The light turns yellow at an intersection ahead and the van in front of us hits the brakes hard, fishtailing in an instant. Brecken swears softly, and Harper yelps as he hits the brakes. The antilock brakes shudder with a rapid thud-thud-thud-thud that doubles the tempo of my heart. Outside the windshield I can see the red, salt-stained side of the minivan. There could be kids inside. They could be watching us coming right at them.

I don’t know if we will stop in time. My stomach and hands clench as the car slides slower and slower, finally coming to a halt a few inches from the van in front of us. I let out a breath that shakes.

“This shit is getting old,” Kayla says, seeming antsy in her seat.

She squirms against her seat belt, her forehead shiny with sweat. I have no idea what that’s about, because I’m still a little chilly.

On my other side, Josh winces, tugging at the side of his brace. The starts and stops can’t be comfortable for him, either, with that contraption on.

“Is there anything you can do?” I ask him. “For your leg?”

“Get a new ACL?” he asks, looking up from his book. He chuckles. “Not much anyone can do. Unless you’re an expert on lay healing in addition to Pennsylvania highway conditions.”

My cheeks feel like they’ve caught fire. I look down, and Josh laughs softly.

“I’m sorry,” I say. “I’m tense. I should have just shut up.”

“You know, you’re allowed to admit when you’re wrong.”

“They’re recommending no nonessential travel on I-78 through that entire county,” Harper says, her face bathed in the blue light of her phone.

“Hm, sounds like we’re maybe right to head to a different route,” Brecken says. He winks at me in the rearview mirror.

I don’t know if I’m more angry or embarrassed, but every surly thing in me wants to shoot the middle finger at this whole car.

“Are you always this uncomfortable when you make a mistake?” Josh asks.

I jerk my gaze to him, but there’s nothing mocking about his expression. There’s nothing sympathetic, either, really. He looks at me like I’m a tricky math problem.

I am really losing it here. He’s not looking at me like that, and I have zero reason to be angry with anyone. I’m upset that Mom’s alone tonight. I’m upset that I didn’t take an earlier flight. Hell, right now I’m upset that I moved across the country, even though Phoebe begged me to stay in this school and Mom agreed with her.

But no one told me that if I went back to San Diego, Mom would end up divorced and alone on the one-year anniversary of her twin’s death.