Afterward, we head back to the house, Mom and Dad in one car, me and Jasper in his ... or at least that’s where I think we’re going until we pull into the parking lot of the Stony Point Pancake Factory.
“What are we doing here?” I say, staring out at the strip mall and suddenly recognizing a host of familiar faces gathered under the restaurant’s sign. “And what are they doing here?”
Katie steps forward and waves. Behind her are Todd and Simon, as well as Aisha and Troy.
“Surprise,” Jasper says, grinning from the driver’s seat. “Your mom picked the restaurant.”
“Of course she did.” She knows I’ll eat pancakes for breakfast, lunch, and dinner.
“Congratulations, Max!” Katie says, running over and wrapping me in a best-friend hug. “How does it feel to be an adult?”
I stare at the crowd of smiling faces and scrunch a hand into my curls. “Confusing,” I say. “What’s everyone doing here?”
“Duh,” she says. “It’s your graduation party.”
“Everyone came here for me?”
I’m touched.
“It was Jasper’s idea,” she whispers conspiratorially. “Oh and don’t worry about missing my party next week,” she goes on, swinging her shoulders. “I know you have to, like, go save the world or whatever.”
“I’m sorry I’ll miss it. But we can FaceTime.”
“I’ll hold you to that.” She winks at me. “Come on, my mom’s inside getting the table.”
Everyone greets me with a warm hug—except the bro twins, who insist on doing those weirdly complicated handshakes that still always leave me puzzled—and we head inside.
“There he is!” Katie’s mom says when she spots me. She approaches with her arms open wide. Her blond hair is piled on top of her head with a few curls twisting down the sides, looking like she’s about to enter a toddler’s beauty pageant, and she’s wearing her best leopard-print blouse. “My son from another gun!”
She wraps me in a too-tight hug, and I breathe in her sweet candy-scented perfume.
“You’re all grown up, Maxie,” she says, not letting me escape her clutches that easily. Then calling across the restaurant to my mom, she bellows, “When did they get so big?”
Mom shrugs and shakes her head. Between my mom and Katie’s, Tanya has always been the brasher of the two, but we love her for it. When I’m finally released from Tanya’s cushiony embrace, we all sit down to eat. While we peruse the menu—notthat I need to, I know I’m ordering the blueberry pancakes with an extra side of crispy bacon—I notice Jasper glancing at Aisha across the table and realize they haven’t said anything to each other since we arrived. With my menu covering my face I lean closer to Jasper.
“Why don’t you speak to her?” I suggest. “Maybe apologize?”
“What’s the omelet like here?” Jasper asks, ignoring me.
To my surprise, Aisha responds. “Can you tell it’s his first time at a Pancake Factory?”
“I’ll just have eggs,” Jasper says, pushing his seat back. “Excuse me.”
He heads to the bathroom, and I smile apologetically at Aisha while Troy puts an arm around the back of her chair. She lifts her brows like she’s not surprised. But I don’t want this weird energy at my graduation party, and I don’t want to leave knowing things aren’t okay with all my favorite people. So I follow Jasp.
As the door swings shut behind me, I find Jasper leaning on the sink in the washroom, water running from the tap.
“Hey,” I say. “That was sort of rude. What’s up?”
He stares at me in the mirror, takes one big breath and shuts off the tap.
“What is it?” I move to him and rub his tensed back.
“I know it’s not fair to say this to you after I told you to go,” he starts, “but I can’t help feeling like everyone I know is leaving. First Aisha, then Dad, now you.”
“It’s not like I’m leaving forever,” I say, feeling weirdly queasy. “I’m just going to speak with the rogues then I’ll be back.”
He presses his lips together and scrunches his brow. “It doesn’t feel like that.”
