Chapter 15When Julian came home, his mother was still on the couch. Her notes were crinkled on one side, as if she had fallen asleep in the chair. He tried to be quiet as he took off his shoes, but she heard right away and went to meet him at the doorway.
“Welcome home,” she said. “I won’t say that you’re late. It’s only ten minutes. Did you have a nice walk?”
“Yeah. It was good.” Julian smiled, more than he expected.
“Who did you go with?”
“Just some kids from school. Dad didn’t say?”
She shook her head. “What kids? The girl from before or Aiden?”
“Not Aiden,” Julian said, his jaw tight. “Josie. She came by before.”
“Ah, okay. You haven’t seen Aiden in a while, though. Is everything okay?”
“It’s complicated. Why don’t you talk to his mom and she can fill you in on all the neighbor
