All I've ever wanted is for Juli Baker to leave me alone. For her to back off – you know,
just give me some space.It all started the summer before second grade when our moving van
pulled into her neighborhood. And since werre now about done with the eighth grade, that,
my friend, makes more than half a decade of strategic avoidance and social discomfort.She
didn't just barge into my life. She barged and shoved and wedged her way into my life. Did
we invite her to get into our moving van and start climbing all over boxes? No! But that'
s exactly what she did, taking over and showing off like only Juli Baker can.My dad tried
to stop her. "Hey!" he says as she's catapulting herself on board. “What are you doing? Yo
u’re getting mud everywhere!” So true, too. Her shoes were, like, caked with the stuff.She
didn’t hop out, though. Instead, she planted her rear end on the floor and started pushin
g a big box with her feet. “Don’t you want some help?” She glanced my way. “It sure looks
like you need it."I didn't like the implication. And even though my dad had been tossing m
e the same sort of look all week, I could tell – he didn’t like this girl either. "Hey! Do
n't do that,"he warned her."There are some really valuable things in that box.""Oh. Well
, how about this one?“ She scoots over to a box labeled LENOX and looks my way again.“We
should push it together!“”No, no, no!” my dad says, then pulls her up by the arm. “Why don
‘t you run along home? Your mother‘s probably wondering where you are.“