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Either the wallpaper goes, or I do

It rateful for sky

Avery figures they’ll just sit by the river and talk But Ryan has grander plans than that; he calls his aunt and asks if they can park in her yard and borrow her canoe She says sure So instead of heading by the river, they head right into it It’s a boat big enough for two--one in front, one in back The current isn’t very strong, and the space between the shores isn’t very wide They head upstrea commentary on the houses they pass, the shape of the clouds overhead Then they get to astretch, a shallow inlet

"Here," Ryan says "A drifting spot"

They put down their paddles, and Ryan turns his body so they’re facing one another

"Hi," he says

"Hi," Avery says back

"I would’ve brought fishing gear, but it’s just so, well, etarian"

"Me too"

A smile "Of course you are"

Avery leans over a little, spreads his fingers in the water It feels good to create a current, however sht and the water is quiet, the trees bending froently

"So what’s your story?" Ryan asks

Avery looks up at him, hand still in the water "My story?"

"Yeah Everybody has at least one"

For a few uncomfortable seconds, Avery worries that Ryan thinks he’s a mutant, thinks he’s a joke, and wants him to come clean But then Avery realizes from Ryan’s expression that, no, it isn’t about that Ryan is trying to craft a conversation, and wants it to be a ful than a person’s story?

"I can start if you want me to," Ryan volunteers

"Sure," Avery says "You start" Because it’s a little safer that way Avery doesn’t kno he can tell a story without telling the story, and he wants to be sure Ryan was really looking for so when he asked his question

"Okay," Ryan says "Here goes" He takes in an endearingly nervous breath, then exhales the start of his story, telling Avery how almost everybody in his family was born here and how al the big exception He left when Ryan was three, and Ryan and his mom were stuck for about five years after that, until she o, but he’s not what Ryan would’ve chosen, either He’s very old-fashioned about what men do and o the boss But Ryan’s not as okay with it They had two kids together, Ryan’s half-sisters, Dina and Sharon

"Dina’s really sweet," Ryan says, "and Sharon is going to grow up to be a o her way, the world has to pay for it, you know?"

Avery nods, and Ryan continues "So yeah That’s the background I grew up here, and I get into fights sometimes with my parents My aunt Caitlin saves eration She saves y My mother was too lost in herself to notice, and Don didn’t want to see it, so he ignored it Caitlin waited for s to think about at first--with Don, and then ue, that kind of thing But eventually I noticed who I was staring at, and it wasn’t the girls I’ll be honest--it freaked irls instead I really did"

"How’d that work for you?" Avery asks, letting his voice joke a little

Ryan h "Well … I went out with Tarade Really serious I ht each other stuffed anie in fourth grade, right? By high school, I kneho I was And when I told Caitlin, she wasn’t shocked at all She took s She’s not a whole lot older than me--she’s about to turn thirty--and she’s had about as uys as I have She’s the one who convincednever worked She toldthat it was iuess that y He isn’t But he didn’t want to stay here He never wanted to stay here He just wasn’t strong enough to tell my mom until it ay too late"