Zen and Xander Undone by Amy Kathleen Ryan Read Free Book Online Page B

up!” I yell.
    â€œNo, really, they’re right there.” She points with both hands. “I wouldn’t have believed it if you’d told me.” Xander makes a slow circle around me, looking me up and down. “It’s really nice on you, Zen. Hold still while I zip.” I feel her fiddling with the back of the dress, and suddenly the bodice is pulled snug. “It fits too.”
    I take a deep breath, hoping to prove that it’s too tight, but she’s right. The fit is perfect. “It’s fine. Now can I have my gi?”
    â€œDid you look at yourself in the mirror?”
    â€œThat wasn’t part of the deal!”
    â€œCome on! Just take a look. Ow!”
    I’ve grabbed her left wrist and twisted her arm so that she’s totally immobilized, and I steer her around the room. “Am I getting warmer? Warmer?”
    â€œThat hurts! Let me go!”
    â€œColder?” I twist her arm a little more, and I suddenly have her complete cooperation.
    â€œWarmer!” she says when I point her toward the kitchen. I push her through the door and twirl her around, pointing first at the sink. “Colder!” she cries. I spin and point toward the cabinets. “Colder!”
    â€œYou know, you could just say where it is,” I remind her.
    â€œOh yeah. It’s in the refrigerator.”
    I’ve known her too long to release her before I’ve confirmed this. I walk her over to the fridge. “Open it.”
    With her free hand she yanks open the door, and I see my poor gi draped over two different plates of leftovers. “Where’s my belt?”
    â€œCrisper,” she says. “Let me go!”
    I release her wrist and get everything out. There’s mayonnaise on my gi, and my belt now smells like onions. “Damn it, Xander!”
    She plops down at the kitchen table, rubbing the back of her arm. “One of these days I’m going to get some steel knuckles.”
    â€œOr, you could avoid confrontations by not touching my stuff!” I throw the dress at her for emphasis.
    â€œI just thought you should try it on. See how
pretty
it is!” She fingers the silk wistfully, and I realize she’s sad. “You don’t know how lucky you are.”
    Maybe she’s right. For Mother’s Day I got a pretty dress and a date to the prom. She got an order to go see Grandma, not that she obeyed. Instead she went out with her skanky friend Margot and came home drunk at three a.m. Xander’s misbehavior aside, I have to agree with her that it isn’t really fair. Mom probably assumed that Xander would find her own date and dress for the prom, but she’s not going this year. She got asked by plenty of guys, but she turned them all down. When I asked her about it, she mysteriously said, “I didn’t want to go with those guys.” I’d started to think that she didn’t want to go at all, but the way she’s looking at my dress, I realize she really does.
    â€œIf you want it, you can have it,” I tell her. I hop into my white pants and wrap the gi around my waist, tying it closed with my new black belt that I won this fall.
    â€œI don’t want it. This is your dress.”
    â€œYou could come with Adam and me,” I suggest, knowing full well she won’t like it.
    This makes her angry. She folds the dress roughly and plops it on the bench between us. “I don’t need your pity.”
    â€œI don’t pity you,” I say. “We could all go as friends.”
    She shakes her head. “That’s not the way I want it.” She tries to muffle her anger. “Aren’t you late for practice?”
    I leap up from the bench. Now I don’t even have stretching time. “Damn. Where are the car keys?”
    â€œBowl by the door.”
    I bolt outside and to the car. I get lucky with the traffic lights, so it takes me only fifteen minutes to drive to the dojo, which