Twenty minutes after his alarm went off, Nolan finally pulled himself out of bed. He stepped across his bare carpet, to where his phone was plugged into the wall. He pulled up Spotify, selected the Switchfoot radio, and pressed Play.

As he yanked open his bureau and grabbed a shirt, a Danny Gokey song streamed softly from the speakers. "Have you been praying, and you still have no answers?"

He tossed the shirt over his head. When Willow first suggested listening to Christian music in the morning, he'd been skeptical. But, she was right. It didn't work all the time, but it was a start.

He grabbed his schoolbooks and notebooks from his desk, still laid out from a late night doing homework. He zipped up his backpack once he was sure he had everything.

"You're closer than you think you are...only moments from the break of dawn..."

Next: brushing his teeth. He tossed his backpack onto his bed, cranked the music, and raced into the hall. As he flicked on the bathroom light and snatched his toothbrush, Caleb said, voice distant, "He's up!"

"He better be."

Nolan rolled his eyes and doused his toothbrush with toothpaste.

Teeth brushed, hair dealt with, he rushed back into his room. He was just about to grab his backpack when he remembered.

He lifted his mattress and grabbed his Good Things list. It had grown a lot since he first jotted down Greg, Caleb, video games, cereal, and pizza. Now, the page was almost full. He only added to it when he was in a bad space, but he did try to scan it every day. To remind himself.

"Dude."

He tucked the list back under the bed. "I'm coming," he said.

Greg grabbed his phone and switched off the music as Nolan hauled his backpack over his shoulder.

"You need to disable your snooze button."

"School just needs to start later."

"Uh-huh."

Nolan led the way into the kitchen, where Caleb was ready to go, Spiderman backpack on his shoulders. He held out a baggie of dry Cheerios.

"Changing it up?" Nolan asked, accepting the bag.

"It's good for the heart," Caleb said.

He grinned and tore open the bag. "Thanks."

✝

He found Andy and Max in their usual spot—on a bench in the hallway, digging into the snacks and drinks they'd raided from the vending machine. As Nolan dropped next to Andy, Andy handed him a package of peanut butter crackers.

"Thanks."

"Riley says hi," Max said.

"Actually, she said, 'Tell No-No I say hi and I miss him very much!"

Nolan bit into a cracker. "Tell her I say hi."

"You could tell her yourself."

He shrugged at Andy's suggestion. Andy knew he wasn't going to church because he and Nora weren't speaking anymore, but he didn't know why they weren't talking. As a result, he constantly hinted—and sometimes didn't even bother to hint—that Nolan and Nora should actually talk to one another.

He finished the cracker and moved on to the next. He did miss Sunday mornings with his friends. And Riley, with her boisterousness. But while he'd allowed himself to hang out with Andy and Max when Nora wasn't present, he couldn't do church.

Nolan had just finished wadding the empty cracker wrapper in his hand when the warning bell rang. The three boys sauntered down the hall, talking and chuckling. Nolan joined in, despite the melancholic dread unfurling inside him. She's safe, he reminded himself. Item number six on his list. That's all that matters.

Even so, as he waved and diverted from Andy and Max, into Mrs. Truly's room, he avoided looking straight ahead, where Nora's desk weighed down on him. She'd stopped glaring at him upon the occasional eye contact, but she didn't speak to him. Didn't smile. He was just another student. And, somehow, that was worse.

He slid into his seat and scanned the walls for the first of what would be dozens of times in the next hour and twenty minutes. He'd all but memorized the words on every poster, and if he'd paid more attention, he could probably memorize the order of the books on the bookcase. But, of course, paying any attention was the problem.

He glanced at Nora's desk. He caught her mid-laugh, and a small smile pricked his lips upward. Despite the hollow ache inside him, it was nice to see her happy again.

Thank You.

Nora turned. He averted his eyes, but not quickly enough—her smile faltered.

When the final bell rang, he flinched. And as Mrs. Truly stood from her desk with a cheerful, "Morning, everyone!" he prepared himself for another hour and twenty minutes of studying the To Kill a Mockingbird quote on Mrs. Truly's desk and hoping he wouldn't be called on.

She's safe. Happier. That's all that matters.

He couldn't help another glance. Yes, that was all that mattered. But it still hurt.

