Mom cracks open the paper and shakes it out, opening right up to Miss Flora Mae I? She lets out a delighted chuckle. “Oh, how sweet is this! A letter from a little one nervous about going to kindergarten. Would you like to read it, or shall I?”

I almost can’t remember what it felt like to be excited about reading my latest published letter today. “You can,” I tell her. “I like it when you read to me.”

Chapter Twenty-Five

Let It All Out

Let’s recap. My parents are divorced. My dad is gay, and my mom has a new boyfriend. She’s not calling him her boyfriend yet, but he’s totally her boyfriend. I’m pretending to be the town advice columnist while the regular advice lady is MIA. My best friend is ticked off at me, and I’ve somehow managed to become friends again with my once-sworn enemy.

I need a vacation.

“Are you sure you can’t take me with you?” I ask Kiera, only half joking.

“Trust me,” she says over the constant buzz of conversation in the lunch room. “You want nothing to do with my family gatherings right now.”

“How old is your great-grandma?”

“She’s going to be a hundred and four,” she says.

Oscar sits across from us, hunched over his turkey sandwich. Yesterday he actually chose to sit with us, so maybe he’s making baby steps.

“And you have to go all the way to San Antonio this weekend?”

“I guess you only turn a hundred and four once,” says Kiera.

“When exactly do you leave again?” asks Oscar. “Any minute now, right?”

I shoot him a look.

“What?” he asks. “It’s a long drive.”

Kiera tosses her braids back. “My parents are picking me up after lunch.”

What do you do when your friends refuse to be friends with each other? I can’t blame Oscar. We spent a lot of time together talking about all the reasons Kiera was awful. And Kiera’s not exactly making it easier either.

The awkward silence radiating from the two of them hangs over my head like a fog. I search for something—anything!—to make it stop. On the other side of Kiera, Cooper and Greg sit hovered over Cooper’s new phone.

“Hey, Greg,” I say, interrupting them.

He turns to me with a look of confusion. “Uh, yeah?”

“So are you going to be around this summer?”

He perks up. “I might be spending some time with my aunt.”

“Oh yeah. I remember you talking about her in class. Isn’t she a park ranger or something?”

He nods. “Yeah, out in Big Bend. She runs an astronomy camp out there, which would be cool, but I don’t really know if I’m going yet. I kind of wouldn’t mind hanging out around here this summer, too, ya know? Maybe take some lifeguard classes so I can work at the pool.”

“You can’t be a real lifeguard until you’re sixteen,” Oscar points out unhelpfully.