June 2085: kissing frogs

Lily Riley-Kim and Claude McCullough are 13.

There was one week before school let out for the summer, and Lily wasn't impressed with the season's offerings so far. France was all she could think about. She was going to France. Sure, it was two months away still, but a girl could dream, about the clothes, about the art, about the boys. Certainly there would be boys in France. But that wasn't the only reason she needed to break up with Claude McCullough.

Lily called Claude and told him to meet her at the park near his house. Her Aunt Mariah had to drop off Quinn at her new job, so she had exactly 25 minutes, no more and no less. That was fine. She didn't think she'd need longer than that anyway.

"We have to break up," Lily said.

"What? Why?"

"Because I kind of told my Aunt Mariah that you were my boyfriend, and she said I'm not allowed to have a boyfriend 'till I'm fifteen. And because Quinn got a job, so I have to watch our brothers this summer by myself. And because we're going to France for a month in August."

"Oh, I’ve never been to France before," Claude said.

"Duh," she said. "Nobody in our school has. Don't you know it costs a lot of money. But maybe you can be my boyfriend again when school starts. I won’t tell Aunt Mariah this time."

Claude sighed. "Alright. But I might have a different girlfriend by then."

"What? Who?"

"I don't know, maybe Gabby if she wants to."

"Eeew. Gabby? She totally smells like frogs. If you kiss her, you're gonna smell like frogs too. And you better not come near me after that."

He shrugged. "Can I kiss you one more time now?"

"No," Lily said, shuddering, thinking of frogs. "I’m going home now."

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