The chill in the air felt good and the sky was clear with stars pulsing above me like millions of blinking white Christmas lights. Then I heard the sound of the sliding glass door opening on the other side of the porch. I twisted my wrist into a shard of moonlight and read my watch. 2:30 a.m. Who would be up on Lavi’s side of the porch at this time of night? I heard the muted sound of ice cubes hitting each other. Whoever it was sat at the edge of the porch and then I saw shoes: army boots going halfway up the shin with laces spilling out on either side. I was pretty certain he didn’t realize I was there, and for a moment I contemplated sneaking back inside. But I didn’t. Instead, I stood up and crossed to his side so that I faced him directly.

If he was startled, he didn’t let on. He acted as if it was completely normal to see me in the pitchblack hours of the morning and looked up and grinned. “Hello, Mytilda.” He drew out the “a” in my name, making it sound like I was his possession.

“Hey, Daryl.” I wrapped the blanket tighter around myself.

The light was on in the living room and it streamed onto the porch, making the setting feel unnatural, as if it was a scene from a play. He held the glass in his hand and swirled it around, amused by the ice cubes chasing each other. “Do you like milk?”

“No.”

“I like it with lots of ice cubes. I like it so cold that it hurts when it goes down.” He continued to swirl the glass and stared into it as if it were about to reveal some deep hidden truth. “You and Lavi have become pretty good buddies.”

I didn’t want to sit beside him so I leaned up against the divider.

“She tells me it’s just you and your mom. So where’s your dad?” He drew himself away from his glass and turned to look at me.

“I don’t have a dad. It’s just me and my mom.”

“Your mom’s a real looker. Can’t imagine why it is she couldn’t keep your dad around.” He snickered.

I felt my cheeks turn red. I wanted to ask where his father was. Why it was that I heard screams coming from his house. I wanted to tell him that he didn’t scare me. I wanted to take that glass and smash it into his face. But I said nothing.

“Matilda, what are you doing out here at this time of night? Get inside right now.”