“Thanks, Joan. Thanks for treating me like I wouldn’t call my own daughter on Thanksgiving. Wow, I’m such a monster.”

“I think that maybe you are a monster,” Joan said. And then she slammed the door so hard that it bounced back open. She did not look back.

—

When Joan got to the school, Frances was sitting in the lobby of her dormitory with a woman who looked to be in her late twenties.

“Hi,” Joan said as Frances stood up and smiled.

“You must be Joan,” the woman said. “We are all very big fans of you and everything you do. I suspect our physics teacher, Marlon Ryan, will be sad to have missed the chance to make your acquaintance. It is a true pleasure to meet you.”

“Oh, thank you. I appreciate that. I’m assuming you’re Ms. Green?”

“Indeed.”

“Well, I would love to take Frances home,” Joan said as she handed over the note.

Ms. Green looked it over. “Okay,” she said and then she turned to Frances. “Happy Thanksgiving, Frances. We will see you Monday.”

“Um,” Joan said. “No, you won’t.”

“What?” Frances said.

“We will talk about it in the car,” Joan said to Frances. “But for now, let’s pack up your things. Not just for the weekend.”

They went to Frances’s room. Joan was taken with how neat everything was on Frances’s side. She’d made her bed with sharp corners, and her books were lined up on her desk at right angles.

Joan looked at Frances. “Do you have any duffel bags we can use?”

Frances nodded and grabbed three bags and a box from under her bed.

“Great, you pack your clothes. I’ll get your pillow and blankets.”

When they were done, Frances asked if she should bring her books and Joan said no. “But your mom said you won an essay contest.”

“Yeah,” Frances said. “I did.”

“Do you have the essay? Is it here?”

“Um, yeah,” Frances said.

“Well, we can’t leave that behind. Grab it.”

“Okay…” Frances pulled a drawer open and took a few pages out and tucked them into the open bag in her hand.

“All right, kiddo,” Joan said. “T minus zero. We’re outta here.”

And Frances laughed. It felt so good to make her smile.

“That was so cheesy, Joanie.”

—

On the way home, Joan and Frances stopped at a diner and split a peanut butter and jelly sandwich and a strawberry milkshake.

It was almost nine at night by that point. Frances looked tired. Her eyes were red, the skin around them puffy. Her lips were chapped. Joan wanted to hug her but worried that if she did, she herself might fall apart. Returning to Earth was exhausting.

There was an ache in Joan’s chest looking at Frances.