She crinkles up her face like she smells something. “You’re so intense all of the sudden! I mean, mostly if someone likes me, it’s either ‘I feel it, or I don’t, and I decided I did.” She sees that I still want more, and though it’s not like I deserve some big answer, she comes up with one. “I guess what I like is that I finally have a boyfriend who’s Cuban, which I’ve never had in this town, and it doesn’t hurt that he’s strong and handsome. And once he lets down his guard, he’s really nice.”

“Not if you’re Chaz.”

She sighs. “Poor Chaz.” I wait for her to say more, but she goes back to prom drama, listing the on-campus girls currently not going with anyone. Including Leeza, she adds meaningfully.

“I’ll just go stag,” I say. “Too late to figure that stuff out now.”

“You still have four days! And I bet you could borrow a suit.”

“A band suit, maybe?”

She laughs, and it feels good. We used to watch Parks and Rec together, and it was the best, but she ended up on night shifts, and I ended up, well, too old to sit on a couch with my mother, so that trailed off. I forgot how much I loved seeing her green eyes flash with amusement, how it felt being a part of that.

“I like you,” she says. “I’m glad you’re here. I think you’re going to make the whole month better.”

Gordo enters, handing a late slip to the teacher, and is partnered with the odd kid out. Gordo’s cheeks go into clench-overdrive when he realizes that I am paired with Ma Elena. I can feel his eyes on me for the entire rest of the class. Let’s just say it is not a friendly look.

At lunch, Chaz is already sitting with Leeza and Tawny. I stand at the tray line, not hurrying over. What if he’s still upset about yesterday? Or what if he got my note and it was a misfire? Vin Weasel leans over my shoulder and says, laughing, “Space cadet—you’re holding up the line!”

By this time, Leeza has spotted me and waves me over, so I’m hoping that means Chaz is okay. I walk up, and he’s telling a story. I slide into a seat next to Tawny. She whispers footnotes while I just listen to him.

“And then our mother found the note! In his laundry!”

(“Chaz’s brother’s English teacher had a crush on him!”)

“The fool left it in his jeans like Eleanor would not be checking his pockets.”

(“He calls his mother ‘Eleanor.’ It’s so formal!”)

“And when he walks into the house for dinner, from, hello, a one-person field trip to the MOMA with The Flake …”

(“That’s the English teacher.”)