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so far.”
    “I thought he was going off on his own?” I ask. Her dad was a designer for a big corporation and said this layoff was the perfect excuse to start his own design firm.
    “That’s it. He’s got a few clients, he has business cards, he’s draining his unemployment buying new computers and software, but he’s not even registering his company. Mom’s always fighting with him, because having income and taking in unemployment is illegal, but fuck, we still barely have enough money to live off.” She clears her throat. “They’ve been using my money. Some of it, for groceries and rent and stuff.”
    “That’s not fair!” I shout. “You work really hard for that.”
    “I know, I know, but they kind of have a point—I’m the only one with a steady income, and they’ve taken care of me for so long, I should help a little, I guess. But Cal, I don’t even know if we have health insurance anymore.”
    “And you think you’ll be able to just up and leave them next year? How will you even save up the money if they’re taking it?”
    She sighs, long and slow. “I don’t know yet. But I’ll figure it out, even if I have to crack open my radiator and hide it in there.”
    “Don’t worry,” I say. There’s one way I can fix this situation. “I’m coming back as soon as I can. If you can just waituntil I graduate. I’ll be eighteen; there are plenty of schools up here on my list. NYU, St. John’s, Columbia—I’d need a scholarship, probably, but I think we could actually make it work.”
    “Cal, honey?” Mom joins our conversation and gestures lightly toward the car. Her face is strained, almost like she’s in pain. I know she’s sad. I know she hates the thought of leaving our home. I see the way she tenses her shoulders and grits her teeth.
    And I hate that I want to beg her to stay and keep me here. Let Dad do this on his own.
    “Are you almost ready to say goodbye?”
    “We don’t have to do this,” I say. It’s almost a whisper, and I feel Deb’s embarrassment from here. But I have to say this. “NASA’s making Dad move there. Not all of us too. It’s not fair—have you even googled Houston? It’s a cesspool.”
    “Believe me, I have. Clear Lake City is different, but it’s beautiful in a suburban way. And I think I understand it. Why they’re making everyone move to the same town where the first astronauts lived. I can’t even go on Facebook without seeing all my college friends post about them. And though I’m so sad to be leaving my hometown of forty-three years, it’s something I have to do. It’s something we have to do, for your dad.” Her feathered brown hair covers half her face. She places a palm on my shoulder and gives me a smile that never quite reaches its full potential.
    “Plus,” she adds, “with your dad’s temper, I give it a week before he gets kicked out.”
    We laugh, but once the laughter fades into awkward silence,I know it’s time. We’re one drive away from a new life. Which means I have three days and a twenty-four-hour drive to figure out how to exist in the town of astronauts.

    Outside the car, I give Deb a hug and a kiss goodbye. Both are short, and awkward, partially because of the move and partially because of my mom’s eyes lingering on us.
    “Love you,” I say.
    Deb smiles. “I know.”
    I settle into the back seat and roll down the window, savoring the last couple of minutes with my best friend. But we don’t say anything. Really, what is there to say at this point? Except, just, goodbye.
    Once we’re on the road, I busy myself by pulling up all the information I can find about the Orpheus program. Its goals, what it means for our country—outside of the entertainment factor, that is. Orpheus V will take six astronauts to Mars, where they’ll build a temporary Martian base, execute some elaborate excavation plans, and perform scientific experiments. Not long after that, Orpheus VI and VII will be on their way, bringing