It was Saturday. You were in your usual hiding place, the local library, copying 10th century erotic riddles into a spiral notebook. Outside it was a blistering 92 degrees Fahrenheit. Most other kids your age were at the beach or in their own private pools, sipping cold smoothies. You didn't much care for water. The library was quiet, air conditioned and filled with the only small relief you've found in your thus far tepid life: books.

You plan on spending the rest of your summer here. You'd camp out here if you could, but apparently there's some insurance thing that prevents them from letting people stay overnight. Not that your parents would approve, of course, but you think they've given up somewhat on trying to "normalize" you since the camping trip fiasco last summer. The less said of that, the better.

This summer, they've decided to leave you alone. They're focusing all their energies on your sister instead, the golden child, the "prodigy"--with a now not-so-secret adderall addiction. You sympathize. And you are perfectly content to spend your summer in the private company of your books.

Unfortunately, destiny has other plans. Your scholarly efforts are interrupted by a young woman:

>A friend of your sister's
>One of the librarians, a volunteer
>A complete stranger
>Write-in