“That smells concerning,” Stella said, dropping her bag by the door.
“It’s fine.”
“It’s smoking.”
Tyler looked at the pan. The eggs—which from the smell he’d decided needed garlic, and maybe some of that cheese in the back of the fridge—had formed a crust on the bottom that was definitely not appealing.
“I did everything right,” he said.
“Did you though?”
“Mostly.”
Stella peered into the pan. “What is that? On top?”
“Cheese.”
“That’s not cheese. Not anymore.”
“It was cheese adjacent when I started.”
Stella opened the fridge and surveyed the contents. “There’s nothing in here but expired yogurt and something in a container I’m afraid to open.”
She closed the fridge. “Pizza?”
“Pizza.”
This had become their thing—when cooking failed, which was often, they defaulted to go to either Rocky’s on Pacific Coast Highway or pizza. Tonight, it would be a large pepperoni at the place on the corner where they had a regular booth.
And when they arrived, it was available. Small mercies.
“So,” Stella said, attacking her slice. “Mr. Reeves asked about you today.”
Tyler’s slice paused halfway to his mouth. “What?”
“He remembered you.” She pulled a string of cheese free. “Said you had a good eye, back in the day. Asked if you’d come talk to his advanced class sometime. About documentary photography.”
Tyler didn’t know what to do with that. Mr. Reeves—the teacher with the mug that said I TEACH ART. WHAT’S YOUR SUPERPOWER?—remembered him. Wanted him to come back. Not to apologize for being a terrible student, but to share what he’d learned.
“He said that?”
“Yep.” Stella raised an eyebrow. “You going to go?”
“I don’t know. Maybe.” Tyler took a bite to buy time. “It’s been a while since I’ve been in a classroom.”
“You were in a classroom, not long ago. With me.”
“That was different.”
“How?”
He didn’t have a good answer. “It just was.”
Stella let it go, but he could feel her watching him. She’d gotten good at that—noticing when he was dodging something.
“Speaking of school,” she said. “That folder’s been on the counter for days.”
Tyler looked at his pizza.
