Page 55 of My Own Kind of Person

And I burst out laughing.

I stop my car in the middle of the road, and I laugh and laugh.

“I’m such a mess,” I say aloud to myself at full volume.

I touch a finger to my eye to wipe away a tear, but there are no tears, because I’m unable to let myself cry even when I’m alone.

I shake my head. “I mean, if nothing else, I’m me.”

Without any transitional thought, I take out my phone and the paper with Elijah’s number. It’s late at night, but—

GREETINGS, I message him. This is Sean O’Brien

From English

He replies immediately, Greetings to you!

This is Elijah Summers

From English

Chapter 17

I quickly park at home but I don’t want to go inside, so I sit on the stoop under the yellow light.

I hope I didn’t wake you, I message Elijah.

Not at all, he says. Tonight was my ballet class in the city so I’m just getting back

I can’t imagine having been in New York City today.

I can’t imagine having been in the city today, I write. That is so cool you go on your own

It’s not so wild, he says. You should come with me sometime and you’ll see

When you have your class? I write.

Yeah, he says, Or another day

A breeze moves across the lawn.

I would do that, I write, and I wish I could think of something else to say. Isn’t there something else to say? But maybe that’s the end of the conversation. Do people say goodbye at the end of a text conversation?

But Elijah messages again.

What are you doing tomorrow after school?

Chapter 18

Exiting the depths of Penn Station onto the crowded sidewalk, the only thing I see is the sky above and between the buildings. It’s still bright blue, like the day has been extended for our adventure, or maybe—and this is more surprising—like New York City has never been that far away.

With a dramatic flourish, Elijah lifts his arm as though he’s presenting the world. “The place we’re going is in SoHo.”

I back away from an aggressive pigeon. “And…we can walk there from here?”

He points at a sign saying we’re at 31st Street and 8th Avenue. I nod as though this is meaningful information. How is it I’ve lived in New York my whole life and have only been to Tony’s living room?

Elijah narrows his eyes. “How much time have you spent in the city?”