I’d texted Shanti after leaving Dotty’s, belly full but in knots of anticipation and worry.

I’m so sorry. About everything. Can we talk?

I hadn’t heard back by the time I got home, so I grabbed my skateboard, which I hadn’t used in over a month, and went out to clear my head. For the first time in a long time, I didn’t have the urge to bang myself up. Easing in and out of the bends and loops of the neighborhood, I let my breath fell into an even rhythm and my body loosened into a comfortable stance. When my phone did finally ding, I’d almost forgotten I was waiting for it to.

I don’t know, Daya.

I stared at my screen for a few seconds, then wrote, I get it. I was a total dick. I was scared. Still am. But I’m more sorry than scared now. Can I tell you that in person?

Nothing. Then three damn dots taunting me for what seemed like forever. Then:

I work till 5. Guess you could meet me here if you want. Books Are Best. 4th and Commercial.

A few seconds later:

Don’t be a dick when you get here.

A plush gray cat greeted me when I stepped into the bookstore, working its way in a graceful figure eight around my ankles.

“That’s Woolf. She wants you to buy some books.”

Shanti was walking up a narrow aisle toward me, two tall bookcases towering over her on either side. The store was long but small, and only one other person besides Shanti and me was inside that I could see.

As if on cue, Woolf meowed loudly and stared up at me.

Grateful to have something else to focus on, I crouched and started to scratch her around her collar. Without looking at Shanti, I said, “She’s very persuasive.”

Shanti’s hand appeared close to mine and began petting Woolf’s back. My heart beat uncontrollably in my chest, no matter how hard I tried to concentrate on breathing and my own hand.

“Okay, that’s enough pampering for now, furry demon. If we’re not careful, we’ll be petting her forever,” Shanti warned.

I finally managed to look up at her and found her face hesitant, but curious. We raised ourselves to standing and stared at the floor for a moment.

This was my move, and I knew it. I took a breath. “I know I hurt you,” I said.

Shanti’s head tipped to the side. “You did.”

“I’m sorry. You didn’t deserve any of that.”

“What’s changed?” she asked.

Everything. Nothing. “I don’t really know. I guess… I realized I was wrong about some things.” I forced myself to look her in the eye. Tried a tentative smile. “And right about others.”