Gloria was right. I’d never have friends. Who was Carl? I didn’t even know his last name. And of course I didn’t know where he actually lived because Carl didn’t have a home. Now I was stuck in the black woods without even a pair of sneakers. I could find my way back if I wanted, but I didn’t want that either. I hated Gloria. And I hated Telly. And I loved them, too, so much. But no matter how hard I tried, they just wouldn’t love me back. Why wouldn’t they love me? Why wouldn’t they? What was wrong with me?

Then I couldn’t stop it. My mouth opened and saliva and blood and sobs barreled out of me in great heaves. I was nothing. I was a stupid kid, with no mom. With no dad. Getting what I deserved. And I didn’t even care.

—

I don’t know how long I crouched, shivering in the tarry darkness, my whole jaw throbbing. A pulse inside my bones. But finally the rain became lighter and I could make out small shapes, shadows. When I looked to my left, I saw a faint glow. From a fire? I thought I smelled a thread of sweetness from burning wood. That must be him. That must be where the bridge was.

As I got up and inched forward, my knees were knocking together. The moon was still behind thick clouds, but I followed sounds from the creek. Then I saw the solid blackness of the stones. I pushed through the bushes, and he was there. Under the bridge. Hunched by a fire. Rocking back and forth, a blanket over his back. The rain had finally stopped, and above the gurgling water I could hear Carl humming. Loud and long and tense, like an old generator. He pulled in a raspy breath. Then more humming.

“He’s not good,” Maisy had said. “I think he might be a wolf.”

Icy skin tightened along my spine.

What was I doing? Was it safe to be here? With this stranger?

I edged toward the fire. I was so cold, even my bones were rattling. Carl looked like an enormous animal with its shaggy head lowered. Girl leapt up, snarled. Then Carl lifted his wild mane and blinked. He stood, blanket crumpling at his feet, and I held my breath. The humming hitched in his throat. And stopped.

—

Girl raced toward me and licked my hand. Carl mumbled, “No, no, he doesn’t. Electricity released in the air. You don’t, urh, look so good.”

When he said that last part, I started crying again. My legs were shaking and my nose was running. Tears dropped off my chin. You’re acting like a baby, Gloria’s voice, a whisper in my mind. But Carl didn’t smirk or laugh. Instead his eyebrows knotted together and he twisted the hair in his beard.