARR411: 4ka/. 4ka/. ;&A31IFFE: 'orr/. Can2t be 9iggleville. - 'erious. REI*ER: 1et2s do it again. *o giggling. CARR411: It2s supposed to be we2re talking... ...and e &omes up and tries to kiss me. It was reall/ ard. I ad to wait until e got tere and ten I2m like: 4% it was so embarrassing. REI*ER: And a&tion. Juli% I gotta talk to /ou. ;&A31IFFE: e don2t a&tuall/ kiss. It2s a near kiss. I tr/ to kiss er and ten se runs out. I was kind of &onfused wen I read tat. Be&ause se wanted te kiss te entire time% ten wen I tr/ se runs. CARR411: +e gets up and% like% walks towards me... ...and sa/s% DCan I talk to /ou0D And e grabs me and e goes like: And ten I ave to run awa/. But we kept lauging. 8B4(+ 1A39+I*9 CARR411:
I tripped on te &lot. It was so funn/. 4% m/ gos. It was so ard to keep a straigt fa&e. It was so embarrassing. Just turn around. CARR411: (at was so weird. I tougt te sning air was weird% wen I ad to sni is air in one s&ene... ...but tat was reall/ weird. (at was reall/ fun to 6lm but it was reall/ awkward as well. (en ;adeline was tr/ing to not laug. - / are /ou smiling0 REI*ER: Cut. - at are /ou doing0 - I2m sorr/. +a% a. CARR411: It was so ard not to laug. I ad to ave Callan... +e was o &amera. I2m like% D(urn aroundD at are /ou doing0 'top. - +a% a. REI*ER: And &ut. ;&A31IFFE: 4ne of te kids% wo pla/ed Eddie (rulo&k... ...wo ended up being &osen b/ Juli at te Basketbo/ ting... ...e told ;adeline and I tat m/ look wen I was tr/ing to kiss er was like: 'ow im /our fa&e. 8A11 1A39+ You see... &oming towards /ou and /ou2re supposed to be serious. - It2s too funn/. ;A*: 4ka/% pi&ture2s up. ;&A31IFFE: I ad to run out after and I2d sta/ tere for a bit after se2d run awa/. And we ad all te reall/ ni&e e=tra kids over tere... ...and te/ were sa/ing% like% D4o. Br/&e. Br/&e.D Br/&e% stop. B4Y !: Br/&e% /ou didn2t even make it to 6rst base.
