“Good.” Ken sighs and leans back. He nods behind me. “Movie’s over.”

I turn and Mom and Mr. Harwood come towards me. “Kenny!” Mom says, holding out your hand. “Good to see you. How’ve you been?”

“Fine, Mrs. Rivera,” Ken says, smiling. “Surviving school.”

She leans closer to him. “Can you help Jackson? He doesn’t know where to apply. Or what major he wants to do.”

“Doesn’t it seem kinda weird that they’re asking us now to figure out what we should do forever?” I ask.

Mom takes no notice. Ken nods his head and agrees, and waves goodbye. Mr. Harwood offers to stay behind for everyone else, and Mom and I take his truck back.

“…you okay?” she asks.

“I’m fine, Mom.”

“How’re your burns?”

“…tingling a little.”

“I’ll ask Will to put some more aloe on you before bed, okay?”

“Fine.”

We get back, and go our separate ways – me for my room and her for the kitchen. Since D’Agostinos has closed, Mom needs somewhere to drink with Mrs. Harwood.

Rory isn’t allowed in the room anymore. He’s sleeping on the couch, in something his mom calls “punishment through reprisal”, which I don’t know what that means. On the upside, his journal is ripe for reading.

Which I don’t get to do yet. Julia’s decided to call me for the first time in four days. “Hey Juls, what’s up?”

She’s at a party. I can hear the music’s beat through the phone and the inaudible sound of people probably getting wasted. “Jackson?” she screams.

“Julia?”

“Hey!” Her voice is staticy.

“What’s up?” I’m pissed at her. She hasn’t been texting me back.

“How’s your summer been?” Julia shouts, like I’m too far away.

“Babe, go somewhere quieter.”

“What?”

I groan and text her while she’s still on the phone.

“Hold on, I got a text!” When she comes back, she asks why.

“You can’t hear me!”

“Okay, okay, Jesus.” The phone shuffles for a while before a door slams shut. “Hi.”

“Hi, Juls.”

“Let’s break up.”

I sigh and sit down on my bed. “So I’ll see you back at school, then?”

“No. Jackson, I think we should break up.”

I roll my eyes. “You do this every summer, Juls. ‘Lets break up’ in May, and then ‘Let’s get back together’ in September.”

She harrumphs. “This time, I mean it!” Julia’s said that for four years.

“Sure, babe.”

“Jackson, I’m leaving you for Harper.”

“…wh…Harper, ‘the sweeper on my team’ Harper?”

“He’s sweet, and – ”

I kinda get it. He’s good looking. His hair bounces when he runs and it’s mesmerizing. But I still shake my head and ask, “What’d I do?”

“N-nothing, Jackie! I just…” Julia sighs. “We’re about to graduate. And he knows that, too.”

I hate that nickname. “So you’re leaving me to have a fling our senior year?”

“Don’t say it like that, you make me sound like a bitch.”

“But that’s what you’re doing.”

“Jackson – ”

“See you in September.” And I hang up.

And almost ripping Grandma’s blanket out from under the sheets, I go for Rory’s journal.