“I know,” I said. “Then, in the interest of finding something to talk about that won’t take too long, how’s school?”

Maybe not the right subject for a short conversation. The reality was that Kenzie was a teacher’s pet, and I actually really liked school and studying, with some hope of studying in the future, if I could get into classes. Despite the ten year age difference between us, it was a pretty decent back and forth.

“What kind of projects?” she asked, as the train came to a stop. The station beyond the window was a temporary one.

“With parahuman studies? A lot of it is theory and extrapolating from what little we know. I’m really eager to see how the classes change in the future, since we know different things than we did four years ago.”

“I don’t think I’d want to study that stuff,” Kenzie said. “I think it’s super cool, don’t think I’m a jerk for pooh-poohing what you like.”

“Not at all.”

“But I don’t know what I’d want to do. It seems very far off.”

“You’re in fifth grade. You’ve got seven years before you have to make any decisions.”

“Seven years. There’s part of me that wants to be an adult already and there’s another part of me that really, really doesn’t.”

We were stepping off the train. Not many got off at the temporary station in Norwalk, and we had some privacy.

“Why don’t you?” I asked. “Is it the idea of having romantic feelings being uncomfortable? You mentioned that once.”

“See, it’s funny you ask that, because I mentioned it in group once. Ashley asked the opposite question. She asked why I would want to. Chris asked something similar to you. He wanted to know why I wouldn’t want to grow up.”

“And?”

“And I don’t know,” she said. She smiled. “Both have issues, being here, being grown up. I think I’d like to fix things and figure myself out, and get most of the way to being better over the next few years.”

“It’s a good goal.”

The conversation carried on for a bit, Kenzie walking on the concrete barrier between lawns and road, heel touching toe, arms out to the side. Periodically, she’d poke me in my uninjured arm as she used me to catch her balance again.

The wind was the prime culprit in her losing her balance. The portal loomed above us, the sky on the far side now overcast, with clouds seeping in through like they might through a crack in glass.

Many houses had been vacated, or had signs on the lawns. There weren’t many cars on the road or in driveways for what should have been a settled residential area.