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Back All the Water in the World
Chapters (62)
  1. Cover
  2. Dedication
  3. PART I
  4. Eve
  5. 1
  6. Maddy
  7. 2
  8. 3
  9. 4
  10. 5
  11. Eve
  12. 6
  13. Maddy
  14. 7
  15. 8
  16. 9
  17. 10
  18. Eve
  19. 11
  20. Maddy
  21. 12
  22. 13
  23. 14
  24. 15
  25. PART II
  26. Eve
  27. 16
  28. 17
  29. 18
  30. 19
  31. Maddy
  32. 20
  33. 21
  34. Eve
  35. 22
  36. 23
  37. Maddy
  38. 24
  39. 25
  40. Eve
  41. 26
  42. 27
  43. PART III
  44. Eve
  45. 28
  46. 29
  47. 30
  48. 31
  49. 32
  50. 33
  51. 34
  52. 35
  53. 36
  54. 37
  55. 38
  56. 39
  57. Coda
  58. 40
  59. Acknowledgments
  60. Reading Group Guide
  61. About the Author
  62. Copyright

I let Jack go first. I liked watching him put on his clothes. He was still shy about me seeing him naked, but this time he didn’t seem to mind dangling around the place right in front of me. Puckered and saggy. Bruise-colored. So different from the rest of his body. So different from the one in bed with us, which had a mind of its own. I didn’t close the curtains, though I’d never liked them being open once it got dark. Jack did some shadowboxing and threw his underpants in the air and caught them with his foot. I lay on my side, laughing in the right way.

The thing was this. Once upon a time Jack might have thought of me as this girl he built planetariums with, or this girl he talked about the ice sheet with, or this girl he made an animation with. But now, whatever happened, he wouldn’t be able to pass over me too lightly. I would always be the first girl he did it with. That’s not something you forget.

Hi Maddy,

About time it warms up. London climate is not the best, especially compared to Spain or America, that’s for sure. You never can trust an English summer. You have to always take a jacket when you go out. I miss the heat of my country. But I guess I am used to it by now. I want to ask again about your mother. How is she? And her friend who is ill?

Antonio

Dear Antonio,

I would love to travel to Spain or London. Anywhere, really. I’ve been to California and twelve other states, plus Montreal. I guess that’s not too bad. I bet there are kids who have never been out of DC. Jack and I drove up to our lake house, just the two of us.

My mother is an atheist like you. Maybe that’s what attracted you to each other? My grandmother is a Christian but not the yucky kind. She is really smart and she has an open mind, as much as you can have an open mind and still believe in God, prayer, heaven, etc. My grandfather goes to church but he never talks about it. I don’t know if he really believes. Do you think it’s possible to believe in life after death without believing in God? Vicky is a Catholic and she goes to church but I don’t think it has much to do with God, it’s just what Catholics do, like eat fish on Fridays and speak Italian in the kitchen. I wish I could take it so lightly. Fiona’s not the religious type.

Mom is okay. Her friend is hanging in there.

Maddy

Maddy,