I turned to Josh, not saying anything but trying to communicate with my eyes how much I wanted him to say he'd go. He looked at the floor for a second, then nodded, the grin back in place. I felt like giving him a hug. And I knew he wouldn't mind going shopping with us. He did it all the time before we were boyfriend and girlfriend. He likes Joanna, Shira, and Jeannie as much as I do.

    My backpack with only three books in it was much easier to handle than my backpack with five books in it. I knew Mom, Dad, and my sister, Janine, had plans for working with me this weekend. Studying and my homework had been a pretty important part of our family life since I returned to the eighth grade. Academics really matter to my family. Dad is a partner in an investment firm in Stamford, Connecticut (a larger town than Stoneybrook, where we live). He can't wait until I study stocks and bonds, but for now he's a big help in social studies. Mom is the head librarian at the Stoneybrook Public Library and sometimes I think she knows about everything! Then there's Janine. She's sixteen and a junior at Stoneybrook High School, but she takes classes at Stoneybrook University. She lives for homework, her own as well as mine. It all seems to come pretty easily to her. She's a genius with the IQ to prove it.

    Sometimes I look at them sitting around the table, talking about computers or astronomy or some book they've all read, and I wonder how I ended up in this family. We look like a family, though - a Japanese-American family. And they're incredibly supportive of me. I love art (creating it as well as appreciating it), fashion, junk food, and Nancy Drew mysteries. My family likes art too, but to look at only. As for the rest . . . it's an understatement to say that they don't approve. (That's why junk food and Nancy Drew books are hidden all over my room.) Josh walked behind the rest of us. I looked over my shoulder and found him staring at me. I slowed my pace to walk alongside him. 'Are you okay with this?" I asked. He shrugged, but he was smiling.