Voss Boy//Greg Feder

Chapter 1

Macie finished running a brush through her hair examining her outfit in the mirror. She was dressed pretty simple but the outfit was fine for school. The girl walked out into the living room seeing her mom hold up flashcards to quiz Bean. Sally thought that doing the flashcards would help make her son smarter.

"Twenty-eight," Bean answered. Macie's eyes went wide as she saw the problem on the card said 8+6.

"Yes," Sally smiled holding up another card that read 9+6.

"Thirty-five."

"That's right again smarty-pants," Sally smiled.

"She realized the flashcards only help if she tells him he's getting the answer wrong, right?" Macie whispered to her dad who had walked out of the kitchen.

"Hi, dad," the boy beamed.

"Hey, Bean, working on the math, huh?" Eric asked.

"Yup. Mommy said if I get all my math questions right, I get to ride my bike to school with Becky Feder."

"Really? Okay, Bean, uh, well, what's, uh, seven plus nine?" Eric asked.

"Seventy-nine," he smiled.

"Uh, is he a little boy or a computer?" Eric asked his wife, "Cause I can't figure it out."

"Don't destroy his confidence," Sally said in a sing-song voice.

"I think we have more to worry about than his confidence," Macie mumbled.

"Happy summer, everybody," Donna smiled joining the rest of her family. Macie's eyes once again went wide when she saw Donna's shoes.

"Geez Donna," Macie complained, "If I stare at your shoes for too long I think I might go blind."

"Uh, you sure you want to go with those boots, honey?" Eric asked making Donna give him a look, "I know you've bedazzled them yourself. I'm just wondering if they'll attract too much attention."

"From outer space, they will," Macie added.

"It's the last day of School, Mac," Donna droned, "Plus Mom says I'm free to express myself."

"Oh, building the confidence right here with R2-D2," Eric joked.

"Confidence. K-O-B-R-Q-V-Y. Confidence," Bean spelled.

"Well, we're not gonna have to pay for college. That's for sure," Eric laughed.

"You better get going," Macie said looking at the time, "I'd hate for Bean to miss out on any learning time. Looks like he could use every second."

----

"Have the best last day of school my gorgeous children! I love you all!" Roxanne yelled as she pulled out of the driveway.

"Yeah, last day of school, Greg," Keithie said, "Are you finally gonna ask out Macie?"

"Macie? As in Macie Lamonsoff?" Lenny asked, "You like her? Is that why you've been taking long showers since we moved here?"

"No, I--I'm conditioning my hair," Greg defended, "That's all I do in the shower...condition my hair."

"That's not what the deer told me," Lenny joked.

"That deer is a liar!" Greg yelled.

"I heard too much conditioning can make you go blind," Becky teased as she rode her bike around in a circle.

"What? Where did you hear that?" Lenny asked.

"Higgins."

"I should kill him," Lenny laughed.