Page 69 of All the way home

delayed again to 6:30 pm. probably not gonna make it.

Shiiiiiiiiiiiit

you might wanna take a power nap

Good idea

Or maybe I’ll bring Erik

You know, for energy osmosis

i’ll literally kill you

i’ll grab the wheel and drive us off the road

I’m going to tell him you said that

do it i’m not a coward

he knows what he is

Zach manages a halfhearted grin at his phone. No matter what Tove says, she won’t tell Erik. And she won’t bring him with her either, because it’s a basic Loren rule that trapping yourself in a car with Erik is asking for a one-way trip to insanity.

We can pull over for it if you want

maybe

Kieran is watching him.

Zach pulls a face. “What?”

“I’m trying to figure out what could possibly happen that you could’ve made at midnight but not at two thirty.” Propping his chin on one hand, he asks, “Are you a secret party animal? Is it a solstice rave?”

Zach’s laugh wobbles. With one hand, he rubs at his eyes, heaving a sigh. “It’s a meteor shower. Best seen between three and five a.m., and I live far away from the airport.”

“How long of a drive is it?”

“Two and a half hours,” Zach mutters. “Ish.”

“So . . .” Kieran’s frown is pronounced, and Zach can practically hear him doing the math.

He beats him to the punch. “If we don’t even land until twelve thirty Eastern, it’s already well after three by the time we’re back. So.”

“Between three and five, though,” Kieran says, frowning. “You’ll still see some of it, right?”

“I mean, yeah, but . . .” Zach shakes his head. “I’ll still miss the first one.”

The first meteor—that’s the one that matters. That’s the tradition. Whoever spots the first one searing across the sky will have good luck all year, which Erik first said when he was seven, and has proved remarkably true. Last year, Zach saw it. And it’s not that he actually thinks the superstition holds any weight in real life, but it’s been a constant comfort all year. It can’t go wrong. I have luck on my side.

With a bitter jolt, Zach realizes that, technically, his luck has officially run out. What a way for the universe to prove it to him.

Then again . . .

He looks up to find Kieran watching him thoughtfully.

“This is a tradition, I’m guessing?”

“I’ve never missed the Ursids,” Zach admits.