mething happen？”
Lyta stands up and shoves her chair in。 “Like you care；” she snaps； and charges down to
her room。
“Oh； boy；” my dad says。
Mom says； “Excuse me；” and follows Lyta down the hall。
When my mother's gone； my dad says； “So； son； why don't you just ask Juli？”
“Dad！”
“It's just a little question； Bryce。 No harm； no foul。”
“But it'll get me a half…hour answer！”
He studies me for a minute； then says； “No boy should be this afraid of a girl。”
“I'm not afraid of her…！”
“I think you are。”
“Dad！”
“Seriously； son。 I want you to get us an answer。 Conquer your fear and get us an answer。”
“To whether or not they have a rooster？”
“That's right。” He gets up and clears his cereal bowl； saying； “I've got to get to work and
you've got to get to school。 I'll expect a report tonight。”
Great。 Just great。 The day was doomed before it had started。 But then at school when I told
Garrett about what had happened； he just shrugged
and said； “Well； she lives right across the street from you； right？”
“Yeah； so？”
……… Page 24………
“So just go look over the fence。”
“You mean spy？”
“Sure。”
“But … how can I tell if one of them's a rooster or not？”
“Roosters are …I don't know… bigger。 And they have more feathers。”
“Feathers？ Like I've got to go and count feathers？”
“No； stupid！ My mom says that the male's al