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Back The Infinite Noise Save as PDF
Chapters (70)
  1. Title Page
  2. Copyright Notice
  3. Dedication
  4. 1
  5. 2
  6. 3
  7. 4
  8. 5
  9. 6
  10. 7
  11. 8
  12. 9
  13. 10
  14. 11
  15. 12
  16. 13
  17. 14
  18. 15
  19. 16
  20. 17
  21. 18
  22. 19
  23. 20
  24. 21
  25. 22
  26. 23
  27. 24
  28. 25
  29. 26
  30. 27
  31. 28
  32. 29
  33. 30
  34. 31
  35. 32
  36. 33
  37. 34
  38. 35
  39. 36
  40. 37
  41. 38
  42. 39
  43. 40
  44. 41
  45. 42
  46. 43
  47. 44
  48. 45
  49. 46
  50. 47
  51. 48
  52. 49
  53. 50
  54. 51
  55. 52
  56. 53
  57. 54
  58. 55
  59. 56
  60. 57
  61. 58
  62. 59
  63. 60
  64. 61
  65. 62
  66. 63
  67. 64
  68. ACKNOWLEDGMENTS
  69. ABOUT THE AUTHOR
  70. Newsletter Sign-up

I’m playing quidditch in the backyard with Alice when she asks me why Adam hasn’t come around. The question nearly causes me to trip over my own feet and I want to run in the house and not come out until she’s forgotten that she asked it. But instead, I gulp in some air, put down the dodgeball we’d been using as a quaffle, and sit on the grass, utterly defeated.

“We…” I start, and Alice comes to sit next to me, bringing her sudden concern with her. “I think maybe we broke up?”

Don’t cry don’t cry don’t cry don’t cry—

“What?” she asks, incredulous.

“Yeah, I don’t know.” I pick at the grass. “We just—we got into this big argument about his parents, because they experiment on people like me—don’t tell Mom and Dad”—I point a finger at her as she opens her mouth to say something—“and, I don’t know, it was a bad fight and I said I needed time but now I’m not sure where we’re at because we haven’t spoken since the last day of school when I said, ‘have a good summer,’ and ran away.”

“Smooth,” Alice deadpans, the spike of her worry cutting at my insides. But it hardly registers because my insides are already torn to bits. It’s been one week since I last saw Adam, walking into the library on the last day of school—hours after I went up to him to tell him I was sorry, that I screwed up, that I trusted him more than I’d ever trusted anyone before telling him to have a good summer instead—and each day of that week has been a strange kind of torture. But now too much time has passed to text him and I can’t feel his feelings when I’m not around him so I’m just lost, the summer stretching out before me like an endless wasteland.

53

ADAM

A summer in Ohio. There’s a song about that. If memory serves, it’s about how terrible a summer in Ohio is.

Whoever sang that song was right.

54

CALEB

I’m watching the most recent video Adam posted on loop. Looks like he’s visiting his dad’s family in Ohio. He must be miserable.

I wish he would post a photo of his face.

55

ADAM

Caleb must be posting so many selfies specifically to torture me. Or maybe he’s posting the same number of selfies he always posts and I’m just acutely aware of them now that I don’t get to look at his face in real life.

Whatever the reason, I hate it.

56

CALEB