Chapter 2

Willa Montgomery was convinced that her parents were the best people in the world. Her stepfather was an engineer for the city. He planned sewer systems, streets, and made the city a little better with his designs. It made him a lot of money, which was merely a bonus to him. It didn’t matter who he worked for so long as he could create and dream. He had the heart of a designer, and nothing brought him greater joy than to imagine things the way they could be. He was the most artistic man of science Willa had ever met.

Willa’s mother was a substitute teacher and a philanthropist. She worked almost as much as Willa’s dad, though she did not make nearly as much money. When she was not teaching, she was working with non-profits in the area. She volunteered at several places in town and managed two separate charities she had started to combat hunger and violence in the city.

Willa had always looked up to her mom’s perseverance and determination. Her mother was a woman who always did what she set out to do, and she never let limitations come between her and a victory. Willa admired those traits more than any other trait. Determination and perseverance would be the driving forces of her future. They would ensure that her dream of leaving Houston for Columbia University to get her law degree and change the world became more than a dream. It would mean her plans became reality. Determination was her everything.

Willa had one stepsister. Though they weren’t related by blood, they had always thought of each other as such. Willa couldn’t remember a time when Audrey had not been in her life. They had grown up together, and were best friends.

Despite the stereotypes of stepsisters and stepparents in general, Willa’s family got along very well. They barely ever argued, and when they did, the argument usually ended up in laughter. Willa’s father was incapable of staying mad at people. He forgave them almost as soon as they wronged him. Willa’s mom always rolled her eyes and sighed when he went on about forgiveness, but Willa knew that her mom loved that he was so kindhearted. Willa loved that part of him as well.

As summer wound down during the long days of August, Willa was eager to begin the new school year. It wasn’t that she particularly enjoyed school more than any other person her age. It was the fact that it was her last year as a high school student. Her dream of becoming the youngest Supreme Court Judge in history was closer than ever. Her internships, her studying, her volunteering and extracurricular activities were all focused on the results of this year’s application to Columbia.

Audrey was decidedly not prepared for school to start. On their first morning back, she ran around the house collecting things she had not touched since last May. Some of the items she dug out from under her bed – other supplies were stuck in more creative places, such as in the pantry and the laundry room.

Willa sat at the breakfast table, reading from a law book and patiently waiting for her sister’s mad attempt to find her things to end. Though the clock was nearing that fatal hour when they would be late, Willa didn’t say anything. Years of experience had taught her that saying nothing got them there quicker than a half-thought comment meant to hurry Audrey along. Audrey would stop to argue with her and make them twice as late. Audrey loved arguing. Her flair for the dramatic was unmatched.

Willa’s mom patiently helped Audrey gather her things; she also knew better than to comment on Audrey’s near tardiness. Audrey thought about things when it was time to think about them, not before. She didn’t waste time worrying about issues that would eventually take care of themselves. Audrey had the profound gift of brushing past painful situations and moving on. It was a talent she had learned through years of painful relationships and situations she usually ended up causing for herself.

Willa ate the last of her breakfast, carefully rinsed out her bowl and put it in the dishwasher. She slung her bag over her shoulder just as Audrey came into the kitchen again. Though Audrey’s expression was rushed, her hair and makeup were perfect. Willa knew that was the real cause of their almost tardiness. It took Audrey a solid hour to fix herself up in a way she deemed presentable. Audrey grabbed Pop-tarts out of the box and stuffed them into her bag as she hurried out of the kitchen again.

“Come on, Willa!” Audrey commanded. “We’re gonna be late!”

Willa resisted the impulse to roll her eyes. It took a lot of effort. “Coming,” she told her sister calmly.

Willa kissed her mom on the cheek by way of goodbye and followed Audrey to her car. Their mom’s laughter followed Willa out of the house.

“I’d better drive,” Audrey said. “You go too slow.”

“You’ll get another ticket,” Willa warned.

