Summer’s hot. The news tells Caleb that people are dying of it, in some city up north.

He starts smoking again, ostensibly to help him adjust to the night shift. Nicotine and Cheetos. Stocking boxes bulks up his shoulders, and the hours tire out his eyes.

Caleb’s not stupid: he knows why he and Chyler fell out. He knows the first move is his if it’s anyone’s, but he doesn’t know her address and email won’t cut it.

In September he needs an umbrella: only two weeks until the start of the semester. He visits Renee and, leaving, buys a book.