“Your eyes are all puffy and your nose is red like you’ve been crying.”

“Well, it’s a good kind of cry.”

“What do you mean?”

“Sometimes you cry when you’re sad and sometimes you cry when you’re happy. And this is a happy cry.”

Courtney scrunched her face in thought. Then her eyes widened. “You mean like what might happen if I get a horse?”

Melissa couldn’t hold back the laughter. “I suppose that’s probably the best example of a happy cry.”

“Does that mean I’m going to get one?”

“No, I didn’t say that. You brought up the horse.”

“You don’t want me to have a good cry?”

Melissa shook her head. “Go get your snack, girl. You’re something else, you know that?”

Courtney shrugged. “I can try, can’t I?”

When Courtney went to the kitchen, Melissa felt like she could have used that moment to tell her about her brother. But it was too soon. She was still processing the photo she had just seen. She told herself to wait, that there would be a better opportunity.

Later, when Courtney went outside, Melissa typed David’s name into her laptop and found a page of pictures. She touched the screen, as if she might be touching David’s face. Then she typed in the website of the friend who had uploaded videos of David mugging for the camera and dribbling a basketball between his legs. There were birthday parties and an amazing video of David jumping from a rock cliff that nearly took Melissa’s breath away. She had to turn away from the screen, it made her so nervous. Then she played it again and watched it all the way through. There were also videos of David wrestling and Melissa couldn’t believe how adept he was. He glided over the mat. He really was good enough for a scholarship. She wondered what medical condition he had that would have ended his wrestling career.

The screen flickered and she saw an alert at the top of the page that a video was being livestreamed. She clicked on the link and saw a teen girl giving a speech in front of what looked like a large audience. Melissa nearly clicked away but stayed for a moment. The man at the podium was introducing the final speaker of the event, who was a senior and who had entered the speech contest only two days before.

“Please welcome David Colton,” the man said.

Melissa froze as she watched David move to the lectern and prepare to speak. He wore a blue buttoned shirt and his hair wasn’t as spiky as she’d seen in some of the pictures. He fumbled a bit at the start, and as he did, she found herself rubbing the palms of her hands on her jeans. It surprised her how nervous she was for him, just like a parent at a recital.