Unit 1: Vocabulary from Readings 2

My dad tried to stop her. “Hey!” he says as she’s catapulting herself on board.

“Don’t you want some help?” She glanced my way. “It sure looks like you need it.”
I didn’t like the implication.

My mom came out of the house and immediately got the world’s sappiest look on her face.

It’s his eyes. Something in his eyes. They’re blue, and framed in the blackness of his lashes, they’re dazzling. Absolutely breathtaking.

To play it safe, I waited outside for weeks, just in case the new neighbors moved in early. Literally, it was weeks.

I was too excited not to charge across the street, but I did try very hard to be civilized once I got to the moving van.

I touched the vinyl sleeve, the collar, and peeked at the mustard-colored lining.

Even though it was cold, I took off the jacket during lunch and played kickball in a thin shirt, my arms feeling like braille from goose bumps.

We saw them and spun our propellers so fast our faces were blurs.

I finally Scotch-taped it closed, but in rain or cold weather the tape peeled off like a scab and more stuffing fell out until that sleeve shriveled into a palsied arm.

But whole pieces still casually flew off my jacket when I played hard, read quietly, or took vicious spelling tests at school.

Later, however, I swiped the jacket off the ground and went inside to drape it across my lap and mope.