Gabby knew some of what I could do but liked to pretend she didn’t. At junior prom, I’d been standing next to her when her boyfriend gave her a corsage that looked like he’d pulled it out of a dumpster. It had plumped right up and looked freshly cut after a few seconds in my presence. Gabby’s boyfriend was too busy lookin’ at her boobs to notice, but she’d seen it.

It became this unspoken thing between us. We didn’t talk about the grass literally being greener wherever I stood, or why the maple tree growing in front of our building stayed green so much longer than any of the other trees on our street, or how the flowers I’d given her mom when she graduated nursing school had lived for almost a year. I’d been tryna tell her the whole truth of what I could do for years, but it never seemed like the right time to go into more detail.

“It’s been a weird day,” I said.

“Every day is a weird day for you, Bri.”

That hurt. I wanted to tell her about the hemlock. I guess this wasn’t the right time either. I decided to tell her the version that left any mention of my strange ability out. “Mo scared me while I was dissecting a plant. I almost cut my finger off.”

“Damn,” she said, laughing. “You okay?”

“Yeah. I think so.”

“Hold up. What are you doin’ dissecting plants on summer vacation?”

“It’s kind of my thing.”

“It doesn’t have to be, you know,” she said. “You could do something that doesn’t have to do with plants at all. Have you ever tried, you know . . . not being weird around plants?”

There was an awkward silence. I thought about cussin’ her out. She would’ve gave it right back to me, then I’d be mad at her instead of just disappointed.

“My parents own a flower shop,” I said. “I can’t exactly get away from them—from the plants, I mean.”

Gabby huffed. “So does that mean you’re working there for the summer?”

“That was the plan, but Mom and Mo want me to take a break.”

“I wish my mom would let me take a break,” she said. “She said I gotta pay for my own phone this summer, so I’m babysitting for the people upstairs.”

“Babysitting? I mean, I guess that’s pretty low-key. Easy money, right?”

“Nope. That kid is a whole demon. He told his grandma to shut up the other day and nobody said anything. He’s mad disrespectful. My grandma would’ve snatched my soul right out my body.”

I wondered if I could survive telling my grandma to shut up. Probably not, but I’d never chance it. “Oh hell no. You better watch out.”

“He better watch out. I’ll put his little ass in the cozy corner.”