My brain followed Gilly down the hall. Was she okay? Did she think that I hit her on purpose because of the Tanner thing?

Was she even thinking about me?

“Okay,” Berry said. Waiting for me to turn on to an actual subject of conversation possibly. “So. Any more word on the audition?”

“Not yet.” I shrugged, still looking down the hallway.

Probably Gilly was okay, right?

“What do you think Davidson meant when he asked how you felt about flying?”

“I mean it’s not exactly a standard post-audition question.. . .”

Berry tried to follow my gaze to nowhere. “I mean I wonder if he’ll just do Our Town again. It’s kind of the safer choice although there’s no flying in it,” she said.

“I guess,” I said.

Did Gilly think I was an asshole? was probably more the question.

“Okay, well, so!” Berry raised a finger. “Speaking of flight! This weekend. I was thinking superhero movie marathon. Since you said you hadn’t watched any Marvel movies, which is insane.”

I mean, was I an asshole?

“Sure,” I said. “I may have watched ONE of them. I think. I saw Wonder Wo man.”

“That’s not Marvel.” Berry frowned.

“Okay, well, whatever.” I started walking to homeroom. “We can watch whatever.”

Like right now, I thought, am I being an asshole right now? Thinking about Gilly? Why am I thinking about Gilly??? In front of Berry. Who was talking to me. About what, exactly, I’d already lost track of.

Berry stepped in front of me, suddenly serious. “Marvel is the X-Men, it’s the Avengers. Superman, Wonder Woman, Batman, that’s DC. Got it?”

“Sure.” I tried to look interested. “Right. Got it.”

I watched the corners of Berry’s lips turn down. “Okay, well, whatever.” She turned and continued down the hall. “Or we can watch an old movie. If you want.”

I shook my head. Like seriously, here was a person who was actually trying to be nice to me. But I couldn’t think straight enough to come up with something to say, so instead I just said, “Sure.”

Inside homeroom, Tanner spun his soccer ball on the desk, letting it cusp the edge before pulling it back with the tips of his fingers. Gilly’s eyes flickered upward when I walked into the room, but then settled on the book on her desk. Her hair pooled next to her fingers on the pages.

I almost missed my chair when I went to sit down, but I saved it with a sort of dramatic arms-out move that only Berry noticed.

“Are you okay?”

“You ask me that a lot,” I said, before I thought about what that would sound like.

Berry’s eyebrows went up. “Okay. Sorry.”

“Crap.” I frowned. “Sorry. I’m just like, not myself today. For different reasons than usual. Like not white T-shirt reasons?”

Berry nodded, somehow understanding a phrase like “white T-shirt reasons.”