“I came to pick you up. I saw the guys getting into the car and you weren’t with them. Gabriel said you were PMS-ing, which I took to mean you were walking home.”

Nick clenched his jaw and glared out the window. Trees along Old Mill Road flew by. Wind was still blowing leaves in every direction, matching his mood.

Then he whipped his head back around. “Why were you picking me up?”

“What’s with all the suspicion? Because I’d like to get this job done before the rain starts.”

Oh. Of course. Nick settled back into the seat. His sweatshirt was destroyed, and he could do with a change of clothes, but the last thing he wanted to do was face his brothers. “Do you have an extra pullover in here?”

“You don’t want me to swing by the house?”

“No.”

Michael reached between the seats and flung a fleece half-zip at him. It smelled vaguely of topsoil and mulch, but not in a bad way. Nick pulled it over his head.

“Hungry?” said Michael.

Nick shook his head. He hadn’t eaten lunch, either, but the last thing he wanted was food.

They drove in silence for the longest time. Nick leaned his head against the window and wondered what it would be like to lie down and sleep forever.

When Michael spoke, his voice was quiet. “You want to talk about what’s up at school?”

That familiar tension dug its teeth into Nick’s neck. “Nothing is going on at school.”

“Your physics teacher called and said you failed a test.”

Nick swore. “Great.”

“He said you were distracted. He asked if something was going on at home. Asked if he could help.”

“You don’t have to do this, Mike. I’m fine. Things at home are fine. It’s one test. He shouldn’t have called you.”

Michael glanced over. “He said he’d told you about a precollege program he’d like to nominate you for, but you brushed it off. I thought you were all gung ho for college.”

“I don’t—I don’t know what I want. Can you just leave it? It’s one test. I don’t know why he’s blowing it out of proportion.”

“I don’t think he’s worried about the test, Nick. And I’m pretty sure you know I’m not, either.” He paused. “You’ve been on edge at home, too. I know you said things are fine with Quinn. Are they really?”

Nick stared out the window and set his jaw. “Yeah.”

“I know you’ve been covering for your brothers a lot. I didn’t mean to load more on you. You should have said something. You know you can say no, right?”

Sure. And then Mike would lose a job and money would be tighter than it already was. “I’m fine. Really.”

“All right. If you’re sure.”

“I’m sure.”