Audrey shrugged without replying and threw her bag into the back of her car. She started the engine and pulled away from the curb without looking to see if someone was coming down the street of the sleepy subdivision they lived in. Willa hurriedly pulled her seatbelt on as Audrey tore down the street and passed the elegant sign that marked the boundary of their community.

School was only ten minutes away. Audrey knew the back roads well, so they were able to avoid most of the congestion. Before Willa had time to really catch her breath, or worry about being late, they had arrived.

Their high school was low and squat. Long rows of windows revealed the classrooms, and beige concrete, colored by rain and excessive heat, marked the exterior. There was no real warmth to the building.

The row of blue doors on the parking lot side of the building were almost totally obscured by the circling teenagers. Friends were catching up, and rivals were sizing up the competition. Everyone was curious to see how the summer had changed their classmates. Some kids sat in their cars, waiting until the last possible moment to go inside. A buzz of excitement filled the space around the school. For now, most people were glad to be back.

Audrey and Willa split up as they walked toward the school. Audrey went to find her friends near the cafeteria, and Willa went to the library to find hers.

Willa’s two best friends, Missy and Rachel, were sitting at their favorite table when Willa pushed back the white door of the library. The table was hidden by a short bookshelf and pushed back into a small alcove. Its location made watching the door easier than being seen, which was appealing to all three girls.

Rachel was a pretty girl, with dark skin, a pixie nose and large, almond eyes that were usually wide, as though she had been startled. She was the kind of person who was always chewing over her words, convinced that she was about to say something wrong. She spent most of her time with a blush on her face, embarrassed for things that no one else really noticed.

Missy was large and loud, with curly hair and a wicked smile. It was almost as if she had taken all of Rachel’s extroversion for herself. Though her jokes and loud conversation could sometimes get out of hand, she was well-liked by a lot of people. Her harsh sarcasm and her contempt for popularity were the only things that kept her from being as well-known as Audrey.

Like Willa, they were both focused on getting into college. They were good study partners, and they rarely ever told Willa that there was more to life than grades. Her parents had been on that repeat mode for as long as she could remember; Audrey had tried to convince her of that fact twice a day, every day, since infancy. But Missy and Rachel understood. They wanted the same things Willa wanted. She could share her obsession with them and there were no judgments or opinions about how she should be living her life.

Willa greeted them warmly as she sat down. There was no sense of separation between them. They had seen each other frequently over the summer. School was just a slight alteration in their routine of friendship.

“I’m definitely gonna get a boyfriend this year,” Missy announced after they had talked for a minute or two. Rachel blushed and giggled wistfully at the thought.

“When’d you decide that?” Willa asked.

“Just now,” Missy said. “I think that I should have a boyfriend before I have to buckle down in college. Let’s look at things objectively for a moment.”

“Okay,” Willa agreed.

“We don’t have many classes this year. We’re all doing half days. That means we have two classes this semester that aren’t college classes. Two classes! Even if we fail them it wouldn’t change our GPA that much. I’ll get into Harvard, no problem. So…I think I’ll have a boyfriend.”

She announced the last part like she was deciding on buying a new book or a pair of shoes.

“Sounds like you’ve made up your mind,” Willa told her.

“I have,” she said.

“You could talk to Audrey about it. She probably knows a couple of boys,” Willa said.

“Knows…dated…slept with,” Missy said with a grin.

“Hey, watch it,” Willa warned lightly, though she wore a rueful smile. Willa loved Audrey dearly, but her sister did have a reputation. It was not one Audrey seemed to care about very much.

Missy waved away Willa’s warning. Her eyes turned thoughtful. “I think I’d like someone tall, dark and handsome.”

“Who wouldn’t?” Willa asked.

“You,” Missy said. She lowered her voice in a bad imitation of Willa’s somewhat husky voice. “A boyfriend is a distraction at this juncture of my career! If I’m going to be the youngest Supreme Court Judge in history, I need to focus!”

“I do need to focus,” Willa told her. “And I don’t sound like that.”

