“No, that’s not it,” I said, more nervously than I wanted to. “Professor Kevin is preparing a class on bachelor food. I can’t miss it.”

She nodded understandingly as if I had said something profound. “I know how that is. See you later, ok?”

“See you,” I said on my way out the door.

When I got on my bike, I felt torn. I felt awed by her and yet it was easy for me to talk about how I felt. But there was something else there, some kind of uncertainty, something that made me nervous, like I was walking on thin ice. Maybe that’s why I was joking around so much. Maybe I did want to impress her. It made me uneasy inside and it didn’t feel right, exactly. Unbalanced was probably the best way to describe it.

Fortunately dinner wasn’t pizza and Uncle Kevin and I stuffed ourselves with tacos and burritos. It wasn’t long after that when the doorbell rang. Uncle Kevin answered the door.