“Yeah, well, maybe you are, but I’m not. I want to take the test. I want to be able to drive. Barry has his license, and Raj and Naveen, and they aren’t any older than I am and—”

“It’s different,” Sandra said. “They’re b—”

She stopped herself. Archie whipped his head around, as if he’d just heard a truck slam into the house.

“Whoa,” he said.

“Oh my God, I can’t believe you said that,” Katie said.

“I didn’t say anything.”

“You were going to say it was okay because they’re boys. That is, like, totally unbelievable, coming from you.”

“I didn’t mean that. I don’t know what I was thinking.”

“Because if you want the names of my girlfriends who have their license, there’s Pamela, and—”

“You don’t have to tell me. I get it. Just because they’re ready—male or female—doesn’t mean you are. Katie, you know how—”

“So what, I never get a driver’s license? Is that what you’re saying? I know what this is about. This is because—”

“Don’t go there,” her mother said. “I’m not having this conversation again.” Her eyes started to mist.

“Look, I know,” Katie said, her voice pleading. “Things can happen. But you still drive. I don’t see you—”

Sandra raised a hand. “Not for long. I mean, well, look what’s happening.”

Sandra reached over to the end of the kitchen counter, where she had left a stack of press kits in bright blue folders with pictures of the Arrival cars on the cover. She held one up.

“You’re not even going to need a driver’s license,” she said. “This is the future. This right here.”

Katie rolled her eyes. “Mom, save your PR stuff for the event, okay? It’s going to be, like, years before those kinds of cars are actually everywhere. In another couple of weeks, they’re going to clear the island of these jelly beans with wheels and probably ninety percent of everyone here is going back to what they were driving. What am I supposed to do? Ask you to drive me around until I’m thirty, when all the regular cars are finally gone? That’ll be fun. Especially on dates. You okay sitting up front while I make out in the back?”

Archie made a gagging sound.

“It could be sooner than you think,” Sandra persisted. “The world is changing so fast now no one can keep up.” She took a breath, steeling herself. “The truth is, what happened to this family—to us—would never have happened in a car that—”

Katie raised her hands as if surrendering to the police. “Fine, fine, okay. Never mind.” She turned and started walking out of the kitchen.

“Katie!” her mother said. “Come back—”

Katie could already be heard stomping up the stairs.

Sandra’s shoulders sank. “Shit.”