"Hey," I said, dropping into the seat beside her and reaching out to flick at one of the gold leaves hanging from her ears.

Things were weird, for a lot of us, and had been for a while. I felt like I hadn't been hit by it as hard as everyone else, because I'd already been stripped of whatever part of myself that might've been vulnerable to the things I saw, the things I did, down there in the ash. Like I was made of mostly scar tissue, and had been, for most of my life.

Or maybe I just had it easy, skulking around in Derek's shadow and letting him do all the hard work.

But she seemed good. Looked good. I took a swig of my beer and knocked my knee gently against hers.