Chapter 45

Lunch with Andrew the next day is pleasant, easy, no hidden threads of intent in his voice. We talk about his family’s beach home in Hawaii, about the winter formal next month, and I briefly tell him about my home in the old train car. There’s no judgement in his face, and when he asks me if we can go out sometime, it’s a yes. That spark of interest I thought I saw the first day of school is still there; I can see it when he looks at me.

Andrew invites me to spend Thanksgiving with a family friend of his who has a country home near the academy, but I’ve already made plans with Zack. Dinner at his family’s lake house ends up involving just the two of us, and a huge catered meal with all the usual fixings. It’s delicious, but kind of lonely, especially since I can sense that Zack’s frustrated about something. I figure it’s about his parents and their friends cancelling over a last-minute business meeting, but he’s impossible to read and I don’t ask.

I still don’t quite get