Chapter 51

“We invited Mathias’s parents.”

“Oh. Cool.”

“They haven’t arrived yet.”

“I get the impression they’re rarely on time for anything. They’re pretty busy,” I explained.

“Is that so?”

“Something like that,” I said sadly. I couldn’t really picture the Webbers in a room that smelled like beer, Doritos, varnished walls, and the sweat of a couple dozen people on a ninety-degree August day. “Dad?”

“Yes?”

“Did you know Cal dropped out of college?”

“I did.”

“He said he had a seizure.”

“I heard it was what they call an aura…just a warning sign.”

“From who?”

“His boss at the factory.”

“Oh. That’s good, right, that it wasn’t a full-on seizure?”

“I would think so.”

“Then why did he get fired?” I asked.

“I don’t believe he did,” my father said.

“Oh. Demoted…maybe.”

“That’s too bad.” My dad brushed my arm, thankful, I think, that I was still pretty much untested by life.