Mia playfully jabs me in the side with her elbow. “Did I just hear you, Cora, say you’re okay with not knowing something?”

I laugh. “That’s even weirder, right?”

“Yeah, but I kind of like it.”

Mia and I talk for a while more. She tells me all the reasons she thinks Peter Tolbin is cute. She, of course, has made a whole list of his attractive attributes.

We also talk about Quiz Bowl. We’re probably not going to make the regional playoffs, which is a big bummer. But we still have a couple of meets left. I’m hoping that I’ll be back at school in time to get to compete. Eventually Mia leaves, and I’m left alone again with a big pile of homework.

“What did she do, print off Webster’s Dictionary or something?” Grams says when she walks into my room and sees the big stack of papers.

“No, Grams,” I say. “Mia brought over all the assignments I missed this week. And if she was going to print out a dictionary, Mia is more of an Oxford type of girl.”

Grams shakes her head at me. “I’m not even going to laugh at that. I don’t want to egg you on.”

I laugh a little and look back at the pile. “It is pretty overwhelming.”

“No rush, Cora London.”

I don’t bother trying to argue with Grams about how there is most definitely a rush because missing assignments can really tank your grade. Instead, I shrug. Grams sits down on Mabel’s bed. My posture stiffens. I don’t like when anyone touches Mabel’s things and Grams knows that.

“So, honeybee, I’m going to say something and you aren’t going to like it.”

I groan a little. My guess is she’s going to tell me my hair looks like the home of several blue jays and I am in desperate need of a shower. Both things are true, but I’d rather she not say them.

“No, no. Don’t groan. What I’m about to say, it’s serious.”

I look up at her. “What?”

“I brought up some boxes. They’re in the hallway.”

A lump forms at the base of my throat. “Boxes?”

She pats Mabel’s comforter. “To pack up. It’s time, honey.”

“But—” The lump quickly builds into a salty bile. I feel the familiar prick of tears.

“It’s never going to be time, but also, it’s time. You, holding on to it—well, that’s only going to continue to tear you into two. And I won’t let that happen. I need you whole. Your daddy needs you whole. The whole world needs you whole, my sweet Cora.”

She stands up and walks toward me. She kisses me on the cheek. “You take your time. And if you want help, I’ll gladly help. But I had a feeling you’d want to do it on your own.”

I nod, but don’t say anything because I don’t trust my voice.

“You know, baby girl, we lose people. But we’re found in people, too.”