Valerio took off his shirt. Fact. There was a shiny silver pin punctured through his right nipple. Fact.

Remember Jahan’s nipple story? The one I’ve alluded to but have been waiting for the right moment to tell?

We have arrived. Our destination is on the right.

When I caught sight of Valerio’s shiny piercing, my mind immediately raced through Jahan’s story: His friend had gone home with a cool DJ, tattoos and piercings and all, and they took off their clothes, and one of his nipples was pierced, so he went in and sucked the nipple, because that’s what one does, apparently, and he enjoyed it, so he kept sucking. Then he felt something on his tongue, so he pulled back—it’s just a hair, bound to happen. But when he checked his tongue, nothing was there, and then he noticed something dangling from the guy’s pink little pepperoni, a white string. That was when it hit him.

He had sucked the nerve tendon out of his crush’s nipple.

When the cool DJ saw it for himself, he was just like, “Oh yeah, that happens all the time.” So he just pushed.

It.

Back.

In.

The whole story flashed through my head, with Valerio on my bed, shirtless. It was like a movie montage.

“What is it?” he said, staring at me.

I shook my face. “Nothing.”

Valerio and I made out a bit longer. I avoided his chest area altogether, focusing on the waist just like I had done on his motorscoodoodle. At one point, Valerio ran his fingers gently through my hair, and that small act reminded me of Jackson—how he used to do the same thing, and I would do it to him. How I’d sometimes find strands of his blond hair on my sweatshirt and smile.

Moments later, I fell asleep.

Interrogation Room 38

Soraya

AMIR MIGHT HAVE fought with my parents on the phone, but I was the one sparring with them in person. After those phone calls, I would pick up where Amir left off and fight with my parents, defending Amir. It was a lot of yelling. It was exhausting. Between the drama at Cats rehearsal and the drama at home, I was getting tired.

I kept looking for Amir. I went back to Jake in the mall. I kept going back almost every day. One day I just snapped. “Seriously, it’s sad how you’re here every day,” I said angrily to him. “Is this what you’re going to do with the rest of your life?”

Jake was visibly hurt. “If Amir had just given me the money, I wouldn’t effing be here.” I can’t really repeat the word he used in front of my mom, but just know that my face looked pretty much like hers does right now.

I realized this stupid kid had blackmailed my brother. He tried to come up with excuses in front of me—if Amir had just given him the money, Jake could have afforded community college, and Amir’s secret would have stayed safe, and they both would have been better off—but I shook my head. “You’re a coward,” I told him.