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coming home Monday night.”
    We walked in silence before I finally blurted out, “Sorry you had to see that argument.”
    “Don’t worry about it. Things get stressful toward the end of the year. Besides, Jake is choosing to be a Lobo, and that’s got to really tick off a die-hard Aggie like your dad. “
    I laughed a little. “Trust me, it does. It’s weird, but they’ve been fighting so much lately. And you know Jake—he’s normally not that kind of guy. But my dad insists that Jake stay here for the summer to help at the marina, and Jake is ready to go.”
    “To Albuquerque?”
    “Yeah. He wants to go now to get a good job, but my dad says he’ll spend most of his money on room and board. Dad also needs his help at the marina—I don’t know how we can do the summer without him.”
    “But Jake doesn’t see things that way?” Lexie said.
    “I guess not. He’s usually so cool, but lately he’s even being a jerk to me.”
    “Maybe he’s just pushing away.”
    “What do you mean?” I asked.
    “It’s probably hard for him to leave your family. I bet it’s easier for him to leave if he pushes away than if things were normal and you were really close.”
    “Huh. I never thought of it that way, but I guess it makes sense.”
    “Jake probably doesn’t even realize what he’s doing.”
    We reached her house and stood outside for a few minutes. “Maybe I should start calling you Dr. Duncan,” I said, “’cause you’d make a great shrink. How do you know all this stuff?”
    Lexie smiled. “Come on, it’s just a guess. Besides, I’m not even going to finish high school if I don’t figure out this assignment.”
    “It’s not that bad—I finished it in class. Come on, I’ll help.”
    “I was hoping you’d say that. But let’s eat dinner first. My mom made enchiladas last night but I wasn’t in the mood, so we’ve still got a ton.”
“Wow, and I was hoping you’d say something like
that—
your mom’s enchiladas are awesome.” Even a physics tutoring session on a Friday night goes down a little better with green-chile enchiladas.

6
    Gone
    With finals, school projects, Jake’s graduation, and all the end-of-year parties and activities, the next two weeks passed in a blur. The last day of school brought a deep sense of relief and the thrill of freedom. I felt like I’d just taken off a pair of ten-pound ankle weights, but as soon as I got home I could tell something was wrong. The house was just too quiet.
    I went from room to room, hoping to find my mom or Jake to celebrate my newfound freedom with a traditional last-day-of- school pineapple-berry smoothie, but no one was there. I wasn’t worried until I poked my head into Jake’s room and noticed his mattress was bare and the top of his dresser was clean. He might have been a lot of things, but no one would accuse him of excessive cleanliness, or even substandard cleanliness. I usually avoided his room, since frankly there’s not much room to walk around, but the floors were strangely absent of heaps of dirty clothes. One of his dresser drawers was open, so I reluctantly peered inside, already knowing it would be empty.
    I’d hardly let the emptiness sink in before I heard the front door and my mom’s strained voice. “Max? Max? Are you home?” She found me in Jake’s room and gave me a hug.
    Where is he?” I asked.
    “Oh, Max—I’m sorry. He and your father argued again this morning and, well—”
    “But where? Albuquerque?”
    “It was just a matter of time. School starts in August so he only had two and a half more months anyway.”
    She was trying to pretend everything was okay, but I knew Jake’s sudden departure hurt her even more than it hurt me. I wanted to somehow ease the emptiness, so I finally did the only thing I knew would cheer up my mom—I dragged out the vacuum.
    She looked so surprised that I explained, “You’ve wanted this room cleaned for the last six years, and now we’ve got the perfect