“Heya.” For the first time in several days, the sound of Kimmie’s voice coming from behind the open door of my locker brings a feeling of relief to my chest.

I turn toward her. “Hey.”

Maybe the relief also comes from the fact that she’s on her own. It feels like I haven’t had one-on-one time with Kimmie in a while.

“Where’s Darryl?”

“He had to go to the study room to work on a group project,” she says. Today, she’s wearing her hair down, which she almost never does. She wraps her arm around mine, and we start walking toward the front doors of school.

“So?” I ask.

“So… it happened.” She squeezes my arm, letting out an excited squeal.

“Sorry, what happened?”

“Darryl asked if I wanted to join the band.”

“What? When?”

“Last night. I went to the rehearsal, and it was so good. And then he and I stayed late writing a song, and he told me that the other guys had begged him to get me on board as a backing vocalist.”

“That’s… wow.”

“I know,” she says. We walk out into the bright sun, and we stop to wait for Adam to come out, like we always do. “How are you? Lately, you’ve been so…”

“So what?”

“Different. Is everything okay, Matt?”

I get that urge again—the urge to admit everything to her. Maybe it won’t ever go away, but when I think about what I felt when I walked into school this morning, I stop myself. As long as I don’t say anything out loud, school can remain a safe place—a place where I get to escape from what’s going on at home.

“I think I know what’s bothering you,” she says after I’ve been silent for too long.

I narrow my eyes at her. “Y-you do?” Maybe she’s figured out what’s going on somehow. After all, she knows me better than anyone.

Kimmie nods confidently. “You’re upset about the audition you and Adam went to.”

I let out a long breath through my nose. It all makes sense now—the weird way Kimmie has been looking at me lately, the fact that she hasn’t dared to ask what’s bothering me. While I’ve been busy worrying about Sophie, and fearing the possibility that Ma and Pa might never come back home, and watching as my entire world crumbles, this is what’s been going through Kimmie’s mind—that I’ve been acting weird because I’m jealous.

“Kimmie, that’s not—”

“I get it,” she interrupts me. “You wanted the part, too, and what happened with that guy while you were waiting in line was awful, and so unfair, but… Adam didn’t do anything wrong. The casting director just liked him for some reason.”

“I know. And I’m happy he got the callback. I just—”