I’d planned on riding home with Josh and Elise and then driving over to Bob’s house. But while I walked to the parking lot, Bob caught up with me. “I can give you a ride, if you want.”

“All right,” I said. “Just let me tell Josh.”

We walked over to Josh’s car. He was sitting inside working on homework, but he looked up and opened the window when Bob and I walked up.

“I’m taking Cassidy with me,” Bob said.

“You don’t have to,” Josh said. “She always rides with me. I don’t mind taking her.”

“Neither do I.” Bob took out his cell phone and texted for a few seconds. “But since you have the room, I’m telling Jenny and Cameron you can take them.”

Josh smiled stiffly at him. “Okay. I’ll wait for them.”

I followed Bob to his car. He opened the door for me. Josh had never opened a door for me. I wondered if he was watching, but I didn’t look.

Bob and I made small talk on the way to his house. He asked what I’d been doing. I asked if he’d decided on a college yet.

“I’m considering Stanford,” he said. “It’s a top school, it’s got good weather, and it’s not too far away. The only drawback is that the tuition is astronomical.”

Maybe it was a loaded question, but I couldn’t help myself. “How’s their entomology department?”

“Pretty good.” That was his entire assessment.

I smiled. He had obviously taken Josh’s list of taboos seriously.

When we got to his house, I helped Bob set up the paints and boxes of chess pieces. While he filled up glasses of water, something on the counter caught my attention. It was a wooden tray covered by glass. Inside, pinned and labeled, were rows of butterflies. They were all different colors and sizes.

Bob saw me looking at them. “That’s part of my collection. I worked on it last night.”

“They’re pretty. Did you catch them all?”

“Most of them.”

“I’ve never looked at a butterfly close up. They’re so intricate.” Some of their wings shimmered like they’d been cut out of silk.

He came and stood behind me, then pointed at one. “That’s the monarch. They can migrate as much as 2,000 miles. Each winter they fly to warmer climates in orange and black swarms. I’ve seen pictures of them covering the trees in Mexico. It’s fantastic. Someday I’ll go see it myself.” He moved the box to reveal another tray underneath. This one had a bright turquoise butterfly in it. I’d never seen anything like it and wouldn’t have believed it was real if I hadn’t been staring at it. “This is a Narathura micale amphis, or the common oak blue.”

“If it’s common, how come I’ve never seen one before?”

“They live in Australia. One of my Dad’s friends works at the entomology department at Washington State University and got it for me. Spectacular, huh?”

“It’s gorgeous,” I said, suddenly wishing I could touch it. “It makes me feel sad it’s dead.”

“Don’t worry. Entomologists only capture butterflies who are about to die of old age anyway. Then they give them lethal injections. It’s all quite humane.”

“Really?”

He laughed. “No.”

I blushed. “Well, how would I know how you do it? After that whole business of slave-making ants, I’ll believe anything.” And then I laughed myself because giving butterflies lethal injections did seem silly. “You mean you can’t tell how old a butterfly is by counting its rings?”

I looked back at the trays. People at school had been seeing Bob differently ever since his make over. The girls at chess club flirted shamelessly with him. Even Faith and Caitlin had commented on his new hotness. But it wasn’t until that moment that I saw Bob differently. I saw him in Mexico surrounded by thousands of monarch butterflies, like petals in an orange and black field of flowers. I saw him in the outback of Australia, pushing his way through the overgrowth, searching for rarities. It all seemed exotic.

Bob leaned against the counter next to me. “If I promised not to hit you, would you like to go out again sometime?”

“Sure,” I said, hoping I wasn’t blushing again.

He smiled. “I’ll call you sometime.”

“All right.”

The doorbell rang and chess-club members began coming in. Josh showed up with Cameron and Jenny. Josh seemed tense and irritable all through our painting session. I told myself it was because he was jealous Bob had taken me in his car; jealous that Bob was sitting beside me talking to me while we painted. But I knew the chances were equally great that it was because Josh had been stuck taking Cameron and Jenny here and was now sandwiched between them. Cameron felt compelled to crack a stupid joke every other minute, and Jenny always laughed at them.

When we were done, Josh offered to drive me home.

“If it’s out of your way,” Bob said, “I can give Cassidy a ride.”

Josh sent him an insincere smile. “It’s not out of my way.”

I had barely sat down in Josh’s car before he turned to me and asked, “What was that all about between you and Bob?”

“Nothing. He just asked if I’d like to go out sometime.”

Josh tapped his hands against the steering wheel. “So, you’re going to date Bob again?”

“He promised not to hit me this time.”

“And you believe him?”

“I don’t think you have room to talk after you sprained Courtney’s ankle.”

Josh turned on the car and pulled into the street. “It wasn’t me. It was the three other people we ran into.”

“Bob and I will even be able to go skating, because I know how.”

Josh eyed me suspiciously. “I thought you said none of the girls in Pullman skated.”

“I said it was hard to do. I happen to be one of those who didn’t mind going thirty miles an hour straight down a hill. I’m a thrill seeker at heart.”

“Which is why you’re willing to go out with Bob again.”

“Bob doesn’t have any stupid logical theories about dating.”

Josh took his eyes off the road long enough to give me a meaningful stare. “My theories aren’t stupid.”

“So how are they working?”

“Lousy. I can’t go out with anyone else while Elise thinks I’m dating you.”

“I never told her we were exclusive.”

“Elise knows I date one girl at a time.”

“I said you could end it anytime you wanted,” I reminded him. “Do you want me to dump you for Bob?”

“No,” Josh said stiffly. “I don’t want to be dumped for Bob.”

“Then dump me for whoever you think is the logical choice.”

Josh shrugged off the comment. “I haven’t found a logical choice.”

“They’re stupid theories,” I said again. “Call me a romantic, but romance is supposed to have something to do with it.”

Josh looked straight ahead. “If you want dating to work, it has to be logical. Take you, for example. Logically, I could never really ask you out.”

“Why not? Your German shepherd wouldn’t approve?”

“It would jeopardize your friendship with Elise. Think about it. What would happen if we had a fight? Elise would have to choose sides.”

“And naturally you assume she’d choose yours?”

Josh didn’t answer my question. I’m not sure he was even listening. “You couldn’t come to our house anymore because you wouldn’t want to see me. You wouldn’t ride with us in the morning for the same reason. Every time Elise mentioned me, you’d say something snide. It would be bad all around.”

“Why? Are you a total jerk when you break up with a girl?”

“Not me. Everybody. That’s how dating works. Somebody always gets hurt. The whole “Let’s be friends” business is a myth. You always end up avoiding your ex-girlfriends. I don’t want to end up avoiding you.”

“Thanks, Josh.” I tried unsuccessfully to keep my voice light. “I’ve never been so flattered by someone telling me he doesn’t want to date me. I’ll remember not to ask you to the Tolo dance.”

“That’s not what I meant, Cassidy. You can ask me if you want.”

“But you’d tell me no.”

“No, I wouldn’t.”

“You’d say yes, but then you’d avoid me for the rest of your life?”