My stomach sinks. Out of the fireplace and into the frying pan, huh? Maybe, just maybe, I should stop assuming impossible things the second I get the slightest reason to hope. One of these days, I’ll get on top of that habit, right?

“Yikes,” I say. “Do you think he saw the photos?”

“Who?”

“The guy you like.”

Rose blinks, then shrugs, like she couldn’t care less.

I clear my throat. “You know it’s okay to be vulnerable, right?” I ask.

She stops in her tracks, and looks at me like I just said the single most offensive thing possible. “Excuse me?”

“I dunno. You just close off when you’re talking about scary stuff sometimes. I just want you to know this is a safe space. If you’re worried I’m gonna judge you if we talk about personal stuff, I’m just not.”

We walk aimlessly in silence for a while. I’m pretty sure she’s at least taking what I said into consideration, because she doesn’t change the subject. But she doesn’t offer any more information on this mysterious crush, either. Eventually, she stops in front of a tree and leans her whole body against it, scraping her fingers through the hair at the nape of her neck. She squeezes her eyes shut like she’s too freaked out to speak if she can see my face, then she says, “Danni, do you think my eyes are empty?”

It’s not exactly what I expected her to say. “What do you mean?”

She blinks her eyes open. “I had someone say something similar to me recently. That I have no emotions, and my eyes are empty. Is that … is that true? Is that what you’re trying to tell me?”

Well, they sure aren’t empty at the moment. She seems so lost, so hurt, that I wish I could go back thirty seconds and take my words back. “No. That’s not what I meant at all.”

Rose’s is purposely not looking at me. I think, maybe, this is her being vulnerable. And maybe eye contact is a little too much for her while she’s doing that. So, I trail my hand along the trunk of the tree and follow it around to lean against it to Rose’s left side. Side by side, with neither of us looking at each other. All I can see is the dark, moonlit forest, and the star-filled sky above our heads, and the mist my breath is forming in the cold. I know we aren’t strictly by ourselves out here, but the darkness and trees have given us privacy, I think. As long as neither of us calls for help.

We’re basically alone, I realize.