Being on the second story of a packed residential area isn’t ideal, but I know I can make this work. I slide through, careful not to snag my backpack, and glance up at the night sky, and whatever trepidation I’m feeling vanishes into thin air. The sky honestly takes my breath away. The fog that has been clouding up my view since I’ve arrived is gone, leaving the night sky inky-black, the stars clear points of light, but it’s the moon taking center stage. Waxing gibbous surrounded by a giant glow. It makes my fingers itch for my notebook. I want to sketch it, write about the way Mars is twinkling next to it, outshining every star. Most of all, I want to tell my mom everything I’ve learned. That’s part of my reason for the notebook. As soon as we’re back together, I’ll have a log of everything I’ve studied during our years apart.

I’m about to climb across the roof, make my way over to the edge, drop to the grass, when I hear a quiet voice that makes every cell in my body freeze. “Em?”

I look down to see one orange-red ember and flinch when the shadow suddenly materializes as Emma. She’s sitting in the dark on the back step with a cigarette, so close, she definitely would have seen me. “Out here,” she says, and Simon steps out onto the patio.

If I move, they’re going to see me, so I stay completely still, hovering like an oversize gargoyle, my breath steady.

“I thought you were done with these,” Simon says.

“Very last one,” she says, but she lets him take it from her. There’s a pause and Emma’s head falls to rest on Simon’s shoulder. “How do you think he’s doing?”

My muscles tense. There is exactly one other “he” in this household.

“I don’t know,” Simon says. “He still isn’t talking much. And he spends so much time in his room. For a minute today, I thought he was opening up… and then he left without asking. Were you worried?”

Before I can stop it, annoyance explodes in my brain, my entire body vibrating with it. I hate that two people I barely know are talking about me like this. All I did is go for a walk earlier. I shouldn’t have to ask permission to leave the house.

“No.” Emma is quiet for a moment. “Naomi needed a lot of time to herself too.”

Simon stretches his legs out. “Have you decided when you’re going to talk to him?”

Talk to me about what?

“Not yet. I want to make sure he integrates more into the family. I still can’t believe the timing. Can you imagine how much this all is?” She exhales, and Simon murmurs something, then they both stand up and go back into the house.