“Geesh.”

“Yeah. For when they have open caskets for the funeral or viewings.”

“I don’t think I would have wanted to see that.”

I nodded. “Me either. But Dad says some people find comfort in seeing their loved one that last time. To say goodbye, I guess.”

“What about if they were…” Oren looked down, and I almost didn’t hear when he said, “In an accident. Would they still put them on display?”

“I don’t know what they do at other places. Maybe? I would think it would be up to the family,” I said. “But it’s not something we really have to worry about, since it’s not allowed in our culture. I will have to learn more about it all when I go to funeral director’s school though. Dad says you have to learn about everything—even the non-Jewish stuff like embalming and all that.”

“There’s a school for funeral directors?” he asked, surprised.

“Yeah. You have to go to school to get licensed. Kinda like a doctor, but for dead people.”

“Huh,” he said. “I guess I’ve never really thought about how you would learn all the stuff you need to know. But it’s just like any other job—you need to get trained for it.”

He looked around the room again and then back to me. “And this is what you want to do when you grow up?”

“Yes.” I nodded. “And it’s not because my parents are making me. After the whole thing with Sam, I realized there was so much I didn’t know. Like, what happens to the person who died, or how the people left behind are supposed to move on.”

Thinking about the time right after I’d found out about Sam was hard. I swallowed and quickly added, “But doing the research made me realize how important what my parents do is. How important it is that there are people trained and willing to do the really hard stuff.”

“You’ll be good at it, Evie,” Oren said with a gentle smile. “I mean, you already are.”

It was the best compliment ever. “Thank you.”

I returned the shroud kit to the package and closed it up, sliding it into the center of the stack so no one would notice it had been disturbed. I didn’t think I’d done anything wrong to it, but maybe Dad wouldn’t love that I’d used it for show and tell. He hadn’t brought one to career day at school, so maybe you weren’t supposed to show people.

“Let’s get out of here,” I said and led Oren to the door, flicking the light off. When we got out in the hall, both of us let out loud breaths, like we’d been holding something in. Then we looked at each other and laughed.

“DYNAH?” I asked.

“Nah, I’m okay,” he said. “Can we see the caskets though? Last time I was too nervous to take a proper look.”

“Really?” I asked, surprised. “You sure?”

“Yeah,” he said, looking not so sure. “I’m already freaked out, so may as well.”