“I wasn’t sure what you liked,” he said. I looked through the selection and took out a Snickers bar.

“A classic,” he said. This was the most he had said to me since the night he’d talked about himself until dawn and then insulted me. I wanted to ask him why he suddenly seemed to like me, but my shyness made me mute. I figured it had something to do with Joy. And, yes, when she walked onto the bus with Troy trailing behind her, her eyes fell on the two of us in a way that made it seem she wasn’t so happy. Manfred got back on, slender in his navy blue uniform, peering along the seats, counting his passengers. Dougie was sulking in the back. He’d been in a foul mood ever since Holly quietly moved on to Manfred.

“The little angel is sleeping?” asked Manfred. I nodded. “Better check her,” he said. Suddenly alarmed, I got up and walked over to E’s berth, climbed up, and looked at her. She was on her back, eyes closed, her breaths coming slow and regular.

“She’s asleep,” I said. Then I walked all the way back down the bus and sat next to Harvest again. He shifted in his seat, balling up his sweatshirt to use as a pillow and resting it against the window. As he did so, his thigh pressed against mine and he left it there. I didn’t move. I just felt the pressure of his leg against my own and watched the junked-up landscape flying by through the tinted windows. My heart beat hard and fast. After about an hour, I got up and checked E again. She was awake. I took her down from the bunk, brought her to the bathroom, and spoon-fed her lunch. She ate in her automatic, baby-bird fashion, opening her mouth directly after each mushy spoonful. I still had about twenty pouches of her food left. I would order more online once I had an address. When E had finished eating, I zipped up her sweater against the cool of the air-conditioning and buckled up her safety belt, my eyes trained on the back of Harvest’s head. He had woken up and was sitting alone in the front. Now Joy walked over to him and stood there, lurching with the movement of the bus, her legs spread wide. Harvest said something and she laughed. Joy was dressed entirely in fluorescent orange. Orange sweatshirt, orange sweatpants. Her brown face was a perfect oval inside the hoodie. She had a slouchy, predatory way of standing. I could never, ever be sexy like that, I thought. Never in my life.