And now he wasn’t.

Justin and Michelle made their way to Michelle’s LeSabre. They had spent a lot of time in that car.

When Justin got in the old sedan, he was met with the royal pine smell from the little tree air freshener hanging from the rearview mirror. He hadn’t smelled that smell since the last time he was in the LeSabre two and a half years ago.

Being in that car made him feel safe. And like he belonged. And he didn’t feel like he belonged many places.

Michelle started the car. “So what are we doin’? For ‘fun’?” she asked, quoting Aunt Belinda.

“I don’t know.” Justin had been so focused on his music and his band that he didn’t have much time for fun. So he didn’t do much for fun. And now he was wondering if he even knew how to have fun anymore. “You tell me.”

“I don’t know.” She thought for a second and then offered, “Tool around? See where we end up?”

“Tooling around” was one of the most popular pastimes for young people in northern Maine. Especially in winter. Because cars were warm—and, more important, private. The things that get talked about in cars are honest and true. Maybe because the things that are said in cars can’t escape into the world and be heard by anyone else. So what’s said in cars can only be known by the people in the car.

And the thing that Michelle wanted to tell Justin was one of the things that was best said in the car. Because it was something she hadn’t told anybody yet. And it was something she didn’t want anybody else to know yet.

And Justin said okay to tooling around. Because it would give her a chance to talk to him. And he felt like he owed her a chance to talk to him. Because he hadn’t let her since he left.

And Michelle pulled out of Aunt Belinda’s driveway and turned right and headed east on the Road to Somewhere. Because it was much more likely that they’d find some fun if they headed toward somewhere instead of toward nowhere.

They passed Echo Lake, where they used to go skating and pretend they were an Olympic ice dancing team.

Then they passed the Rec Center, where they danced together at the talent show when they were thirteen and stunned the crowd with their skill. A lot of people thought they should have won the talent show that year. But they got disqualified, because one of the judges didn’t like the way they danced.

Justin’s dad didn’t like the way they danced, either.

He didn’t think it was right, the way Justin and Michelle danced.

And on the way home from the talent show, he told his son he didn’t want him to dance anymore—with her. Or with anyone. And he said that it was time he started spending time with boys and doing the things boys ought to be doing. Like playing soccer and basketball and going hunting and fishing.