Absolutely Almost(40)

            “Pretty good,” I told Darren, which was true.

            Darren stuck his hands in his pockets. “How come all the cameras were here?” he asked. “Were they making a movie?”

            Calista’s shuffling got really loud, and she started cracking the cards on the bench between shuffles. But she still wasn’t paying any attention to us.

            I shook my head at Darren, to answer his question about the movie. “It’s for my friend Erlan’s family,” I told him. It was weird because Darren wasn’t being mean to me like he normally was at school. So I decided not to be mean back. “They’re making a reality show.”

            Darren’s eyes got all big. “Really?” he said. “Cool! And you’re friends with him?”

            Calista’s shuffling got so loud that it made a squirrel jump into a nearby trash can.

            “Yeah,” I told Darren. “Erlan’s been my best friend since six years ago. He lives on my floor. He’s really cool. He likes chess.” I don’t know why I said that last part.

            “Wow,” Darren said. He seemed impressed. I guess it was sort of impressive, that I had a really cool best friend who likes chess.

            Darren took his hands out of his pockets and then stuck them back in. “Hey, you want to play football with me and my dad?” he asked.

            I looked at Calista, and she shrugged, still shuffling her cards. “It’s up to you, Albie,” she said. So I went.

            It turned out Darren wasn’t mean like I thought. Actually, it turned out he was really friendly. His dad too. Darren’s dad taught me all sorts of useful stuff, like the right way to hold the football and how to throw it so it spiraled just right. I wasn’t very good at that stuff, but Darren’s dad said I had potential.

            Calista stayed on the bench with her sketchbook the whole time. I guess she didn’t like football. I noticed she kept watching us, though.

            I told Darren’s dad that I thought the bug Darren brought in for Science Friday was super cool, and he laughed and said that if I liked that one, I should come over someday after school with Darren and see his whole collection.

            “Really?” I said. I turned to Darren.

            “Yeah, totally,” Darren told me. He was smiling. “That would be cool. You should bring your friend too.”

            “Betsy?” I said. I didn’t know Darren liked Betsy. But I didn’t know that Darren liked me before that day either, so I guess sometimes you can just be wrong about things. “I’m not sure if she could come.” She liked bugs, but she didn’t like Darren. I was pretty sure about that one.

            “No,” Darren said. “Your other friend. Erlan.”

            “Oh,” I said. “Okay.”

            “Bugs aren’t for girls,” Darren said. And I don’t know why, but I nodded at that like I thought it was true, even though I didn’t.

            I was almost 100 percent sure that Erlan thought bugs were gross.

            “Well, champ,” Darren’s dad said, putting a hand on my shoulder. I liked being called “champ.” No one had ever called me that before. “We better get going. It was nice meeting you.”

            “You too, Mr. Ackleman,” I said. “Thanks for teaching me about football.”

            Darren put out his fist like he wanted to fist-bump me, so I fist-bumped. Darren had pointy knuckles. “Stay cool, Albie,” he said. “See you Monday!”

            And when Darren and his dad were walking away, I heard his dad say, “That’s a very nice friend you’ve got there, Darren.”