Nothing is so painful to the human mind as a great and sudden change.
—Mary Shelley, Frankenstein

Saturday, May 23, 4:42 p.m.
Helped Sophie pack

I helped Sophie pack today. As we folded piles of jeans, T-shirts, sweaters, and leggings, and boxed up all of her knickknacks, the reality of the fact that she’s leaving tomorrow set in. Plus, I kept waiting for her to say something about Billy telling her he wasn’t going to New York for the summer.

“Penny for your thoughts,” said Sophie as she bubble-wrapped the plaque she’d gotten for being a student government rep.

“I have lots of them,” I said. It was the truth.

Sophie put down the plaque and plopped onto her bed. She patted the space next to her. I sat and thought about what was on my mind.

She hadn’t brought up Billy and I didn’t want to be the one to do it. “I got so used to having you in Faraway. I can’t imagine what it’s going to be like when you’re gone,” I said.

Sophie rolled her eyes like I was being overly dramatic. “You have your dance-team friends.”

I nodded. “But you’re my bestie and I’m going to miss you like crazy.”

Sophie linked her arm through mine. “I’m going to miss you too,” she said. “You promised you’re going to come visit me in New York.”

“And leave Faraway?”

We both laughed at my joke. We’d talked about it before. I can’t wait to get out of this little town and go visit her in New York City. I put my head on her shoulder and we sat like that for a long time, neither of us saying a word.

“What else are you thinking about?” she finally asked.

“It’s sad being at Gaga’s house,” I said. It was the first time I’d spent time there since she died, and it didn’t feel right knowing she was gone and that Sophie was leaving soon too.

“I know,” said Sophie. “It has been weird living here since she died.”

I hadn’t thought about how that must feel for Sophie. It can’t have been easy. Hearing her say that made me glad I hadn’t brought up the topic of Billy. She’d had a lot of sadness to deal with lately. Her parents getting divorced. Moving back to New York. Gaga dying and having to leave her grandpa alone in Faraway. I started thinking that relative to everything she’s gone through lately, Billy telling her he’s not coming to New York for the summer might not even be a big deal to her.

“April, there’s something I need to tell you,” said Sophie.

I mentally braced myself.

“Brynn apologized to me.”

I stared blankly at Sophie, wondering if I’d misheard what she’d said. It wasn’t at all what I’d expected.

I sat quietly as Sophie told me what happened. “When Brynn heard I was moving back to New York, she told me she wanted to talk to me. She said she was sorry she’d been such a bad friend to me all year. She apologized for all the mean stuff she did.”

“When did this happen?” I asked.

Sophie looked at me like she wasn’t sure I was going to like what she was about to say. “After spring break. When we got back from the ski trip, I told Billy about the move. I guess word traveled fast, which is how Brynn heard.” Sophie shrugged. “She told me she didn’t want me to leave without saying she was sorry for how she acted.”

I wasn’t sure what shocked me more—the fact that Brynn apologized, or that Sophie hadn’t told me for a whole month.

For that matter, it was equally shocking that Sophie hadn’t brought up Billy. Then it hit me that maybe he hadn’t told her. Though that seemed pretty unlikely since she’s leaving tomorrow. I didn’t know where to start.

“What did you say to Brynn?” I finally asked.

“I told her I appreciated it. What else could I have said? That I wished she’d done it sooner so we could have been friends?” Sophie paused and looked at me. “I’ve been thinking about it for a while, and I thought you should know.”

I wasn’t sure what to do with that information. Brynn apologized to Sophie and not to me, so I didn’t really see how it changed anything between the two of us.

“Is there anything else you want to tell me?” I asked, my brain switching from the topic of Brynn to Billy.

Sophie frowned. “Like what?”

“Nothing,” I said. Sophie had concealed Brynn’s apology from me for a long time. I thought we didn’t have secrets between us, but clearly we do.

If she wasn’t bringing up the topic of Billy, neither was I.

8:05 p.m.
Billy called

Now I know why Sophie didn’t bring up the topic of Billy. She doesn’t know he’s not going to New York. The reason I know is because Billy just called to ask me how I thought he should tell her.

“Billy! How could you not have told her yet?” I yelled.

“It’s not exactly something she’s going to want to hear,” said Billy defensively.

“That’s true,” I said. “But it won’t help to procrastinate. You just need to get it over with.”

“This isn’t homework,” said Billy.

“I get it,” I said. “She’s going to be upset when she finds out.”

“Right,” said Billy like he was at least relieved that I understood his dilemma. “I was going to tell her Friday after finals. We went on a walk and got cupcakes. It was our last date together, I didn’t want to spoil the day. Then, I was going to tell her today, but when I texted to see if I could come over, she said you were there helping her pack.”

I reminded Billy of the timetable here. “She’s leaving tomorrow. We have a family lunch at the diner, and then she and Emma are on a flight tomorrow night. You have to tell her before she goes.”

“I know,” said Billy. “I don’t want to tell her tonight. It’s a bad way to go to bed.”

