I run out of the apartment and down the stairs. When I push the building door open, Adam is standing right there on the steps, with one hand in his pocket and another holding a small bag.

“Hey,” I say as the door swings shut behind me.

“Hi.”

We look into each other’s eyes for a minute, neither of us sure how to break the silence. But then we both try to speak at the same time.

“I’m sorry for—”

“I just wanted to say that—”

Adam and I both smile a little. He lifts his eyebrows at me, as if waiting for me to say what I had to say, but I keep my mouth shut, wanting him to speak first.

“I’m sorry about everything, Matt,” he says. “Starting with the day we went to the audition—I should’ve spoken up. I should’ve said something to that guy, but instead I just froze. And on the day you told us about your parents—it was so stupid of me to tell you how I felt. That wasn’t the right time.” He frowns a little. “I know there are so many things I don’t get about everything you’ve been through these past few months, but I want to. I want to get it, and if you let me, I’ll—”

“Adam, I—”

“I just… I want to make things right between us.”

When I stare into his brown eyes, something lights up inside of me. It’s been such a long time since I’ve thought about this, but suddenly, it comes back to me: the day I first met Adam back in freshman year, when he sat in front of me in math. I think about the chill that came running down my arms and legs on that day, and the way I had to ask him to repeat himself because I was so nervous around him that I could hardly pay attention to what he was saying.

Over the years, I somehow forgot about that. It became hard to see Adam as anything other than one of my best friends, but now I’m starting to feel it again—the tingling shooting up and down my legs, which makes me feel as though I’m gonna crumple on the spot.

“I, uh… brought something,” he says, lifting up the small bag he’s holding. “It’s not for you, though. It’s for your sister.”

“Oh.”

“I’ve been talking to Kimmie, and she told me something about Sophie that I couldn’t stop thinking about—how she keeps asking to borrow your phone so she can talk to your parents, so I thought she might need a cell phone of her own.”