Missy shrugged once. “Well, I get it,” she said. “I want to be a world-famous scientist, and nothing will get in my way. But I’m going to do something different this year. I plan on living it up!"

“Okay,” Willa agreed easily.

Rachel giggled again, started to say something, and then lowered her eyes shyly.

There was not much time to live it up before the bell rang, however. They left the library and split up as they went to opposite sides of the building.

Willa’s classes were boring. Her first class, AP English, was taught by a large man with a bristling mustache. He had mastered the art of monotone. It was impossible to listen to him without thinking a robot would have been a better choice for a teacher.

Her second class, AP Calculus, was taught by an older man with bad breath and a slight odor of incipient death. It amazed her that he was walking around at all. It was as though he were on his deathbed, only he didn’t know it yet. The thought made Willa uncomfortable, and she squirmed whenever he came near her.

Willa met Missy and Rachel in the cafeteria for lunch. Though there were two levels to the cafeteria – the top level was open and large and was where most kids hung out, while the bottom had the lunch tables – the space felt cramped. The room was not nearly big enough to contain the sea of students.

Willa carefully moved through the chatting crowd, not seeing much beyond the flashes of people’s shirts and faces as she walked, and finally caught up with Missy and Rachel, who are already in line on the bottom level. She jumped in front of Missy, ignoring the protests of the others behind her, and piled food onto her plate as Missy and Rachel talked about their classes.

Missy spent lunch entertaining Willa and Rachel with her attempts to get a boyfriend in her first class. The story went from strange and funny to wildly inappropriate in a matter of seconds. Willa was laughing hysterically by the end; Rachel blushed from her fingertips to the roots of her hair. The story was a good distraction for Willa, but it did not last nearly as long as she would have liked.

Finally, the part of the day that Willa had dreaded the most arrived.

Taking two classes at a local community college seemed like nothing compared to her long-term goal of law school, but she was nervous all the same. It was her first time in college. She didn’t want to mess it up. She didn’t want to fail.

She had toured the campus with her parents, and was certain she knew where to go, but the classes were a fresh step toward her ultimate goal. She was afraid that she would get there and end up on the wrong end of campus or not be able to keep up with the course material. She had been studying hard for as long as she could remember, and had one of the best grade-point-averages in the school, but her fear made her doubt her ability. Her fear gave rise to nervousness she couldn’t pretend away.

Willa knew that Missy and Rachel were also nervous. Missy’s stories cut off abruptly as they walked up the stairs, and Rachel’s blush made her look like a stop sign. Willa bit her lip in agitation, chewing on the cracked skin of her bottom lip as if it knew the secret to making it through the day.

They separated in the open area on the top level. Missy and Rachel were carpooling to the college together, but Willa had not wanted to rely on them to get her there in time. It would make her grumpy to be late on top of her other worries. She would rather control the situation.

Willa waved goodbye to her friends and then searched for Audrey, who she had seen earlier in the lunch period surrounded by friends. The sea of chatting people closed Audrey in, so it was impossible to tell if she had left or was in the same spot. Willa fervently hoped she did not have to walk across the entire school to reach her sister. The thought sent her stomach to churning uncomfortably.

Willa wove around the bodies of two exceptionally tall basketball players and finally saw Audrey in her typical spot. She was sitting on a bench and casually holding the hand of her latest boyfriend, Jerry, though he insisted everyone call him J-dog. He was wearing a baseball cap and baggy pants. Willa had seen more of his boxers than she had seen of any other boy she knew. His shirt was of a different team Willa didn’t recognize. The funny thing to her was that, to her knowledge, he didn’t enjoy sports all that much. He just had a profound need to showcase the names in a prominent place, like on the butt of his boxers.

Audrey was surrounded by a large group of people that held her attention far more than her boyfriend. Willa could tell from the way Audrey was treating J-dog that she was starting to lose interest in him. She had seen the signs in her sister enough to know that truth. He had a month, maybe a little less, before Audrey broke it off with him. Willa would have felt sorry for J-dog if he hadn’t been such a ridiculous person. He was Willa’s least favorite choice for Audrey, which was saying a lot.

