“Why not?”

“It’s just that life’s been pretty crappy lately, in case you hadn’t noticed.”

“Yeah. I noticed.”

Maxie looked over at Blue just as he looked over at her. He smiled.

“Don’t worry,” he said. “We’ll get outta this jam. We’ll be okay.”

“You know,” said Maxie, still looking at Blue, “you’re much nicer when you’re away from everyone else. You don’t try to keep up such a front.”

“You gotta be tough to survive, girl. Don’t show no weakness to no one.”

“Yeah, well, it’s easy for you. You’ve been tough all your life. I was just an ordinary girl before. Nothing special. I wasn’t even that athletic.”

“You don’t know me at all, girl.”

“Oh yes I do. I knew loads of boys like you before the disaster,” said Maxie. “They used to strut around, intimidating people.”

“You know what my nickname was before all this?” said Blue.

“I dunno,” said Maxie. “Killer? King Dude? The Boss?”

“Bookface.”

“Bookface?”

“Yeah.”

“That’s a crappy nickname.”

“Don’t I know it.”

“What does it mean anyway?”

“A lot. Not a lot.”

“No, come on, what does it mean? Like you always had your face in a book, or that your face looked like a book?”

Blue sighed. “Everything that happened, you know, it changed people. It’s changed me. I had another nickname as well.”

“Surprise me.”

“Fat Boy.”

Maxie laughed. “You’re not fat.”

“I used to be. I was a fat nerd.”

“No!” Maxie came up on her elbow and leaned toward Blue with a shocked smile on her face.