“Yeah?” I say, not really knowing what he’s talking about. I walk onto the freshly cut grass, crunching beneath my Blazers, to be with him.

“The infestation is pretty bad. It needs to be sprayed.” He runs his fingers along the branch of the tree and starts picking off some gross-looking white stuff.

It’s a pretty tree, I’ll admit, with its huge, waxy leaves and white flowers. But this is not my tree or my house. “We’re not going to be living here that long.”

“I know, but if the tree doesn’t get treatment, it’ll die,” he says like it’s a big problem. Like it’s my big problem.

“Okaaaay.” Look, I don’t want the tree to die, I really don’t. But I also don’t have time to be worried about a random tree right now. “Why you so worried about a tree?”

REX

I really don’t want to be this dude. This crying-ass dude. Where did he come from? I’ve been going through life cool. Sure, I have a father who hates me and a dead mom, but that’s been the case from day one. And I’ve been cool.

But it seems like ever since I met Carli, this dude keeps creepin’ up on me. I came out here to get away from him. Started telling Carli about the scale on the tree to keep away from him. But here he comes again.

“Trees make me feel close to my mom,” I say, truth pouring out of me. I pick at the scale on a small limb, trying to keep the crying-ass dude away.

“Where is she?” Carli asks, and interlaces her fingers with mine. She starts to walk.

I let go of the limb and walk with her, off the grass and onto the sidewalk. “She died,” I say.

“I’m so sorry,” she says, looks over at me, and squeezes my hand.

I want to kiss her. Yeah, the timing might seem a little weird, but I need something to help me kick this dude to the curb. It’s time for him to go.

But before I can stop and lean in, Carli says, “Can I ask how she died? How old were you?”

I start to overflow. I mean, I’m crying hard. Right in front of Carli.

Carli stops walking and turns toward me. “It’s okay,” she says, and brushes my cheeks with her thumbs.

But it’s not okay. Not only is it ridiculously embarrassing to be crying like this, I’ve never talked about what happened to Mom to anyone. Not even Angie. Sure, we’ve talked about her, but never what happened to her.

Carli grabs my hand and starts walking again.