Audrey was smiling at her friends, talking about classes and teachers, and catching up with the people she was not as close to as her intimate group of four best friends, who were all sitting next to her on the right.

Willa absently noticed that one of the boys sitting to Audrey’s left had her sister’s attention far more than the others. She kept leaning toward him and throwing out little comments designed to get him to talk to her. J-dog scowled heavily at the boy, but he didn’t dare say anything in front of Audrey. He was in Audrey’s group at her pleasure, not the other way around.

Willa barely glanced at her sister’s friends, or the boy she seemed interested in, as she stepped in front of Audrey.

“Hey, sis!” Audrey said happily.

“How’s your day been?” Willa asked with a smile. Audrey had that effect on her. No matter how worried or nervous she was, she always made her smile.

“Dreadfully boring,” Audrey replied in that same happy tone. “Yap-yap-yap. That’s all teachers can do.”

“That’s what they’re paid to do,” Willa pointed out. “It’s why we’re here.”

Audrey smiled at Willa mockingly. “I just wish they were better at it…”

“Yeah,” Willa agreed. “I need the keys,” she added.

“What for?” Audrey asked.

“We talked about this,” Willa reminded her. “I have classes at the college on Monday, Wednesday and Friday.”

“Do you?” Audrey asked, a vapid, totally insincere, expression appearing on her face.

“Don’t do that,” Willa told her grumpily.

Audrey grinned at Willa and her eyes lit up with wicked humor. She reached into her purse and pulled her keys out. She held them up for Willa to take with that same wicked humor burning in her eyes. “You will come back for me, won’t you?” she asked.

“I’ll think about it,” Willa replied.

Audrey smiled again and looked down the line of her friends. She pointed to the boy she had been talking to. It was clear that he was on his way to becoming part of her group. “Have you met John? He’s new this year.”

Willa barely glanced at him. He was handsome, but no more than the dozens of boys Audrey had brought home before. He had a nice tan, brown hair, patchy stubble on his chin and cheeks, and a seriously muscular look to his body. Willa didn’t look any closer than what the glance could tell her, but she could tell that J-dog had some serious competition. J-dog was a puppy. He was not a serious prospect for Audrey. This boy, John, was definitely not a puppy. He had something the others did not. It was appeal that went beyond Willa’s ability to explain, and Audrey had definitely noticed it.

“Nice to meet you,” Willa told him without looking at him.

“Hi,” John replied in a deep voice.

“I’ll see you later,” Willa told Audrey.

“Bye,” Audrey replied.

Willa left her sister to flirt, charm, and do whatever she did to wrap people around her little finger. There was no doubt in Willa’s mind that John would be her next victim. It might take a couple of days, but he would eventually fall under her spell. They always did. No man could resist her sister’s charms for very long.

Though Willa was nervous about her first day at college, everything went smoothly. She found her first class easily, and, as she sat down at an empty desk near the door, she noticed that the other desks were full of people her age. She even recognized a few of them from her school. They all looked nearly as nervous as she felt. They carefully avoided eye contact with her, and some of them looked as if they were trying to keep from throwing up. Their extreme nervousness helped calm Willa tremendously. The worry of doing something foolish disappeared in that moment. She let out a slow exhale of relief and settled more comfortably in her chair.

At 2:45, Willa left the college and drove back to the high school. She felt relieved. She knew with absolute certainty that she could handle the year without any trouble. Succeeding would just be a matter of determination and application.

Traffic was a beast, so Willa ended up at the school thirty minutes after three. She knew that Audrey wouldn’t complain about her tardiness. Audrey always hung around after school to talk with her friends and make plans for later in the day. It was the only thing Willa did not like about carpooling with her sister, but Audrey insisted. She said that she enjoyed the company, though the drive was not far. Willa had never found the need to disagree with her.

