It takes all of my strength to draw air in and say, “Kimmie, I—”

“Darryl asked me to rehearse with his band!”

“What?” Adam appears behind us in that moment, and my chest deflates. The muscles in my back and shoulders loosen up a little, and as we start making our way toward the small pizza joint on Columbus, my entire body feels heavy.

In the back of my mind, I’m grateful that at least Adam is here, so I don’t have to be the one to ask Kimmie all the questions she’s dying to answer.

“How did this happen?” he asks.

“We stayed late at school yesterday to try and work on our essay, but we ended up just talking about music the entire time. And then he just threw it out there—that I should come to his band’s rehearsal, try playing a few songs with them. Is this even real?”

“Well,” Adam says. By now, we’ve reached the pizza place and are waiting in the long line for dollar slices. Fridays are always pizza days. “I don’t wanna steal your thunder or anything, but something happened.”

“What is it?” Kimmie asks.

“I got a callback.”

She frowns. “From who?”

“A callback,” Adam says pointedly. “To the audition we went to last week.”

I turn sharply toward him. “Y-you did?”

Adam nods slowly, and I know exactly what’s going through his mind. I know how badly he wants to be excited, to jump up and down because he got a callback, but I also know he’s trying hard not to make me feel bad because I didn’t get one.

Kimmie squeals before I can even think of something to say. “That’s amazing! When do you have to go back?”

“Thursday,” Adam says, smiling as wide as his lips will go.

“Congratulations,” I say, and I want to mean it. I really do. I want to be happy for Kimmie because she may have just gotten herself a spot in Darryl’s band, and excited for Adam because he’s worked so hard for this opportunity, but I just can’t. I can’t feel anything at all.

When we get to the front of the line, I order a plain slice. I’d normally get toppings, but they’re an extra dollar, and I’m not sure I should fork it over. If there’s one thing I’ve learned from Pa, it’s that when money is tight, every dollar counts, and I don’t know how long the money I have is gonna last.

When I turn toward my friends, I try my best to act normal, to erase from my face any sign that might tell them something’s wrong. I follow Kimmie to the exit, and we sit on the window ledge with the sun hitting us right in the eyes.