“He works nights at the Pump N’ Go. I saw him once when some friends of mine stopped to get gas.”

“How is he?”

“We didn’t really talk. Wasn’t much of a chance to.” Celine paused, considering. “He looked good though. Like maybe he was happy. Maybe in some ways it worked out okay.”

“You can’t think that.” Mira’s body clenched in response to her reasoning. They’d never talked about what happened, never had a real conversation about any of it, but she wished she had if this was how Celine felt. Celine stared at Mira blankly, with no awareness of what she’d said to Mira. Happiness? What Jesse was doing was surviving and Celine had mistaken that for happiness.

“His life’s never going to be the same. Whatever crap options he had are gone. Don’t you get it?”

“I get it. I’m not dumb. I’m trying to find a bright side. I wished he’d listened to me about going, but he’d gotten stuck on finding that place and, well, here we are.”

“Sounds like you’re saying he deserved what happened.”

“No, I’m saying—I’m sad, is all.”

“I’m sad too,” Mira said. Sitting on Celine’s bed, she couldn’t help but feel like Celine did think Jesse was at fault, but she decided to leave well enough alone and not push. This was probably one of the last times the two of them would spend together and she didn’t want to ruin it.

“Wow, college,” Celine said, shifting the subject back. “I didn’t apply anywhere. I didn’t think I’d be able to afford it, not with my grades.”

“I’m surprised I got in. I keep thinking they’ll send me another letter and tell me it was all a mistake. That they meant someone else.”

“No, no. It wasn’t a mistake. You were always the smart one. Jesse was the artist, and I—I don’t know what I was.” Celine stopped, frowning. Mira wondered if it’d been a mistake to tell her. Celine had wanted out of Kipsen as much as she did, if not more, but whatever she felt, she didn’t say.

“You should see Jesse before you go. He’ll want to know too.”

“I will,” Mira said, struggling with her response as soon as she said it. He’d made it clear he wanted nothing to do with her, not anymore, and it seemed easier to let it go and leave. If it was what he wanted she’d give him this.

“When do you leave?” Celine asked.

“At the end of the summer. I don’t know how I’m going to afford it.”

“I thought you said you had a free ride.”