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raunchy, I thought. It wasn’t until I took a few extra steps toward the kitchen that I realized that these were live, real-time sex sounds coming from the living room sofa. It was almost like I was suffering a moment of complete disbelief so intense that it took me a regrettable extra minute to put it together. I held my breath and flung my hands over my ears.
    “Cricket?” Mom asked.
    I didn’t answer. It would be better for her to think it was a burglar. I tiptoed back out the door, wincing as it slammed shut behind me, and sat on the porch steps with my head between my knees.
    “Cricket?” Mom asked, appearing in the doorway moments later, her bathrobe wrapped tightly around her. She sat next to me, radiating a warmth I didn’t want to think about. I put my head in my hands. She ran a light hand over my back. “Honey, why are you sweating?”
    “I went for a run,” I said, and pulled away.
    “At night?”
    “Yes.”
    “That’s odd.”
    “What can I say? It’s been an odd night.”
    “Hmm. I think we should talk about this.”
    “No, we shouldn’t,” I said, shaking my head. “No need. I promise.”
    “Well, okay, if you say so,” she said, but didn’t move.
    “I need to be alone right now.”
    She sighed and stood up, pausing in front of the door. “I almost forgot. You got a message.”
    “I did?” Zack, I thought in a flash of hope, calling to explain.
    “It was Rosemary. She and Jim want to talk to you before they head back up to Boston tomorrow. She asked for you to meet them at Starbucks at nine.”
    “That’s strange,” I said.
    “I’m going to go back inside now and Brad and I are going to, um, retire to my bedroom. So you can feel perfectly comfortable coming back inside and—”
    “Got it,” I said. “I’m going to hang out here for a minute.”
    “You know, as roommates, we’re going to have to learn to, well, communicate about these things.”
    “Good night, Mom,” I said. I shut my eyes and held my breath until I heard the door shut behind her.

Ten
    I’D ALREADY DOWNED HALF MY LATTE when Rosemary and Jim spotted me, waved, and joined me at the one free table, which was really much too small for the three of us. I hadn’t slept well. I’d been so afraid of overhearing more from Mom and Brad that it was like my ears were rebelling and I’d become extra sensitive. I’d spent the night listening to the walls breathe.
    “We’ve been talking,” Rosemary said.
    “We’re looking for a number,” Jim said, rapping the table with his knuckles.
    “A number?”
    “Honey, how much do you need to live in the dorms, eat in the cafeteria, buy your books, and have some spending money?” Rosemary asked.
    “Oh. Well, I’m not sure.” I gripped my latte. Were they offering what I thought they were? Did they have any idea how much money it would be? My parents and I had been over it a hundred times, and it was a lot more than any of us would’ve imagined. “It’s a lot.”
    “This is no time to be shy,” Jim said. He took a heavy gold pen from his shirt pocket and offered it to me along with a Starbucks napkin.
    “Okay.” I smoothed out the napkin. “The dorms are eight thousand.” I drew an eight. “The meal plan is four.” I added a four. “And anticipated student fees are two.” I totaled it, writing fourteen thousand and turned the number to face them. “It’s so much, it’s really insane. I don’t know how—”
    “Let’s add some spending money,” Rosemary said. She crossed out my fourteen thousand and wrote sixteen thousand . She smiled. “A girl can’t live on bread and lacrosse alone.”
    Jim peered down his nose through his glasses and studied the number. He rapped the table again. “Your father is a wonderful man. And he’s done a world of good for Polly and the boy.”
    “Yes,” I said.
    “Now, I’m a businessman, a self-made businessman.”
    “His mother worked in the Necco Wafer factory,” Rosemary said, patting his arm. “And