“Okay, what’s going on?” she asked finally.
“You didn’t notice anything unusual on your way to school?”
“Hmm . . . I noticed my dad thinks he sings like Paul McCartney. He can’t, but I haven’t the heart to break the news.”
“Anything else?”
“What? Did you finally proclaim your love for me by writing my name on the water tower?”
“That’s overdone. I’m going to proclaim my love for you by stealing the school’s mower and cutting a giant ‘I heart Jen’ across the football field before tomorrow’s game.”
“Coach will kill you.”
“He wants to kill me most of the time anyway. Quit trying to distract me. Didn’t you notice all the smashed pumpkins in the streets? I saw them while I was jogging. They’re all over town.”
In addition to playing football, Michael ran on the cross country team but didn
