My Parents Died Before Graduation and I Thought No One Would Be There for Me — Then Two Hands Covered My Eyes From Behind

Chapter 18 — Never an Island

After Evelyn had gone to bed — worn out, and happier than I had seen her in a year — Ethan and I went out and sat on the front porch steps in the cool night, our elbows on our knees, the way we used to sit when we were kids and the summer stretched out forever in front of us.

The air smelled of cut grass.

The stars were thick and bright over our quiet street.