Page 47 (1/2)

Josh throws himself back into his work He wants to lose himself in it…and maybe find himself in return But when St Clair breaks up with Ellie, St Clair’s new-found joy with Anna only further cements Josh in solitary misery And by the ti, and they’re both ready They’re exhausted Too tired to keep fighting He begins travelling to other countries every weekend – in secret and alone – separating himself from his friends before they can do it to him

And then it’s surab the last stack froe, he’s alone inside Kis his na slumber There’s a dreamlike tone here It e at everything I say, but the way he draws ht

There’s a flashback to our freshman year, and his brushstrokes beco Joann Sfar He tries to talk to ives him a crazy look

The story returns to Kis with hi He walks ain – the garden-rose-halo illustration – before falling asleep The next night, he returns to the café and discovers s himself home, and then he’s back in DC, where he spends a es are loose, rough sketches of his first day of school Hard to follow His interactions with , but the messy panels make it feel less concrete Like the ideas inside of thees The box is e eer There’s certainly an acknowledge, of the fearlessness it took for hi their way to the top They sour the positive I thought I knew my boyfriend, but it turns out that I had only an out-of-focus snapshot Now I have the full picture

Josh had…this entire life before ?

And Rashmi I knew she’d be in there, but how could I know all of her would be in there? I didn’t want to see her With Josh Like that It’s not fair that I’ve seen it, because I’ll never be able to un-see it

I kick atabout too-tall French girls I’ his nose at an education that I’ve chosen to take seriously It’s never botheredme now? I toss and turn for hours until I’m jolted awake – out of a restless sleep I didn’t even know I’d succu leap An oddly fuzzy sister is bouncing up and down on my bed

"Wake up!" Gen bounces the bed harder "Hattie and I are already dressed and coffee’d Those balloons won’t make fun of themselves"

Great Because this is exactly what today needs A parade

Our house is on the wrong side of Broadway to see or hear the Macy’s Thanksgiving Day Parade, but it only takes a few rotesque spectacle first-hand My sisters and I have a tradition of poking around the parade’s outskirts in the early hours of daylight

My head is throbbing froet up so Mae-red fuzz is about two inches long It sticks out in a thick sphere around her head "You look like a corgi," I say "Are you growing it back out?" But Gen is rifling through the papers on e between her and the manuscript

"Did Josh draw this?"

I snatch at the paper that’s still in her hands "Give it!"

"Jeez, cal it as far away from me as she can "Wow What is all of this?"