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It’s strange to say this out loud It’s not so I’d ever say to my mother, or even think in her presence But h I’m afraid of the answer, I ask A if she’s always been around here, or if she jumps to bodies in much farther places In other words, I want to know if one day she’ll be too far away to see, if she could wake up on the other side of the world

"It doesn’t work like that," she tells me "I honestly don’t knohy it works the way it does, but I know that I never wake up that far from where I was yesterday It’s like there’s a method to it--but I couldn’t tell you what it is Once I tried to chart it out--the distances between bodies I tried to see if it ibberish Random, but in a li up But if the body I’o with it That becoot here, to Maryland This one girl had a field trip to DC, and the group she was in was cheap, so they stayed outside the city The next , I didn’t wake up back in Minnesota I was still in Bethesda"

"Well, don’t take any field trips soon, okay?" I make it sound like a joke, but I rees Then she asks me about my own travels, and I tell her all about how I haven’t really been anywhere since we settled down in Maryland Even DC is a stretch My parents like to stay put

She asks o I tell her Paris Which is such a silly answer, because I feel like it would be any girl’s answer

"I’ve alanted to go there, too," A says "And London"

"And Greece!"

"And Amsterdam"

"Yes, A to travel the world We walk past tree after tree and all the years we’ve lived seem to be there to be reached for We return to the car and take more chips, more olives Then alk a little farther, talk a little further I can’t believe howbecause our stories are talking to each other; one ofto one of mine

I never talk like this, I think And then I realize this is very close to what A was saying before You’re the first person I’ve ever told

Yes, A is the first person I’ve ever told most of these stories to Because A is the first person who has listened and heard and wanted to know

Which ht not be fair to Justin Because how s to Justin?

Only on the beach Only that day