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no idea how scratchy she was. She always knew when he was scratchy, always. Bobby called to him, and he lifted his hand to wave.
    Hazel’s eyes narrowed. “How can you be friends with them?” she asked.
    Jack blinked. “What do you mean?”
    She lifted her hand to wipe snow from her forehead. “Bobby and Tyler. They’re jerks. They’re mean to me. I’m your best friend.”
    “Whatever! They’re idiots, Hazel. You shouldn’t listen to them.”
    “But you’re friends with them.”
    Jack just stared at her, like he did not see the contradiction, like he could not even fathom what it was.
    “Why don’t you just go hang out with them today then,” Hazel said, crossing her arms.
    “What’s with you?”
    “Nothing.”
    “Okay, fine,” Jack said, looking at her like she had a mental disorder. He stared at her a moment, and then turned to walk toward the boys.
    Hazel stood, the pelletlike snow falling around her, and then, so quickly it was like she had superpowers, she bent down and packed a snowball and hurled it at him.
    It hit his back. He whirled around. “What the—”
    And then it was Hazel’s turn to walk away, leaving Jack standing there in the snow.
    It took three steps for the remorse to hit her. One. Two. Three. She stopped. She was about to turn around, to open her mouth and see if any of the right words would come out, when she heard a yelp from Jack. She turned. He was bent over, clutching his left eye. “Ow!” he yelled. “Ow!” His voice cracked into the sky. His other hand flew to his chest, and he fell to his knees. Mrs. Jacobs and Mr. Williams were there next to him in a flash.
    “What is it? What happened?”
    But Jack just gargled something into the air and rocked back and forth, clutching his eye.
    A crowd gathered around him as the teachers looked at each other, bewildered. Hazel stared, helplessly, as Mr. Williams lifted Jack up onto his feet and began to help him inside while Jack clutched at his face and groaned. Hazel started to follow, but Mrs. Jacobs stopped her. And so she stood and watched as Mr. Williams led Jack away, because there was nothing at all she could do.

Chapter Four
Pieces
    I n a flash, the fifth graders of Lovelace Elementary were crowded around Hazel.
    “What happened?”
    “Did his eye fall out?”
    “Is he going to be blind?”
    It was the first time they’d ever wanted to hear what she had to say. But for once she had no story to tell.
    There are things you do not notice until they are gone. Like the certainty that your body is a single whole, that there’s something keeping you from breaking into pieces and scattering with the winds. Now Hazel could feel pieces of her threatening to break off, and she was no longer sure her feet would stay attached to the ground.
    Jack was hurt. She felt it as if it had happened to her. She would have preferred that it had happened to her, because then she wouldn’t be standing here, helpless, with the entire fifth grade looking to her. Hazel could fight anything—dragons, wicked witches, evil baseball-playing supervillains, but she needed Jack beside her. He was supposed to be beside her.
    She looked around at the other kids. The girls huddled up, whispering and pointing. The boys shuffled around and did not look anyone in the eye.
    Except for two of them. Bobby and Tyler were both shooting her nasty looks. Hazel met their eyes and scowled at them. They scowled back.
    Mrs. Jacobs put her hand on Hazel’s back and whispered, “He’ll be all right.”
    Hazel turned to look up at her teacher, trying to discern whether she meant I have actual knowledge that I am imparting to you about Jack’s condition or I have no idea whether he’ll be okay but since I am a grown-up I think pretending I do is somehow comforting to you.
    Then the bell rang, and Mrs. Jacobs motioned everyone into the building. Hazel looked at the spot where Jack had been, but there was nothing there except the impression his legs left in the