“Hal’s going to major in philosophy,” said Xena.

“Danish philosophy,” said Wheeler.

“The philosophy of danishes,” said Xena. “He’ll get so fat.”

“I think Kierkegaard sounds cool. Paradoxical and stuff. Not as insane as Nietzsche.”

“You’ve read Nietzsche,” said Laurette.

“After I met an actual superman, I thought I owed it to myself to read Man and Superman,” said Hal.

“That’s George Bernard Shaw,” said Pat.

“I know,” said Hal. “But it was Nietzsche who coined the term ‘ubermensch,’ so I read Also sprach Zarathustra—”

“Please tell me you didn’t read it in German,” said Pat.

“I can’t read German,” Hal said. “And I can’t understand Nietzsche even in English, only he sounds like he thinks he’s smarter and better and more dangerous and cool than everybody else, which means he’s the opposite of Danny, because Danny keeps apologizing for being what he is, which is dumb.”

“Thanks,” said Danny.

Hal read off the screen of his own phone, “‘The most common form of despair is not being who you are.’”

“‘Be yourself,’” quoted Xena. “‘Everybody else is taken.’”

“She used to have a T-shirt that said that,” said Sin.

“I still have it,” said Xena. “But I bought it before I got my boobs, and now I can’t get the shirt to go down over them, so nobody could read it anyway.”

“Anybody looking at your chest now,” said Laurette, “is not reading.”

“Thank you,” said Xena.

“‘The most painful state of being is remembering the future,’” read Hal, “‘particularly the one you’ll never have.’”

Danny laughed wryly. “That sounds like it actually means something. If only I were intelligent enough to see how it applies to me. Guys, I learned a lot today, and on top of that, I found out that you’re willing to listen to me go on and on about how hard my life is, which is ridiculous because if anybody in this world can get whatever he wants, it’s me. So thanks.”

“I think we should all get college credit for a class in Kierkegaard,” said Laurette.

“Just remember that Danny took away my devils,” said Wheeler, “but you’ve still all got yours.”

“That was kind of inaccurate,” said Pat, “since you’ve already got a bunch of new ones.”

“The devil made me say it,” said Wheeler.

“I’ve got to go think about stuff,” said Danny. “Meaning I need some sleep.”

“If you take Pat with you, you won’t sleep,” said Laurette.

“Get a life, Laurette, it’s not like that,” said Pat.

“If I take Pat with me, I’ll think better,” said Danny.

“With your brain?” asked Wheeler.

“Wheeler doesn’t need Sutahites to be a jerk,” said Pat. Then she turned to Wheeler. “Of course, I meant that in the nicest possible way.”

Danny took Pat’s hand. “Want to come with me?”