Willa finally pulled into the large parking lot of her school, her head pounding with a headache from fighting through traffic. There were only a few cars left in the student parking lot, though the teacher’s lot was still full. Clubs and sports hadn’t started yet, so the people who would normally have cluttered up the lot had left for the day.

It was not difficult to find Audrey in that mostly empty lot. She definitely wasn’t trying to hide. She was sitting on the tailgate of a medium-sized black truck and was making out with J-dog. It was not a pretty sight. There was a lot of mauling involved in the process. They were ferocious as they clawed at each other.

Willa averted her eyes, to save them from the pain of remembering too much later on, and pulled into a spot next to them. She honked the horn twice to get them to stop trying to suck each other’s faces into oblivion.

Audrey pulled away from J-dog instantly, fixed her hair primly, and gave J-dog a little pat on the cheek; it was a moment that only reinforced the idea that J-dog was her puppy. J-dog smiled at her happily, obviously pleased with the way the day had ended. He was certain of his hold on her. He was kidding himself.

Audrey got into the car without a backward glance at her boyfriend. She looked at Willa curiously, totally ignoring J-dog, who had gotten into his truck and was revving the engine to impress her.

“How was college?” Audrey asked.

“Not bad,” Willa admitted.

“I told you so. Knew it couldn’t be deadly,” Audrey replied smugly. She glanced over at J-dog and shook her head in exasperation. “Let’s get out of here…”

Willa pulled away from J-dog’s truck eagerly and headed toward the exit without waiting for her sister to finish her sentence. She was glad to be going home. She wanted to go to her room and relax. She needed to unwind.

The sun was blisteringly hot. It pounded against Willa and made her long for Arctic air. She put the air conditioning on the highest setting but Audrey insisted, with characteristic passion, they keep the windows down. The fact that the open window made her perfect hair tangled and wild did not bother her. She was weird like that sometimes: a contradiction between wanting to look perfect and wanting to feel the wind on her face.

They were barely on the road two seconds when Audrey told Willa to pull over again. Willa saw her reason right away, and she did not like it at all.

John was walking on the sidewalk opposite the parking lot. Willa caught another glance of his dark features as she stopped next to him, but she very purposefully didn’t look too closely. She did not want to know if he was pretty. Pulling over meant she was more involved in Audrey’s boy drama than she wanted, but there was no way Willa could have refused such a request and not have heard about it for days.

“Hi, John,” Audrey called lightly to get his attention as Willa rolled to a slow stop next to him.

He turned and looked at them, which is to say that he looked at Audrey. She was hanging out the window and revealing more of herself than was perhaps merely friendly. He smiled at her, losing his serious expression in an instant.

“Audrey…And Willa, right?” he asked.

Willa resolutely kept her eyes on the road and nodded without looking at him. She was not going to get wrapped up in Audrey’s affairs. She meant that in as literal a way as possible.

“Do you need a ride?” Audrey asked.

“It’s not that far of a walk,” John said.

“We don’t mind…” Audrey said. “Do we, Willa?”

Willa sighed and didn’t reply. It didn’t matter if she minded. Audrey had already made up her mind.

John thought about it for a short second. “Why not?” he asked finally.

His question was not really the eager response Audrey was looking for. But at least he had agreed. She smirked happily as he moved to the back door of her car.

As soon as he was inside, Audrey turned in her seat to talk to him. She asked him where he had lived before coming to Houston. He told her that he was from Seattle and his parents had moved to the area for the plane industry and the sunny weather.

Willa repressed a shudder at his mention of the Houston weather, but she didn’t say anything. She was too busy trying to figure out how someone from such a cold, sullen environment could have such a nice tan. She was not curious enough to ask him about it. She carefully kept her skepticism and curiosity from boiling to the surface. It served absolutely no purpose.

Audrey was already on her next round of questions.

It was obvious within a matter of minutes that John was a pro at flirting. Audrey’s game was easily reciprocated and matched. Willa knew his skill was a surprise for Audrey. It made her more determined to win the game. The expression on Audrey’s face told Willa that her sister was having a lot of fun. At least there was that truth. She would let her sister have her fun. It was not hurting anyone, except maybe J-dog – eventually.

