“I know we’re here to talk,” Gem said, “but I don’t know if I can handle this level of gruesome before sleeping.”

“Sorry,” Lia said. “Have your parents been doing that thing where they only mention how sad it is that their plans were cut short?”

Devon groaned. “No, but my mom’s friend did. Such bright futures snuffed out too soon.”

“Just as bad.” Lia brought one hand up to Devon’s face. “I hate it.”

Her fingertips brushed his jaw. She had never imagined sleeping near him. That seemed intimate and tender, like sharing a cup of tea or a deep, dark secret. She traced the slant of his jaw and the arch of his nose, felt the slight bump of a scar near his ear and the flutter of his lashes against her knuckles, and she rested her hand against his cheek. He ran his hand from her scalp to her shoulders.

“Having plans doesn’t make a person more valuable,” Devon whispered. He booped her nose.

“If I hear one more person lament the loss of Abby but not Ben because of how promising she was, I’ll scream. They always bring up his football as if they need to find something for him to be good at for him to be worth mourning.” Gem, on their back and glaring at the ceiling, rolled their head back and forth. “It’s so…”

“Gross?” Lia offered.

Devon snorted. “That’s one word for it, and not the one I would use.”

“Do you think the school would be as sad if it were other kids?” Lia turned over onto her stomach. “Not the other students but like the teachers? Principal White?”

“They would say yes,” Gem said, “but they’re liars. They make such a big deal out of college and life plans.”

Lia folded one arm under her cheek and lay the other near Devon’s shoulder. Cheek squished against her arm, sight slightly blurred, she closed her eyes. There was no danger here.

“I have no clue what I’m doing,” Lia said. “I wonder what they would say if it had been me.”

Even the idea was selfish in her mouth, drying out the words till her tongue stuck to her teeth.

“Remember Mr. Allen?” Gem asked. “He told me not to bother with law school. He said I would be better suited to a liberal arts degree.”

Devon gagged. “What does he think people study before law school?”

“Who knows?” Gem said. “And who cares? People work! People exist! Some don’t even do high school! They’re the ones up in arms over shoving us into majors.”

“Devon, how did you know you wanted to be a doctor?” Lia asked.

Devon shifted onto his back, his silhouette like the sharp peaks of a cliff against the dim light filtering in from outside. “I broke my arm the summer of seventh grade and the doctor was really nice. She worked in the ER, and my mom is a doctor, but dermatology was never really interesting. I could sort of see myself being there one day? I might change my mind. I think a lot of people do.”