And it’s so easy to feel badass with the headphones on, with the bass up. Agnes rocks her wrists to keep from dancing.

“I’m not afraid of the dark!” she exulted to Diego, earlier.

“No?”

“I got my black belt, D,” she said. “My black belt.”

He laughed. “You’re that much better than you were last week?”

“I gotta go. The police want me to register my hands.”

Agnes bops the shadows between streetlights, looking down all the alleys. This new and easy confidence. Sneaker Pimps and her hoodie.

You want some of this, she thinks.

Are you talking to me!