Another person would have pushed back, but Ursula only tugged at the hem of her shorts and stared at the ground, embarrassed. In the awkward silence there was space for Kane to feel what he always felt toward Ursula Abernathy: guilt. Ursula, like Kane, was an easy target growing up. They should have been friends, but Kane was no nicer to her than anyone else. He was perhaps even meaner, to show just how different they were, or how much more she deserved their classmates’ ridicule. A survival tactic of his that he was not proud of. In third grade he’d made a joke about how Ursula Abernathy was adopted from a dog shelter. He didn’t remember how it turned into a rumor—only that it was a mistake—but by the next day it was a school-wide legend. He still felt bad about it, especially the part where someone put a BEWARE OF DOG sign on Ursula’s desk. Whenever he saw her, he saw her as the red-faced girl facing down a room of kids woofing at her. She looked that way now.

Kane had never apologized. He wondered if she knew it was him.

“I’m sorry,” Kane said. “I’m okay, really. Do you…do you want to walk me to the street? I’d appreciate it.”

Ursula glanced around, possibly for an excuse not to, but relented. They walked along the path in silence, Kane doing his best not to show that he was still shaking. He played it off as shivering, though the night was warm.

“How’s school?” he asked.

This surprised Ursula. “School is school. We miss you.”

“We?”

“Yeah, like the teachers and everyone. People were really worried.”

“But I’m fine.”

Ursula gave him a once-over that told Kane she did not think he was fine. He hated how she stared, like a child at a zoo.

“Well, you know. Your whole… The whole incident with the mill.”

“Incident?”

“Right, right. Sorry. Your accident. Everyone heard about it from Claire Harrington—her dad’s a cop. There were a ton of questions, and the school called for an assembly in the gym and opened up the counselor office hours for anyone who wanted to talk.”

The horror Kane felt surpassed everything from the night so far. An assembly. About him? This was his hell, manifested.

“I’m fine. And Claire Harrington makes shit up all the time.”

Ursula kept pulling at the hem of her shorts. She rolled her lips together, unsure.

“Everyone was really happy to hear you woke up, even though Mrs. Keselowski said you were still pretty confused, and Mr. Adams said it was important to give you space and privacy.”

“Why are the school counselors telling people things?” Kane snapped. “Isn’t that like, against their privacy code or something? And I’m not confused. And if people really cared about me, maybe they wouldn’t make shit up or pry into my business.”