I got out of bed and peered into the mirror, tracing an outline around the faint red mark she had left behind. I leaned into it like she had, so that I was almost touching, and licked my finger. I swept it across my eyebrow, until it lay down in place, perfectly groomed and shiny from my spit.

After that, I tried to keep to myself and stayed away from him. I took the long way home from school and every day I passed a picture of a boy staring at me from beneath a sheet of plastic. He was smiling and happy, as if somehow he knew that photo would one day be tacked up onto the tree that his car would crash into. Someone had taped flowers underneath, which disintegrated at my touch.

“He was an asshole.”

I jumped backward and fell into him. He snickered.

“His name was Joe Devaney,” Daryl said.

I started to walk because I didn’t want to know anything more. I just wanted him to be the smiling boy who stared at me from beneath a sheet of plastic.

“Haven’t seen you around.”

I didn’t respond and crossed from the main road to the edge of the forest.

“Where’s Lavi?”

I wasn’t going to tell him I had snuck out early to avoid her.

“What’s going on?” He gave up trying to walk beside me and fell behind.

“Nothing.”

Dried twigs cracked underneath his feet as he kept pace. I knew he wanted to ask about my father, but he didn’t. He just followed, letting me take the lead. I found a spot under a tree, swung off my backpack, and sat on the ground. We stared off into the dark green like there was something there to watch.

“My mom doesn’t want me hanging out with you anymore.”

“Oh, yeah?” He lay down, put his hands behind his head, then reached up and grabbed the back of my shirt, pulling me down with him. The movement startled me, but I pretended it didn’t. Birds chirped, and every few minutes there was a rustling noise, and then all I heard was the sound of his breathing. Slow and steady and, even though I didn’t want to, I found myself trying to match it.

“Your mother’s a bitch.”

The ground was wet and the coldness seeped into me.

“Bet that’s why your dad left.”

“She left him.”

I heard a crinkling sound and saw the familiar bottle of brandy come out. He handed it to me and I pushed it aside. He took a sip, then put the bottle back into a paper bag and packed it away.