VANESSA FINISHED THE phone call with her mother and was idly flipping channels on the couch feeling bored and lonely, so when Emma Jane came out of her room, Vanessa was surprised and happy to see her. She flung the remote down on the couch.
"Hey! Come and sit. I'm feeling really out of sorts right now and I'd love to talk. But if you don't want to, I'll understand."
Vanessa hated how pathetically eager she sounded but couldn't help herself. Conversation with Emma Jane was on the top of the list of stuff she wanted to do for the day, followed closely by being physically close to her. She wasn't confident either of those things would happen and for the first time in years, she felt like a kid trying to break into the cool group. So when Emma Jane sat down right next to her, a flush of ex
