When she opened the double doors to the zoological gardens’ party pavilion, not one of the bustling partygoers looked in her direction. She wasn’t particularly surprised that no one noticed her. Zadie’s and Finn’s lives didn’t overlap much. If she were to illustrate it using a Venn diagram, there would be a small sliver where their circles intersected with their mom’s name written on it along with Cowgirl, their childhood cat.

Clutching a poorly wrapped graduation gift in her arms, Zadie took a deep breath and crossed into Finn’s circle. She awkwardly shuffled through the sea of family friends, classmates, and teammates dressed in various hues of sidewalk chalk. She felt utterly out of place in her distressed skinny jeans and neon yellow bomber jacket.

Eventually she spotted the gifts table by a window that overlooked a colorful wildflower garden and made a beeline for it. Hers was by far the shabbiest of all the presents—she hadn’t even thought to stick a bow on it—so she hid it behind a giant gift basket filled with expensive beauty products. Clearly, whoever had bought that gift didn’t know Finn at all. She never even wore mascara.

Or maybe she did. Zadie hadn’t seen her sister in months. She could have gotten a nose job for all she knew.

She discreetly slipped a perfume bottle from the basket and spritzed a small amount on her wrist. As she placed the bottle back in its shredded paper nest, she heard a voice say, “Hi, Zadie.”

Zadie jumped and turned to see Finn’s foster mom, Kathy, standing behind her, smiling with all the enthusiasm of someone asking if they have something in their teeth. She was wearing what Zadie thought of as a momcho: a silky poncho with a colorful print and often some kind of rhinestone brooch pinned to the shoulder. Kathy’s was a jewel-toned paisley number that accentuated her inner Blanche Devereaux—a compliment coming from Zadie, as Blanche was by far her favorite Golden Girl.

Kathy’s eyes flicked over to the gift basket, her subtle way of letting Zadie know she was watching her. “Finn is excited to see you. She can’t stop talking about your trip.”

Zadie tried to mask her discomfort under what she hoped was a smile. “Yeah, it should be fun.”

“I love the beach. Steve and I try to make it down to the Gulf at least once a year. It’s where I got that.” She pointed to a corkboard display decorated with photos of Finn. On it hung a whitewashed frame that read LIFE IS BETTER AT THE BEACH with a picture of the whole family—Kathy, Steve, their adult son, Daniel, and Finn—taken on one such trip to the beach. The shot captured the four of them mid-jump, all with cheesy grins on their faces.

Zadie searched for something to say. “Cool” was all that came out.