It surprised no one—well, except maybe me—when my mom and dad declared they were going to sell their house and move to Silverpine. I tried to tell them no, but they insisted. I didn’t want them to uproot their entire lives, but they pretty much shut that shit down by informing me thatIwas their entire life. And also their grandchicks. Apparently, Mom’s a big fan. In the meantime, they’ve made plans to visit once a week.
The door dings, and Jasper comes strolling in.
I wave at him, but it’s like he doesn’t even see me. He and Arlo seem to be locked in some weird sort of silent standoff, not breaking eye contact for a second.
“Theo,” Arlo says, voice clipped and sharp. “Your table.”
He tears out of the dining room and into the kitchen, and when I glance at Jasper, he’s standing there, shell-shocked.
For a few seconds, he stands in place, but then he slowly makes his way to his booth. As soon as he slides into it, he picks up a sugar packet and starts tearing at the packaging.
I walk over to the table, but he doesn’t even acknowledge me.
“Hey,” I say after a second, and his head shoots up, eyes landing on me. “What can I get you to drink?”
For a few seconds, all he does is stare at me, then he looks past me. “Can you get Arlo back in here, please? I need to talk to him.”
Hesitating, I sigh. “I can try.”
When I get to the kitchen, Arlo isn’t in there. “Where’s Arlo?”
Luca glances up from his phone. “He went outside. Who came in?”
“Jasper.”
Luca’s eyebrows shoot up, and the two of us exchange a glance before stepping outside through the kitchen door.
Arlo is crouching on the ground, his back pressed against the brick of the building beside the dumpsters. He’s got his elbows braced on his knees, and his fingers buried in his hair.
“Arlo?” I ask.
Luca kneels in front of him. “What’s going on?”
He doesn’t speak or look at either of us. Aside from his shoulders rising and falling harshly with each of his ragged breaths, he doesn’t even move.
“Arlo?” I try again. “What happened? Did he hurt you?” I can’t quite keep the anger out of my voice.
“He wouldn’t,” Luca says with nothing but confidence.
I don’t think so either, really, but you never know. People can surprise you, and Luca should know that better than most.
Arlo raises his head, glancing between us. “No. He didn’t hurt me.” His face twists in agony. “I can’t see him right now.”
Luca and I exchange another glance. “Why not?” Luca asks carefully.
Arlo drops his head back into his hands.
“I’ll go tell him that if he wants to eat, he’ll have to talk to me,” I say, giving Luca a look that says he should try to get more out of Arlo.
“Thank you,” Arlo whispers.
I head back into the diner, then out to Jasper’s table. He’s got three sugar packets torn to shreds. “What did you do to him?”
His head shoots up. “Nothing. I don’t know.” To my surprise, his eyes go glassy. “It’s all fucked up.” He swallows hard, his gaze darting around.
“You can tell me,” I say softly. It’s clear he’s torn up about something. “I won’t tell anyone your business.”
Jasper nods. “We got into an argument. But it wasn’t really an argument. I said something I shouldn’t have. I know that. But…I didn’t think it would turn out like this. I didn’t think he’d just stop talking to me entirely. That he wouldn’t even want toseeme.”
