Chapter 23: Chapter 23

He curled his hands into loose fists so that Justin couldn’t see his hands were shaking.

“It’ll be great,” he lied. “It’ll be amazing.”

Justin smiled and ruffled his hair, and left him to it.

Wyatt didn’t sleep well.

* * * *

“I like a boy,” Lettie announced the next day, her eyes narrow as though this was an unhappy event.

Wyatt looked up from the dog he was petting. “Oh.”

“He’s seventeen,” Lettie said. “He likes dogs and anime and he skates.” She sat down on the front step beside him and sighed heavily.

“Does he like you too?” Wyatt asked.

“Yes,” Lettie said, and wrinkled her nose. “The weirdo.”

Wyatt laughed. “So what’s the problem?”

“He wants me to go to the movies with him,” Lettie said and gestured at herself.

Lettie was wearing her usual Converse, denim overalls with a plain T-shirt underneath, and a cap jammed over her hair. Her sun-bleached hair, with hints of strawberry blonde in it, was pulled back into its usual two utilitarian braids.