The most recent links were nastier. A couple weeks ago, Claudia apparently appeared on an episode of a reality show that had filmed last summer. Trevor clicked on a clip of Rich Kids: The Hamptons and saw her jumping into a swimming pool at a party. A boy jumped in after her and they batted at each other, her face gleeful, animated with an energy she didn’t seem to possess now. The camera cut to another girl narrating the scene, telling the audience that the boy in the pool was her boyfriend and that Claudia “threw herself at him.” The show cut back to the party, but a different scene. The camera appeared hidden in some bushes, and the image, while not as sharp, was clear: Claudia was making out with the boy from the pool. She was wet and loose, obviously enjoying the encounter. Trevor felt himself get hard. He clicked out of the video.

The next morning, Claudia knocked on his door and offered a cup of coffee from the machine downstairs. Then she asked if she could hang out and study.

“Sure,” he said. If his smile was too big she didn’t notice—or at least she didn’t seem to. She sat down on the sofa, pulled her legs beneath her, and unfolded the case on an iPad.

“Did you text your sister?” he asked.

“Yeah,” she said.

He waited but she offered nothing else. He tried again. “What are you working on?

“Art history. They test you with slides. Like, when was this made, and by who, and what does it represent.”

“You’re into art?”

She sighed. “I am. But I’m shitty at it.”

“I doubt that.”

“No, it’s true. I mean, I’m competent. But I’ve never really had anything to say. Art’s about ideas.”

“It is?”

“Well, not just ideas. The combination of idea and execution. And then, something else. Something you can’t really name. Like a spirit, sort of. Or like umami.”

“Ooh-what?”

Claudia smiled. It was the first time she’d smiled since they met. Was it worth it, that he made her smile with his ignorance? “Umami. In food. It’s that extra thing that takes it from good to delicious.”

“Okay.”

“One of my drawings is in the library on Martha’s Vineyard, but nobody would put it in a real gallery. And nobody would, like, pay for it.”

“The library’s pretty cool. And you’re young. I mean, isn’t part of making art having life experience?”

“Yeah,” she said. “So, you know a little, too.”

“I probably heard that in a movie.”