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“Huh,” Nick said. “Now I’m intrigued. Well played, Seth. Well played.”
Seth looked relieved.
Gibby looked worried.
Jazz looked confused.
“Who died?” Owen asked, appearing out of nowhere as he always did. He sat next to Gibby, reaching over and stealing a limp piece of pizza.
Nick ignored him, moving his backpack out of the way so Seth could sit.
If their hands brushed together under the table more than once, well.
No one knew but them.
His AP History pop quiz was handed back to him, facedown.
That was never a good sign.
He lifted up the corner.
D+
The plus sign felt really unnecessary.
The house was empty when he got home.
He took a selfie in the living room and sent it to his dad.
Good, came the reply.Do your homework. Pasta in the fridge. See you in the morning.
“I’m trying,” he told his mother’s smiling face. Cars honked on the street below. He pulled the comforter up and over his shoulder. “I’m trying to be who he wants me to be.”
She didn’t say anything in return. She never did.
On Tuesday morning, he took his pill in front of his father.
There was cereal sitting on the counter.
Off brand, of course.
Leprachaun Marshmallow Ornaments.
His dad was trying.
So Nick did too.
He pulled his chair over to sit right next to him. They read the newspaper together while spooning marshmallows into their mouths. They didn’t talk much, but it seemed like a start.
It was okay. It was going to be okay.
“You look better today,” Jazz told him in the train station.
Nick shrugged. “Slept more.”
“That’s it?” Gibby asked, eyes narrowed. “Nothing else happened?”
“What else could there be?”
