idea of blocks of contained color.â She pulled out some art books and showed them pictures of paintings like quilts and checkerboards. Megan liked them. They were very tidy.
âTry to imagine this one huge,â said J. Evans, pointing to a picture of a single red square, âas big as that wall.â She turned to the front. âOh, no, is it noon already? Time is a tyrant. Okay, hereâs your thought for the week. Lines are just pretend. There arenât any lines in nature, just edges, the edge of one color and the beginning of another. So next week weâre going to forget all about line and color and get out the clay. See you then. Remember to look around you.â
It had begun to pour while they were in their class, and John phoned his dad to see if he could come and get them. They waited in the lobby and looked out the window. The blossoms lay soggy in the gutter.
âOkay,â said John, âwhatâs this about a sister?â
Meganâs stomach tensed up. For a whole morning she had forgotten about Natalie. âHalf sister.â
âWhatever. Mum told me a little bit. When do you get to see her? Is she really an astronomer?â
âSheâs an astronomer student. And sheâs coming for dinner a week from tomorrow.â
âDo you think youâre going to like her?â
âWhatâs to like? Sheâs a perfect stranger.â
âBut sheâs your sister. Okay, half sister. I mean, arenât you curious? Like, bam! all of a sudden there are three kids in your family.â
âSheâs not a kid. Sheâs twenty-four.â
âYou know what I mean. Are you excited?â
âI donât need to be. Mum and Betsy are excited enough for our house.â
John stood in the doorway and tried to push the frame apart. âThis means I have another cousin. She wonât be my oldest cousin, though. Thatâs Murray the Mountie from Manitoba.â
âSheâs only your half cousin.â
âWhatever. Do you know what she drives?
âI donât even know if she has a car. I donât really care.â
John got a thoughtful look on his face. âYou know, sheâs not my half cousin. Sheâs my whole cousin.â
âShe is not. Sheâs my half sister, so sheâs your half cousin.â
âNo, look.â John started to draw a diagram on the misty window. Across the top were Marie and Judy and Josh. Three little lines came down from Judy, one from Marie, and none from Josh. âOkay. Now, the reason weâre cousins is because your mum and my mum are sisters. It doesnât matter who your dad is, or mine. Therefore, Natalie is just as much a cousin to me as you are.â
Megan reached up with her jacket sleeve and wiped out her family. John was right. Right and totally wrong. Add him to the list of those who didnât get it. Oh good, there was Uncle Howie. âLook, thereâs your dad. Heâs stopped in the bus zone. Hurry!â They pulled their jackets up over their heads and ran out into the teeming rain.
Chapter Eight
MUM EMERGED FROM HER Natalie daze long enough to remember about Meganâs ear piercing. She made an appointment for Thursday after school. All week long Megan obeyed J. Evansâs instructions and looked around her, at ears. At first she just surveyed pierced and nonpierced. But then she started noticing the variety of ears. By Wednesday everyoneâs ears were starting to look extremely strange. It was like saying a word over and over again until it sounds like nonsense. After five days of observation all ears looked like tide pool creatures glued to the sides of peopleâs heads.
Erin was very happy to go with Megan. âAny chance theyâll give you a general anesthetic?â she asked hopefully.
âErin! This is ear piercing, not surgery.â
âI know,â said Erin sadly. âIâll never get to see surgery. Itâs
Emma Daniels, Ethan Somerville