Willa cleared her throat to interrupt their banter. She did not mind letting her sister have fun, but she also did not want to drive around in circles while she had it. It was too hot, and she was far too tired.

“Where do you live?” Willa asked John.

“Take the next right,” John said. “My house is a half a mile on the left.”

“We’re practically neighbors!” Audrey gushed. “You should come over some time.”

“I would like that,” John replied.

Audrey smiled at him coyly. Willa smiled despite herself and shook her head at Audrey’s determination. Willa had never met a more single-minded boy-crazy person in her life. If only Audrey would apply that determination to her future, instead of parties and having fun, Willa might worry about her less.

John touched Willa gently on the shoulder a minute later, to signal that they had reached his house. She pulled to a slow stop and carefully looked at his house for clues about the boy Audrey would probably be dating in the near future.

The house was medium-sized, big enough for three people and not much else. It did not stand out from the other houses on the crowded street. There were no personal touches to aid in that differentiation.

It was a well-kept house, but the bushes and trees pushed toward the house, as if they were trying to swallow it. A sprinkler half-heartedly threw water on the parched grass of the front lawn. A waist-high, black gate surrounded the dying grass. The lights were off inside. What Willa could see of the interior suggested that it was as bland as the outside. There were chairs on the front porch, but they did not look as if they got very much use. The house was not very welcoming. It certainly did not offer her any clues about John.

John and Audrey talked for a couple more minutes after they pulled up to his house, then John got out of the car. He said his goodbyes and went inside his cold, impersonal house without a backwards glance. The lights flicked on and Willa saw him messing with his phone.

Willa turned and saw that Audrey was staring after him with a dreamy look on her face. “He is just perfect!” she murmured.

“If you say so,” Willa said.

“Just look at him!” she demanded, as if looking at him would prove her point.

Willa refused to obey. She pulled away from the curb and pointed the car toward home.

“Spoilsport!” Audrey added.

“Just don’t pull me into this drama when it starts,” Willa commanded. “I don’t want J-dog coming to me for an explanation.”

“What do you mean?” Audrey asked.

Willa turned and stared at Audrey pointedly. Audrey blushed slightly at Willa’s stare, knowing exactly how Willa felt about Audrey involving her in her personal problems. Her blush faded and her expression turned sly.

“Do you still love me?” Audrey asked in a trembling, little-girl voice.

“Of course I do,” Willa said.

“Then everything will be fine!” She laughed.

Willa rolled her eyes at Audrey. “You’re ridiculous,” Willa said.

Audrey flashed a wicked little smile at Willa. As she did, her phone rang. It was one of her friends who could not live without her for a whole hour before calling.

Willa wondered briefly if she should give John a warning. She loved Audrey very much but there had been less destructive hurricanes to come through Houston. Audrey didn’t set out to be such a whirlwind of damage. It followed her naturally. A friendly warning to the boy Audrey was about to bring into her world seemed like a good idea.

Willa shifted uncomfortably at the thought. A warning to him was a good way to get caught up in Hurricane Audrey’s path. It was not that Audrey would blame Willa for giving the warning; Audrey was honest enough with herself to know the trouble she caused in other people’s lives. It was the fact that the warning would cause Willa to feel an obligation to John should he get caught up in Audrey’s drama.

Willa shook her head at the wayward thought and quickly dismissed the idea. She had school to think about; she had a life beyond Houston to look forward to. Nothing would get in the way of her plans. And she was certainly not stupid enough to get mixed up in Audrey’s personal situations so late in the game.

Audrey was still talking to her friend when they pulled up in front of their house. Willa got out of the car without waiting for Audrey and went inside, eager to feel the air conditioning on her body. A breeze was all well and good, but ninety degrees with a hundred percent humidity was pretty close to torture to Willa. She heard her mom moving around in the study as she closed the front door.

“We’re home!” Willa called.

“How was your day?” Willa’s mom called back.