“If you’d already told her, this wouldn’t be a problem.” It was rare that I felt mad at Billy, but I was irritated he hadn’t been more direct with Sophie.

“That doesn’t help,” said Billy. “I wish I’d told her, but I didn’t. She was going through a lot. I didn’t want to add to it.”

“I’m sorry,” I said. I hadn’t meant to judge him. Telling people something they don’t want to hear is hard. I thought about May’s birthday, when Dad had to tell May and June and me that Gaga died. That must have been awful for him.

“I’m going to tell her in the morning,” said Billy, interrupting my thoughts.

As I hung up the phone, I couldn’t help but think that it’s not going to make for a good start to her last day in Faraway.

Sunday, May 24, 6:09 p.m.
In my room

When I woke up this morning, if I’d known how terrible the day was going to turn out, I would have just stayed in bed.

My family went to the diner for lunch. The point of the lunch was for everyone to have an opportunity to say good-bye to Sophie and Emma, not for Sophie and me to get in a fight, or for my whole family to witness it. But that’s exactly what happened.

Sophie and Emma were the last to arrive at the diner. Dad had been there all morning, so May and June and I went over with Mom in time for lunch. Aunt Lilly and Uncle Dusty were already there with Harry and Amanda, and Aunt Lila and Uncle Drew had already arrived with Charlotte and Izzy. Dad had set up a table in a private room in the back. We were all starting to sit when Sophie, Emma, and Willy arrived. Sophie’s eyes were puffy and her nose was red. It was easy to see she’d been crying.

“What’s the matter?” I asked as she walked up to the table. Billy was going to talk to her this morning, so I was pretty sure that’s what she was upset about.

But I was only half right.

“Why didn’t you tell me Billy isn’t coming to New York this summer?” she asked loudly enough that everyone in my family stopped talking and looked at her, then turned their attention to me like they wanted to hear my response.

I didn’t like being in the spotlight, especially since I had no clue how to respond. The only way Sophie would know that I knew was if Billy told her he’d told me he wasn’t going, and I couldn’t imagine why he would do that.

“You’re upset,” I said.

“Yeah.” But Sophie looked more mad than upset.

“Catfight,” said Amanda.

“Amanda!” Aunt Lilly said her name like she had no place in the conversation.

“Why don’t you tell me what happened?” I said.

Everyone looked at Sophie as she started to talk.

“You should know,” she snapped. When I didn’t respond, Sophie kept going. “Billy told me he’s not coming to New York this summer. When I asked him why he hadn’t told me, he said he didn’t want to upset me during finals.”

Emma cleared her throat like she was purposely interrupting Sophie. “Why don’t you and April take this outside.”

Sophie ignored her mother’s suggestion and continued to talk to me as if I was the only person in the room. “Billy should have told me sooner, but he didn’t. I asked him if he’d talked to anyone else about it and he told me he didn’t want to lie and that he’d talked to you. I get that he didn’t want to upset me. But what I don’t get is why you didn’t tell me. You’re supposed to be my best friend!”

“April, I agree with Emma,” said Mom. “You girls need to discuss this privately.”

“Stay,” said Harry. “I’m enjoying it.” He positioned himself in front of the door like he wanted to prevent us from leaving.

“Harry, not another word!” warned Aunt Lilly.

“Is April in trouble?” asked Charlotte.

“Is Sophie?” said Izzy.

No one answered their questions. Everyone sat there, quietly looking at me like it was my turn to respond. “It wasn’t my news to tell,” I said to Sophie.

Her hands were on her hips as she faced me. “I get that. But it would have been nice if you’d given me a warning or something.”

I crossed my arms across my chest and faced Sophie head on. It was unfair she was accusing me of something that wasn’t true. “I tried,” I said. I reminded her what I’d said the day we studied bio together. “I told you Billy was already signed up for camp and I asked if you thought he would really change his plans.”

“We should eat,” said Mom. “Sophie and Emma have a plane to catch.” She handed a plate to Sophie and one to me and pointed us both to the buffet Dad had set up.

So we ate. It wasn’t like we had a choice. But Sophie and I didn’t say another word to each other the entire lunch. When it was over, Emma and Sophie said their good-byes before they left with Uncle Drew to go to the airport in Mobile.

Sophie and I hugged. But it was stiff and awkward and not at all how I’d imagined our last day together would be.

When I got home, I made two phone calls. The first one was to yell at Billy. The second was to Leo to tell him what happened. “It was so weird. I’ve been dreading her leaving for such a long time because I thought it would be so sad. I never imagined we’d end up in our first big fight on her last day here.”

I waited for Leo to respond. I thought he might say something honest, like, “That’s awful that you had a fight on her last day.” Or something reassuring. Or even something scientific yet entertaining, like telling me the average number of fights best friends get in. I knew whatever he said would make me feel better.

But all he said was, “Yeah, I get it.”

Honestly, it didn’t seem like he got it at all.