✝

With snow covering his picnic table, Nolan was forced to eat inside. Except, unlike his first year in Greeley, he didn't sit alone at a booth, headphones in, the world blocked out.

"Which house are we hanging at this weekend?" Max asked as they sat down.

"Nolan's, I think." Andy took a large bite of his pizza. "Right?"

Nolan nodded and lifted his slice. Ah. The best part of lunch. Of school, really. "Warning you right now, Sam will be there," he said.

"I'm gonna beat her this time," Andy said.

"You said that last time," Max retorted.

"Well, this time I mean it."

"The more often you say it, the more depressing it gets. And it's already depressing," Max added. "You're literally racing smurfs."

About a month before, Sam had brought over a Play Station 2 game she'd found at her house and announced they'd be adding it to the rotation—as though she was actually involved in the rotation at all. Max decided to give it a try...and now it had been added to the rotation.

"Shut up," Andy said through a mouthful of pizza.

The topic switched, but Nolan lost track of the conversation as he caught sight of Nora and Erin sauntering past his table. He looked away, his insides gnawing at him, as they always did when he saw Nora and Erin sitting alone. While he hadn't asked Andy and Max to sit with him, it still felt as though he'd stolen them from her.

He nibbled at his pizza and chanced another glance.

He froze.

Nora had stopped and turned. Looking right at him.

He looked down. Up. She was still there. Is she...?

She bit her lip and stepped toward him. A hope he hadn't dared to feel in a long time flickered to life.

Then, she glanced at Andy and Max. She turned and hurried to catch up with Erin.

Nolan picked at his food. Disappointment threatened, but he couldn't help but smile. And the hope grew brighter.

✝

The slush soaked through Nolan's Converse as he walked down the sidewalk, but he barely noticed. He was too preoccupied, his thoughts constantly straying to the cafeteria, no matter how hard he tried to think about something else. And he tried—he tried, but it didn't matter. He couldn't.

She'd looked at him. Not angry, not distant, but nervous. She'd started toward his table. What had she been planning to say?

Then again...what if he'd misread everything? What if she wasn't looking at him, but at Max and Andy? What if she'd wanted to talk to them, but couldn't because he was there?

He frowned and swerved around an especially large slush-puddle. No. She was looking at him.

Right?

Harman's Hardware was getting close now. While it wasn't the most exciting job in the world, he appreciated the upcoming distraction. Craig had just started reading a new book, and would undoubtedly want to chat about it while they worked.

Nolan's phone blared, and he pulled it from his jacket pocket. Did Sam's mom forget to take Caleb home with her? He doubted it—if she forgot, Sam and Caleb would have definitely reminded—

He stopped walking, right in the middle of a pile of slush.

Nora's smiling face covered his screen.

Oh my...

It rang. And rang. And he just stood there. Staring. Fingers turned to stone.

Pick up the phone!

He blinked and pressed the Call button. "Hello?" he murmured.

"Hey."

His breath caught. Her voice was soft, uncertain, but it was hers. "Hi," he breathed.

Silence.

He shifted his weight from foot to foot, stepped out of the pile of slush. Should he wait for a reply? Start a conversation?

He opened his mouth, preparing himself to fill the silence with, well, he didn't know, but Nora spoke before he could. "I was..." She paused. "How are you?"

"Fine." He winced. "Okay. Good. You?"

"Fine, okay, good." There was amusement in her tone now, and he smiled. "I was...I was wondering if..."

"Yeah?"

"Could you come to church on Sunday?"

He blinked. "Oh, uh..."

"You don't have to," she hurried to say. "I just...I wanted...sorry, I'm such a—"

"I'll be there," he said.

"Yeah?"

"Yeah."

"Okay," she said. "I'll see you then."

"Okay."

He paused. The conversation was over, but he couldn't bring himself to say goodbye. He wanted to ask her something—anything, really—but he didn't dare.

"Okay," she said. "That was basically it, so I'll let you go." She paused. "Nolan?"

"Yeah?"

"I'm glad you're doing well."

"You too," he said.

She hung up. He held his phone in front of him, unable to look away from his call log.

Tears pricked at the edgesof his eyes, but as he wiped them away, he was smiling.