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"She said that?" I ask

Caulder nods "That’s what she told us But Kel says he sahat he thought he saw and I believe hi her, anyway?"

I wasn’t expecting the third degree this early in the h After everything that happened last night and having Lake next to et an hour of sleep

"Listen, boys," I say, walking back to them I place my hands on the bar and cos in life that are out of our control I can’t be Lake’s boyfriend and she can’t be etto be brothers Enjoy the fact that you get to be best friends and neighbors"

"Is it because you’re a teacher?" Caulder asks pointedly

I drop my head in my hands They’re relentless And intuitive

"Yes," I say, exasperated "Yes It’s because I’irlfriends and vice versa So Lake isn’t going to be oing to get married Ever Now drop it" I walk back to the stove and place lids on all the pans to keep the food waret these boys fed and out of this house before she walks out of my bedroom How in hell would I explain to them that teachers and students can’t date, but they can sleep in the saoes and she’s still asleep, I walk the boys over to Julia’s Kel and Caulder rush in, but I feel inclined to knock on the door so I lag behind When Julia opens the door, she shields her eyes from the sun and looks away

"Sorry Did I wake you up?"

She steps aside to let me in and shakes her head "I don’t think I’ve even slept," she says She walks back into the living room, so I follow and sit on the sofa "How is she?"

I shrug "Still asleep She hasn’t coht"

Julia nods and leans back into the couch, then rubs her hands on her face "She’s scared, Will She was so scared when I told her I knew she would take it badly, but not like this I wasn’t expecting this reaction at all I need her to be strong e tell Kel, but I can’t tell him when she’s this emotional"

"It’s only been sevena parent is hard, but the possibility of losing both of thee is incouess you would know"

She still doesn’t seem convinced that Lake’s reaction is nor news I didn’t even cry right ahen I found out my parents died, but that’s not to say it wasn’t the worst aency contact on their records The person on the other line was telling et to the hospital in Detroit They wouldn’t tellot an answer I called randparents to tell them about the accident, since they were just minutes from the hospital That was one of the hardest phone calls I’ve ever had toa constant eye on it All I could think of was Caulder I just knew so terrible had happened and thattheir phones because they wanted to tell randparents still hadn’t called, I tried their phone for the fifth ti, either I think it was after the sixth tih to voicemail that I knew

My parents Caulder All of theency roorand

No, she wasn’t crying She ailing My grandfather had his back toHis entire body was shaking I stood there and watched the who these people were in front of , independent people I had adht the world of These people that could be broken by nothing

Yet, here they were Broken and weak The only thing that can break the unbreakable is the unthinkable I knew theroom that my worst fears were confirmed

They were all dead

I turned around and I walked out I didn’t want to be in there I had to go outside I couldn’t breathe When I reached the grass across fro lot, I fell to my knees I didn’t cry Instead, I beca the truth that I refused to believe When there was nothing left in rass and stared up at the sky, the stars staring back atback at the whole world A world where parents die and brothers die and nothing stops to respect that fact The whole universe just goes and goes as if nothing has happened, even when one person’s entire life is forced to a coht about him It had been teeks since I had spoken to him on the phone I had promised hiao She said ether before then So, I called Caulder and canceled my trip That was the last time I had talked to him

The last time I would ever talk to hidown "Will, are you okay?" he asked, wiping fresh tears fro that look in his eyes

I didn’tup at hi else I didn’t want to hear it

"Willthey"

"I know," I said quickly, not wanting to hear the words come out of his randmother wants"

"I know," I said louder

"Maybe you should come"

"I don’t want to"

And I didn’t want to I didn’t want to set foot back inside that hospital Back inside the building that now housed the three of them Lifeless