Radiant - By Christina Daley Page 0,13

was talking like she wasn't standing right in front of him. "Uh, yeah she has noticed," Mary said. "It's kinda hard not to notice someone talking like a robot."

His expression turned to confusion. With a hint of fear. It was as if he had accidentally revealed something that he wasn't supposed to.

Mary took advantage of his distraction and left the building. She crossed the street and boarded the waiting bus, which closed its doors just behind her. She took a seat near the middle and hugged her bag.

Sienna was wrong, Mary thought. Carter Maxwell wasn't just different. He may have looked like him and sounded like him. But he wasn't the same person anymore.

Back to Table of Contents

- 8 -

Phases

On her way to the library, Mary stopped by the corner convenience store to buy some apple juice and a cookie. When she went to pay, the woman behind the counter told her the price in Vietnamese.

Mary sighed. "How many times do I have to tell you I don't speak Viet?"

"How many time I tew you to lun?" she retorted. "Tew yo mommy to teach you."

"Like she's got time," Mary said. "And besides, we're in America. Learn how to say prices in English!"

"My English bettuh dan yo Vietnamee!"

Mary sighed and left. There was no winning with her.

At the public library, Mary caught up on homework she had missed during her absence. She tried to keep her mind off the day. Part of her felt awful for snapping at Carter like she did. Part of her felt justified.

None of it felt right.

When she finally got her homework to cooperate, Mary took out her sketchbook. She could think well when she drew. She started drawing and shading in the various phases of the moon. Something nice about the moon was that even though it looked different from the Earth at different times, it was still the same moon. It changed, but it was consistent.

The pencil lead broke, and suddenly Mary realized what bothered her about the whole Carter thing. Before the accident, he may have been a jerk. But at least he was a consistent jerk. She didn't know what to make of this "new" Carter, and that scared her a little. Was this polite kick that he was on just a phase? What if the part of his brain that the crash knocked out of order wobbled its way back in place and he went back to his former self? Whatever the case was, Mary didn't want to be caught off guard and start trusting this new, polite, contraction-lacking Carter. Especially if he wasn't staying. Still, that didn't give her the liberty to be a jerk herself.

The time came for her to head to Agape. When Mary arrived, she met Ba in the dining room at their usual table. Mary walked around to her front and greeted her. "Hi Ba."

Ba's face lit up. "Hi Con. You made it just in time."

Mary also greeted the others at the table. There was Julia, a wicked good gin player, and her roommate Emma, a jolly black lady who carried her frayed Holy Bible wherever she went. On the other side was George, whose dentures never quite fit right. And finally, there were Mr. and Mrs. Penny, who were married last year when he was only ninety-two and she was ninety.

"All right, who's hungry?" Mom asked as she came into the room with containers filled with bánh cuốn, the slippery Vietnamese rice crepes filled with all manner of goodness. Mary helped her tear up the herbs, sprinkle in the mung bean sprouts, and pour on the fish sauce. They served everyone at the table. Most of them ate with forks and knives, but Mary, Mom, and Ba used chopsticks.

"So how was your day at school, Con?" Ba asked.

"It was all right," Mary answered.

"Oh, you know what?" Mom asked. She caught herself suddenly, remembering their agreement not to let Ba know about the accident. "Uh...what I mean is, you know that boy who had that car accident you told me about. What was his name? Carter?"

Nice save. "What about him?" Mary asked.

"I asked about him," Mom said. "You know, just curious. Did you know he was released just a couple days after the accident?"

Mary picked at her food. "Yeah. I know."

Ba looked at her out of the corner of her eye. But she didn't say anything.

"Did you see him at school?" Mom asked.

Mary nodded. "It was kinda hard to avoid him."

"Who is this boy?" Mrs. Penny asked.