“You mean I’m never there to make sure you wake up?” I said, and I cursed as the words came out of my mouth. He let out a long, slow breath. “Sorry.”

I peeked over at him, but he was staring stonily out the window. I remembered sitting in the back seat of the car as my parents drove along, just like that, the silence riding in the car with us like a fourth passenger. I used to try to make conversation at first, asking how long it would take to get to the restaurant or wherever it was we were going, what they were going to eat, anything to get them talking. I soon learned that it was better for me to retreat into silence too.

Now, I wished Keith and I had someone in the back seat, an eager little kid to help us break the tension and just talk.

When we got home, I pulled over and jumped out of the car. I opened the trunk and pulled out his chair before carrying it over to the passenger door.

He frowned when he saw that I’d left the hazards on.

“You’re going back out?” he asked.

I nodded. “I’m going to drive for a little bit.” We were both silent as I helped him into the chair. I moved around to push him toward the front door, but he held up a hand.

“It’s okay, thanks,” he said before wheeling himself away from me.

I stood there watching him for a moment before walking back around to the driver’s side, climbing inside, and pulling away.

At first, I wasn’t really going anywhere in particular.

I didn’t actually feel like picking up any rides, not yet, so I just drove, turning onto street after street, until the buildings around me got less and less familiar. As I drove, I couldn’t help but think of the conversation I’d had with Vanessa the night before as we stood outside staring at Ryan Hooks’s phone.

You could sell it to a news site! I bet they’d pay a ton for Ryan Hooks’s cell phone.

It was a ridiculous idea that didn’t deserve even a second thought, yet here I was, giving it a second and a third and a fourth. I shook my head and let my mind wander to the image of Hooks and the woman on Saturday night. It wasn’t the best distraction, but it would do, and I let myself zone out as I drove along, my brain bouncing from the image of the two of them staring at each other in the night, to Hooks’s smiling face on his Wikipedia page, and back again.

I’d been driving along aimlessly like that for ten minutes when I blinked, realizing where I was.