There are times she just sits back and wonders. Like, she wonders if she’ll ever be able to get out of this Goddamned city, to someplace where she won’t get three days of detention for calling it a “Goddamned city”. She wonders if that cute guy who sits next to her in English class will ever ask her out, or if that weird girl on the other side who always stares at her breasts will do it first. Not that she’d say yes to either. Probably. But mostly, she wonders how she’ll get out.

So here she sits, on edge of the lake, the city behind her and the river behind that. She thinks of Kylee, the girl who’s lived next door since first graded. If she decided that now is the time to go find something new, she suspects pretty strongly that Kylee would come. Maybe she ought to try. School will be out next week; after that they’ll have no commitments. She’s put off that job thing her parents have been pushing her for. Maybe that’ll work out for her.