Then there was a funny pause, and Jasper said, “Are you sure it’s okay? Do you need to go and meet up with her? Because if you’re just being polite about this, we can go and I can come back later for my stuff.”

I shook my head quickly. “No, no, no . . . seriously. It’s no big deal. Sorry if I seem weird. I’m fine.”

“Everyone’s late sometimes,” said Jasper. “I’m sure your friend will forgive you.”

“Sure,” I said. “I guess. But the truth is, it doesn’t matter much. Liv isn’t a very good friend.”

“What do you mean?” asked Jasper.

“Just . . . ,” I said, reaching for a banana and peeling it slowly. “You know how sometimes you have backup friends? People you hang out with when your real friends are gone?”

Jasper nodded. “I think so.”

I broke the banana and offered half to Jasper. She took it. “Well, Liv is one of those. I’ve known her a long time, and she lives nearby, but I don’t really like her very much. I mean, I don’t dislike her. She’s fine. There’s nothing wrong with her. She’s just not my real friend. And I’m not hers either. She called me because she didn’t have anyone else to hang out with, I’m sure. She’s like . . . an acquaintance. Someone to fill in the gaps.”

I took a bite of banana and thought about what I’d said.

Jasper chewed her banana too. “Ah, yeah. I know what you mean. I know exactly. In fact, I have a lot of gaps myself right now.”

“Really?” I asked. It was the first real thing Jasper had said about her own life since we’d met.

“You have no idea,” said Jasper.

That was true. I didn’t have any idea. But I wasn’t sure what to say in reply, so I just said, “So . . .”

Jasper looked at me funny, squinted one eye, like she was measuring something. “Honestly,” she said, “it’s been a while since I had much of anything else. Sometimes it feels like my life is all gaps.” Then she stopped squinting, and her eyes were clear and sharp on me. Intense. “Does that sound strange?”

Right away I shook my head, hard. “No,” I said. “Not at all. It sounds . . . familiar.”

And that was the truth. Though I hadn’t realized how true it was until the words were out of my mouth.

“But then,” said Jasper, holding my gaze. “Then there are also people who fill the gaps when you really need them to. The big gaps. When it matters. Once in a while, I meet someone like that. And I can just tell we’ll be friends. Real friends. You know what I mean?”