But it’s been impossible to run away with the memory of the fear-anger-hurt cocktail from both Henry and Caitlin still fresh on my tongue. It’s left a bad aftertaste in my mouth that I haven’t been able to shake in four days. Getting that close to losing my temper again has brought everything close to the surface in a way that makes me skittish and worried. School is a nightmare. Well, more of a nightmare than usual.

I pull myself out of bed and go through the motions of breakfast with the fam. My parents are a whirlwind of activity, my mom packing her briefcase up before I’ve even scarfed down half my Eggo, and my dad on the phone with his editor about his newest pages. Alice and I roll our eyes at each other from across the breakfast table but our hearts aren’t in it. There’s a manic energy in the house, made more urgent by the soft darkness that’s just beginning to lift outside.

“So, weirdo,” Alice quips around a mouthful of cereal, “get into any more fights this week?”

“Shut up,” I mumble, not in the mood for Alice’s jabs.

“Jeez,” she says with a groan, “so sensitive this morning.”

“It’s early,” I bite back.

“It’s always early,” she says sagely. “What’s got you all worked up?”

“What do you think?” I gesture to the parent-created chaos around us and Alice winces, I think in solidarity. I’m having a hard time getting a read on what she’s feeling—there’s too much interference. Mom and Dad are both in high-stress mode—a buzzy caffeine feeling that I’m sure makes them productive but that just puts me on edge.

“So when’s that weird goth kid coming back?” Alice asks. I choke a bit on my waffle.

“What?”

“The guy who was here Friday.” I can hear the unspoken “duh” in her tone. “He seemed cool. I liked his T-shirt.”

“Oh, are you a Twenty One Pilots fan now?” I laugh. “How do you even know that band?”

“I’m twelve, Caleb, I know how to use the internet, god.” She gives me a particularly pronounced eye roll. “So … is he, like, your new best friend or something?”

“Don’t be stupid.” I give her an eye roll of my own. “I’m too old to have a best friend. And, besides, we kind of got into a fight this weekend, so … I don’t know.”