Or am I imagining it all? There’s no way I can really remember everything this clearly. Maybe the heat is making me see things that aren’t really there. That’s what I want to believe. Anything else is too much to think about right now. But no matter what it is, I need to get out of this truck with Mr. Rodriguez’s overly concerned expression and Max’s know-it-all smile. My hand clamps down on the door handle, and I imagine—just for a second—opening the door and jumping.

“Our car is near the Cheesecake Factory entrance,” I say, trying not to sound too desperate. “Third row to the right and five spots down.”

Max glances over at me, and I bet he wonders why I didn’t remember sooner. Why I let my baby brother and Gram wander around aimlessly in the baking heat. Clay slouches on me, his warm cheek pressed against my arm. His breaths come out in soft, shuddering sighs that signal he’s asleep.

Every nerve of my body quivers as if my skin were too weak to keep all my feelings inside. I blink away a prickle of tears. I can’t cry. Max will think I’m as much of a baby as Clay is.

I dig my fingernails into the palms of my hands. Olivia says the trick to not crying is to distract yourself. She usually does this by online shopping with her mother’s credit card. Olivia is the happiest person I know, always smiling and joking, so there must be some truth to it.

We find our van exactly where I said it would be. The floating map folds behind another memory of how to get home. I want to examine it, poke at it, see how far the map goes. I’ve tried so hard to ignore my memory in the past, but pushing away the need to replay a random day that happened a year ago, two years ago, five months ago is nothing compared to this. I rub my forehead and wonder what specific part of the brain is beneath my fingers. Which part is responsible for what’s happening right now? I’m afraid I’ve unlocked something that I won’t ever be able to ignore again.

I help Gram find her keys, and she finally snaps out of her daze.

“Thank you,” she says to Mr. Rodriguez. “I think we’ll be fine now.”

He opens his mouth to say something but shuts it when Gram frowns at him in that way she has. Even befuddled, she has a dignity that makes you trust her. He nods and heads back to the truck.