Said he was afraid to tell us. Such a punk. Can’t even look at him the same. Can’t wait to get out of this house

Want me to come scoop you?

Actually my girl just pulled up outside. Gotta go

OK . Call me if you need anything

Thx. Will do

“Sent you another one from her site,” my dad says.

“Huh?”

“Barbara A. She’s really good.”

“Yeah?”

“I was just saying I sent you another photo from her site.”

I know he means feed, but I don’t correct him. I’m too busy thinking about Carli. I can’t even imagine what she’s been going through. She tried to tell me, but I refused to listen. I could’ve been there for her, but all I did was break up with her on top of everything else she had to deal with. And all because she missed my game? My game is nothing compared to what she found out. Nothing!

I swear I hate myself. No, I take that back. Talking shit about myself has way too much power. But why didn’t I listen to her? I close my eyes and shake my head, wishing I could press Rewind, go all the way back to the game, calm my ass down, and wait to hear from Carli. But there are no do-overs. Only what I can do now.

“What’s wrong? You don’t like it? Ignore the pink sofa. I was referring to the overall look.”

“No, no. It’s not that,” I say, standing up, knowing I’m too late. But I take off running toward the stairs and up to my room to call Carli anyway. Too late is for damn sure better than never.

CARLI

After the sun goes low and the shadows disappear from my walls, I bust out my colored pencils and sketch some heavily cratered moons, a few blazing suns, and a ton of tiny stars around and throughout the pencil-sketched squares.

Then I allow myself to thumb through a magazine, where I find Sabina Karlsson and cut out her face and big, red hair. I place the bottom third of her face underneath a moon, her freckled chin disappearing off the page. The left side of her face to the right, between a sun and some bud-filled branches. And her right eye and big red hair at the top among the stars.

Make her a part of everything, one piece at a time.