“Fine,” Willa told her.

She walked into the room that her mom called her office. Willa called the room a fire hazard, mostly because it was one. Papers were lying on top of outlets and electronics, and the clutter looked ready to spontaneously combust. It was about as opposite as possible from her dad’s carefully organized study. It was where her mom maintained all of her philanthropy projects and paid the bills for the family. Surprisingly, her mom usually got more done than her dad ever did.

“Oh, good.” Her mom let out a sigh of relief. Willa knew that her mom had shared her anxiety.

“You worry too much,” Willa told her.

“Part of my job,” she said with a shrug. “Where’s Audrey?”

“Talking to a friend,” Willa said.

Willa’s mom rolled her eyes. “I’d like to take a hatchet to that stupid phone of hers.”

Willa’s phone rang. Willa pulled it out her pocket and looked at it without thinking. It was Missy, probably to report on her efforts to get a boyfriend at college. She answered the call with a grin and her mom’s expression became exasperated. Her mom turned away from Willa with a little shake of her head and she refocused on whatever she had been doing before Willa had arrived.

Missy was excited, loud, and Willa could barely get a word in as she talked at length about the boys she had flirted with in her college classes. When those stories were exhausted, she moved on to her overall plans to get a boyfriend. Her conversation was funny and full of mishaps and bad ideas, but Willa figured she would get a boy sooner or later. Missy was a determined person, and she usually got what she wanted in the end. It was a trait they shared.

As Willa listened to Missy’s planning, a strange feeling welled up in her chest. It took her a while to realize that she was wistful. It was easy to say that she did not want the same things everyone else wanted, but there were times when she privately admitted that she missed having a life outside of her studies. Maybe if she cared a little less about being the youngest Supreme Court Judge in history, her life would be happier. But, no, Willa wanted Columbia. She wanted it more than a boyfriend or wild stories.

When her call with Missy was over, Willa focused on homework. There was not a lot, as it was the first day of the year, but the habit to get her work out of the way first thing was deeply ingrained. When she was through, she picked one of her many law books she kept in her messy room and started reading to the accompaniment of music on her I-pod. When her mom called her down to eat dinner, she carefully tucked her bookmark between the pages and joined the others, who were already at the table.

Her dad had come home at five-thirty. He was wearing his home clothes, which consisted of sweatpants and a dirty shirt, so that he could tinker in the garage without ruining his good clothes. His suit and tie were gone. Willa preferred his home clothes. He was always happier while wearing them.

Willa sat down at the table as Audrey filled them in on her day at school and her plans to join a club. No one took her plans seriously. Audrey always had plans. It was following through on them that gave her trouble.

The conversation around the table was full of laughter and teasing. The laughter was warm and based on the fact that they knew each other better than anyone else in the world.

After dinner, Willa and her dad did the dishes while her mom tried to rope Audrey into going to a pottery class with her. Audrey managed to avoid giving a yes skillfully. Going with their mom to any of her classes was as bad an idea as getting involved in Audrey’s personal relationships. Willa had come by her intensity and sense of determination honestly. Willa and her dad shared a secret smile as they listened to Audrey get out of going to the class. Willa’s mom did not give up easily, but no one could stand against Audrey’s skill for very long. The discussion finally ended with Willa’s mom giving up and Audrey retreating upstairs to take another call.

In all, it was a good day for Willa. It was a day filled with consistency and only mild surprise. She approved of that enormously. She went to bed with a feeling of contentment and comfortable expectation.

But, as Willa lay in bed listening to Audrey watch television in her room and talk on the phone with yet another friend, a strange feeling settled into her stomach. She turned over, to look out of her second-story window, and tried to understand the feeling.

It was in the moment between wakefulness and sleep that Willa realized that maybe Missy and Audrey had the right idea. Maybe this year could be different, one that was not solely focused on the future.

Willa pushed the feeling away with a small shrug, knowing that she would never find the time or reason to step away from her plans, and allowed the gentle tug of sleep to erase her worries from her mind.