She opens the door a crack and peeks out. I can tell she’s been crying by the puffiness of her eyes.

   “Hey,” I say.

   She fails her attempt at a smile.

   “Um, I really don’t want you to get mad, but . . .” I rub the back of my head—a nervous habit. “Lucy and Heidi are downstairs . . .”

   “Jake, I can’t—”

   “It’s my fault. I called them earlier. I just . . . You need clothes and probably other girl things, and I didn’t know what else to do . . .”

   Her eyes were cast downwards, but when she heard my explanation, she looked up at me and a small smile broke through. She opens the door wider and steps into the hallway. She takes my hand as we climb down the stairs. We pause in the doorway of the family room, and Lucy and Heidi both turn to face us. They look at our hands then smile at us.

   Lucy speaks first. “We’re really sorry about what happened, Mikayla. If you need anything at all, just let us know, okay?” She’s standing in front of Kayla, looking straight into her eyes.

   Kayla nods.

   Heidi stands next to Lucy. “We brought some stuff over that you might need, since Jake mentioned you can’t go to your house. So we bought the essential stuff. I know it’s not much, Mikayla—”

   “It’s more than enough,” Kayla interrupts. “And my friends call me Micky.”

   I let go of her hand and bring her head to my lips, kissing her on her temple. She doesn’t seem to mind, so I’ll keep doing it until she tells me to stop.

   “I’ll get some drinks,” I tell them.

ELEVEN

MIKAYLA

   “Jake didn’t really know what you’d want. He was actually pretty adorable when he rang—all shy and awkward about it.” Heidi pauses. “Micky . . .” She waits until I’m looking at her. “Jake’s good people, you know. I’m glad you ended up with him last night.”

   I nod slowly. “I know. Me too.”

   “Anyway,” Heidi continues, perking up, “I bought some toiletries: body wash, shavers, toothbrush, lotions, feminine hygiene products. I don’t know what you like, so I got whatever I could think of. We brought some clothes, too. We don’t know how long you’ll be staying here, so we weren’t sure what to pack. Hopefully we’re about the same size.”

   “You guys . . . Whatever you’ve got will be perfect, I’m sure.” I genuinely smile, because these girls barely know me and they’re doing whatever they can to help.

   I still haven’t heard from Megan—not a word.

   Lucy pipes up. “Heidi and I obviously don’t dress the same, so at least you’ll have some variety.” She smiles. “I also brought my spare e-reader. I don’t know . . .” She looks at the ground, her voice getting softer. “I don’t know if you’ll want to read, or if you can even concentrate on reading, but it’s here just in case.”

   “Thanks, my book best friend,” I tell her. She beams.

   We fall silent. I can’t even imagine how awkward trying to console a girl they barely know must be for them. “So,” I speak up. “Justin Bieber’s your jam, Heidi?”

   They both laugh, and the awkwardness leaves the room for the moment.

   “It’s kind of an inside joke,” Heidi says, giggling.

   “Not really.” Lucy smirks at Heidi. “Heids here had a wee little obsession with the Biebs when he first blew up. She went a little too stalkerish when he was in town once, and his security detained her. Her parents had to pick her up and everything.”

   “No way!” I say, eyes big in disbelief.

   “Yes way,” Jake interrupts, walking in with drinks. He places the tray on the coffee table between us and comes to sit next to me.

   “The next day at school, everyone knew about it. People called her ‘wannabieber.’ She didn’t care, though—she wore it proud, like a badge. Dylan’s eye still twitches whenever he hears Justin Bieber.”

   Our laughter fills the room. Talking about Justin Bieber reminds me of Emily, so I tell them about her version of “Baby” and how my dad tried to dance the Dougie, and how they followed me around, belting “Penis, penis, penis, ohhhhh!”

   When the laughter fades, sadness washes over me. “I can’t believe it was just last night,” I say to no one in particular. “It feels like so long ago. Today has gone on forever.” I look at Jake. “Is this, like, the longest day in history? What is with today?”

   He puts his arm around my shoulders and kisses the side of my head. I love it when he does that.

   “We’ll let ourselves out,” Lucy says, halfway out the door with Heidi.

   “Let’s get you to bed.” Jake helps me up.

   I’ve been lying in bed for two hours and can’t seem to settle down. I’m exhausted but restless. I want to go home and I don’t. I don’t have words for this. I guess I won’t know how I feel until I’m faced with the opportunity to go back.

   An hour later I’m still wide awake. I need to get out of this bed and out of this room. I head downstairs. I can hear the murmur of the TV but stop in my tracks at the bottom of the stairs when I hear my name. The conversation is coming from the kitchen.

   “Does Mikayla have nowhere else to stay?” Jake’s dad, Nathan, is asking.

   I freeze and my stomach drops to the floor.

   “Dad, seriously?”

   A moment of silence.

   “I’m sorry, son. That came out all wrong.” Nathan’s voice is now softer and more sympathetic. He doesn’t have an accent, either—come to think of it, neither does Julie.

   “Look,” Nathan continues, “it’s not that we don’t want her here. You have to know that. But you also need to understand that we’re worried about you—”

   “Dad—”

   “Hang on, Jake. Let me finish. What you guys experienced is a lot to take in, even if you’d known each other for years. Your mom told me that you guys met just last night. We’re not blind, Jake. We see the way you are together. I know there’s something there. But we worry—and not just about her, Jake. This is a lot to process for someone your age—for anyone. I guess what I’m trying to say is that your mother and I are afraid she’ll come to depend too much on you, and you’ll get too involved. She really has no one else?”

   “No, she really doesn’t. I don’t know what you want me to say, Dad.”

   “I don’t want you to say anything. I said what I needed to say.” Nathan sighs. “Now that that’s out of the way, we also want you to know that we’re proud of you, Jake. You’ve changed and grown up a lot in the last year or so. You’ve become a good man, and we love you. Just remember that you’ve worked hard to get to where you are—all of us have. Your mom and I . . . Well, we trust you to make the right decisions—not just with this girl, but with everything.”