It was harder and harder to get out of bed at Marian’s house—there was that one day I didn’t leave the bed. That was when I was in a familiar house with familiar people. Am I even going to have the strength to get up tomorrow and face the day?

And the day after that.

An idea hits me. “Hey, you remember that calendar system with my dad?”

“Yes! You were the gold star queen!”

“Maybe that’s what I need to do: get a calendar and get a star for every day I survive here. Your uncle said I just had to graduate from high school. So for every ten, no, make it every five days I get through, I can get an ice cream or Frappuccino or something. Baxter won’t be the only one packing on the pounds.”

“Whatever it takes to get you through.”

I nod, even though Marian can’t see me.

Whatever it takes to get me through.

“So, how was school?” I ask, desperate to get my mind off me for a few minutes.

“It’s school. Reporters have stopped stalking it. So I guess that’s good.”

“Yeah. What else is going on there?”

“Nothing. We’re mostly just missing you. Umm … I know you have a lot going on, but can you please text Neil back? He’s about to have an aneurysm.”

“Yeah. I wasn’t in a very chatty mood today.”

“So …,” Marian starts, and right then I know she knows.

Of course she knows.

“Oh God, he told you.”

There’s a slight pause. “YES!” she screams. “I can’t believe you didn’t tell me you were macking down with my cousin.”

“You didn’t just refer to it as ‘macking down,’ did you?”

“What would you call it?”

Mauling, but I keep that thought to myself.

Marian continues, “You always had your act together with everything else, but it took you forever with him. I’ve wanted you two to get together for forever. We all have! You guys were the will-they-or-won’t-they of the group!”

“What? You guys have talked about Neil and me?”

“All the time!”

“And why didn’t you tell me this?”

“Because I knew you’d be horrified and I didn’t want to force you to do anything you didn’t want. I mean, it’s my dream for you to be like my cousin-in-law or whatever. And you should’ve seen the look on his face when he told me. His face, no lie, was the color of his hair. It was hilarious and pretty adorable because he was both confused about what happened, but also, like, totally turned on by it.”

“Marian!” I scold her, even though I’m laughing. I have to admit, Neil is a nice distraction. I can think about him and think about possibilities, and it won’t really matter because I’m hundreds of miles away from him.