He doesn’t run over to her like I feared. He watches her walk across the courtyard with her head down. She’s alone, and I wonder if she’s made any other friends yet. We usually ignore St. Gregory kids in the street or on the bus, but Amy isn’t one of those kids anymore. She’s one of us.

When she sees me, she smiles and changes direction, and I feel my heart go from third gear to fifth in a single beat.

“Hey,” she says. “Hi.”

Zak doesn’t say anything. He looks from her to me and back again like we’re playing tennis. He has a stupid smile on his face, and I know what he’s thinking. He’s not completely wrong. I like her. But that’s just one feeling in a pile of them.

Before I can think about that, I need to know if I’m right about the locks.

Eventually, he says, “I’m Zak,” and she nods and introduces herself.

He holds out his hand, and Amy shakes it, then laughs because who does that? Even I think some of Zak’s habits are weird, and I’ve known him since seventh grade.

I slowly realize he’s not going to mention my theory, and I feel both relieved and annoyed because I want to know. But not like this, not with the three of us standing awkwardly in the courtyard while teachers shout at us to get to class.

I practice a few sentences in my head, but I don’t say anything out loud. I can’t ask Amy what I want to without sounding like a lunatic.

A part of me wants Zak to say it, just to put it out there. But then she’d know I’ve been talking about her and, if I’m wrong, that I jump to the wildest conclusions.

I’m smart enough to know I could be mistaken. And yet I feel like I might be right.

17

I didn’t pay much attention to start with.

The house I can see from my new bedroom window looks massive. It has a sold sign outside. And then I spot her, Amy’s mum, strolling back and forth in the driveway with a phone to her ear.

“What the fuck?” I say to myself.

There had been workmen there, but they packed up yesterday. Now I know why.

Has Amy’s family really moved in around the corner?

It’s a much bigger house than this one, so I guess they could have upsized. But don’t people move to new places? For new beginnings? That’s what we’ve always done.