Hopeless

The next morning, Sky awakens uncertain whether she and Holder will run together. When he shows up, Sky is angry. She runs faster and faster ahead of him until, as she nears her house, she collapses. Momentarily the two lie side by side in the grass. Holder quietly threads his pinky into Sky’s fingers.

It has been a month since Sky and Holder made out. Holder maintains a distance now. Sky is confused: “I know he felt it…I know he still feels it” (166).

When Brecklin gives Sky an e-reader as an early birthday present, the two hug. Sky is aware of Holder watching them with an “endearing” smile. As Sky wonders if he is jealous, “[w]aves of sadness crash against [Sky’s] core” (168).

Tomorrow will be Sky’s 18th birthday. Karen is gone again to a flea market. That night as she struggles to sleep, Sky hears something—maybe someone at her bedroom window. Holder quietly comes in and then slides into bed with her. Sky is confused: “There are parts of him I love, parts of him I hate, parts that terrify me” (171). She tries to tell him how angry she is with him, but he kisses her. He says he understands her anger but that he needs her to want him there more.