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twenty-five. School zone, twenty. Driver on the left has the right of way. Never—”
    “What are you doing?” I said through the screen. “Who you talking to?”
    Stella turned to look at my window, then moved out into the street. Now all I could hear was mumbling.
    I slipped off my bunk.
    Streak was sleeping on the floor. “Rise and shine, you lazy dog. Go out and pee.”

    She slapped her tail on the floor but made no move to get up.
    “It’s your bladder,” I said, and went into the house. Mom, who sold jewelry at Macy’s in Honolulu, had already left for work. But Darci was finishing up a toasted bagel in the kitchen.
    “What’s with Stella?” I asked. “She’s outside talking to herself.”
    “She’s practicing.”
    “For what?”
    “Did you forget? She’s getting her driver’s license today. Clarence is taking her.”
    Right! Driving test day.
    Darci brushed the crumbs off her hands. “I’m going to Reena’s house.”
    She left.
    I gulped down a bowl of cereal and peeked in on Streak to see if she was ready to get up.
    Nope. “You’re worse than Julio, you know that?”
    Streak looked up at me and slapped her tail on the floor.
    I nudged her with my foot. “Come on, Streak. I can’t just leave you inside.” I wanted to go outside to see what Stella was doing.

    Streak stretched and followed me out of the garage.
    No Stella. Where was—
    “What the—”
    Stella was sitting in my rowboat, which was pulled up into the swamp grass down by the water. She held the booklet loosely over the side and stared out at the slow-moving river.
    I followed Streak down the sloping yard.
    “You can sit in my boat,” I said. “No problem. I’ll let you.”
    Stella turned and studied me. “What do you want?”
    “What’s that booklet?”
    “Driver’s manual. What’s it to you?”
    “But you took that test a long time ago.”
    “I’m taking another one.”
    “The driving one.”
    “See? You do have a brain. Sometimes.”
    I let that go. I was still feeling bad about the Antlix, and what Stella’s mom had said to her. That was so … mean.
    I squatted to pet Streak. “Uh … you want me to quiz you?”
    When Stella didn’t answer, I stood. “Guess not.” I turned to head back up to the house.
    “Here,” she said, waving the booklet in my direction. “Just pick stuff at random.”
    Everything I asked her she got right, except for one thing.
    “Here’s a weird one,” I said. “What’s a space cushion?”
    Stella eyed me. “Is that really in there or are you making it up?”
    “No, it’s in here. Look.” I started to show her.
    She held up a hand. “Wait … it’s really in there?”
    I tapped the page. “Right here.”
    She frowned. “I can’t believe I don’t remember it. I’ve read that manual five times, cover to cover.” She closed her eyes, trying to remember. “Oh, just tell me,” she finally said. “My mind’s a blank.”
    “All you have to do to remember is think of Tito.”
    “Who?”
    She didn’t remember Tito, who’d once called her
Stel-la
and said he liked olderwomen. Never mind. “Okay, listen. Is there anyone you don’t like, like maybe someone at school?”

    “What does that have to do with what we were talking about?”
    “Well, is there?”
    She thought. “Okay, there’s these three girls. I don’t know them, and I’m not sure I want to. They give me the creeps.”
    “So what do you do when you see them?”
    “Stay away from them. So, listen, if you don’t want to quiz me just give that booklet back.”
    “There you go,” I said. “That’s how you remember what a space cushion is. Stay away. Keep your distance. Give yourself some space. This is what it says.”
    I flipped to the page and read aloud.“ ‘When a driver makes a mistake, other drivers need time to react. The only way you can be sure you have enough time to react is by leaving plenty of space between your vehicle and the vehicles around you. That space becomes a