I never made overtures, either. I can list few things that would have interested teen me less than a guy twice my age. After moving to the UK, I didn’t return overseas for a while, choosing to spend my holidays with Rose and her family, then with Alfie. I did briefly go back last summer, between my third and fourth year, but I must not have crossed paths with Hark, because…

Frankly, I’d forgotten that he existed.

“Did you think I was Mayers something or other?”

“Yeah. Be nice if you introduced yourself at the start of a call. Maya.” He sounds annoyed, which perfectly matches my recollection of his temperament. Bit of an asshole seemed to be his dominant personality trait.

I’m not the type to crumble under the weight of a rude reply, but right now I’m not at my most emotionally regulated. “Okay, well…Can I talk to my brother?”

“His plane just took off. It’ll be a while.”

My stomach drops. “Is there any way to get in touch with him?”

“You can text him, but after he boarded the pilot announced that the Wi-Fi wasn’t working.”

I might have to scream. Or not. I’ll have to wait and see. “How many hours is the flight?”

“No clue. Twenty?”

“Twenty?”

“Might be more. Or less. I’m not a licensed air traffic controller. But there’s this new tech you might use to figure it out.”

“What tech?”

“Google, it’s called.”

I close my eyes as tears start trickling out once again. I cannot deal with—I can’t. Not right now. “Well, if you hear from him before I do, please tell him to callmebackatthisnumber.” I barely manage to spit out the last few words before hanging up and bursting into a fresh bout of tears.

I sob for a few seconds, then fold over to bite into the ball of my denim-covered knee. Fuck him. Fuck him, and fuck all fucking men. If it weren’t for them, I wouldn’t be sitting in a fucking park past fucking dark—

My phone rings. I pick up, too hopeful and bleary-eyed to check the caller ID. Stupidly ask, “Eli?”

“Are you crying?” It’s Conor Harkness.

Again.

“No,” I snarl. Between hiccups.

“You are crying.”

“What do you care? Why did you even call me back?”

“Because you are Eli’s family. And you are crying.” He sounds accusing. Like he is being personally victimized by the worst week of my life.

“Can we please just hang up? You have a Mayers to talk to, and I would love to not go through this shitty moment with someone I barely know.”

“Why shitty? What’s wrong?”

The question is…whatever the opposite of solicitous is. “Why would I tell you?”

“Because your brother is unreachable, and I’m a fucking adult, and you aren’t. It is my civic responsibility to make sure children aren’t being abducted, or some similar horseshit.”

“Children? Are you for real? Do you even know who you’re talking to?”

“Aren’t you Eli’s baby sister?”