“I guess so.” Millie looked at Berry, who was frozen in place, which is what I would have done. “Well, looks like you’re going to be grounded for the next week. And you can spend the rest of your weekend resodding our lawn.”

I assumed resodding meant putting more sod on there. Because sod is grass, right? Probably not a great time to ask, I reasoned.

“Okay,” I said.

Millie turned and went back inside, and Berry released a very loud sigh of relief.

“That was intense.”

“Yeah,” I said, dropping to the ground, just shy of the paint that would have ruined my suit on top of my day.

“My parents would have grounded me for a month.”

“I mean, we live in Greenville. . .” I held my palms up. “I’m pretty grounded as is.”

The sun was out by then. A big ball of heat seeping through my polyester jumpsuit and turning my skin into something that felt like a cooked egg.

“Why did you lie?” Berry asked.

“Because I didn’t want my moms to spend their weekend thinking that someone left a hate message on their lawn.” I squinted.

Berry looked at her phone. “You think it’s for them or for you?”

I scrambled to my feet. “Good question.”

“Maybe both,” Berry said. But she didn’t sound sure.

The sun was starting to cook my skull. “Maybe it’s all the same thing.”

“So.” Berry stretched. “You want to change or are we resodding the lawn with you in polyester?”

“You already drove a buttload of spray paint to my house,” I said. “I don’t want to put you out. You know. Again.”

Berry shrugged. “What else do I have to do in Greenville on a Saturday?”

Something about Berry’s tone. . .it was kind of lonely, just at that moment. Like it felt the same as when I pictured Berry alone with her soccer equipment when she was little. Suddenly I realized maybe Berry didn’t have anyone else but a bunch of concrete animals to hang out with? Because Greenville sucked?

I don’t know, maybe that made me feel worse for being the new friend that needed. . .help.

Maybe I was also not that fond of wanting help.

Maybe I was standing there in silence, looking at the lawn, and Berry bent down a little to catch my eye.

“Sodding is actually really cool,” she said, with a grin.

“It’s not.” I grinned back. “But thanks. For being here. And helping.”

“When it’s my lawn.” Berry tossed her keys in the air and caught them. “You’ll sod me.”