“I didn’t mean to laugh,” Tully said, but she didn’t stop.

“Yeah. Whatever.”

“Fine. Be a bitch, why don’t you?”

Kate kept walking.

CHAPTER
FOUR

Tully watched the girl walk away.

“I shouldn’t have said that,” she said, noticing how small her voice sounded beneath the enormous star-spangled sky.

She wasn’t even sure why she’d said it, why she’d suddenly felt the need to make fun of the next-door neighbor. With a sigh, she went back into the house. The moment she stepped into the room, the smell of pot overwhelmed her, stung her eyes. On the sofa, her mom lay spread-eagled, one leg on the coffee table, one on the back cushions. Her mouth hung open; drool sparkled the corners of her lips.

And the girl next door had seen this. Tully felt a hot wave of shame. No doubt rumors would be all over school by Monday. Tully Hart has a pothead mom.

This was why she never invited anyone over to her house. When you were keeping secrets, you needed to do it alone, in the dark.

She would have given anything to have the kind of mom who made dinner for strangers. Maybe that was why she’d made fun of the girl’s name. The thought pissed her off and she slammed the door shut behind her. “Cloud. Wake up.”

Mom drew in a sharp, snorting breath and sat up. “Whass the matter?”

“It’s dinnertime.”

Mom pushed the gob of hair out of her eyes and worked to focus on the wall clock. “What are we—in a nursing home? Iss five o’clock.”

Tully was surprised her mom could still tell time. She went into the kitchen, served the casserole onto two white CorningWare plates, and returned to the living room. “Here.” She handed her mother a plate and fork.

“Where’d we get this? Did you cook?”

“Hardly. The neighbor brought it over.”

Cloud looked blearily around. “We have neighbors?”

Tully didn’t bother answering. Her mother always forgot what they were talking about anyway. It made any real conversation impossible, and usually Tully didn’t care—she wanted to talk to Cloud like she wanted to watch black and white movies—but now, since that girl’s visit, Tully felt her differentness keenly. If she had a real family—a mom who made casseroles and sent them as gifts to new neighbors—she wouldn’t feel so alone. She sat down in one of the mustard-colored beanbag chairs that flanked the sofa and said cautiously, “I wonder what Gran’s doing right now.”

“Pro’ly making one of those god-awful PRAISE JESUS samplers. As if that’ll save her soul. Ha. How’s school?”

Tully’s head snapped up. She couldn’t believe her mom had just asked about her life. “Lots of kids hang around with me, but . . .” She frowned. How could she put her dissatisfaction into words? All she really knew was that she was lonely here, even among her new friends. “I keep waiting for . . .”

“Do we have ketchup?” her mother said, frowning down at her heap of Hamburger Helper, poking at it with her fork. She was swaying to the music.