Jesse looked around at all of them, wordlessly, and checked his phone. He turned his attention back to the couch, but did not meet the eyes of either occupant. “Where's my jacket?” Jesse asked.

“I hung it up for you. But I hope you aren't going somewhere, Jesse,” Rick said.

There was a knock at the door.

“I'm not,” Jesse said and walked to the door. Each step felt out of place and awkward with all eyes on him.

“Who is it?” his mom asked.

“Just Frederick. We're gonna catch up for a bit.” He halfheartedly flailed his hands through the many jackets hanging in the closet by the door, and quickly gave up the task. He braced himself against the chill as he opened the front door. Then he smiled. He even almost laughed. “What's up, Frederick!”

“For goodness sake, Jesse!” Rick began saying. “We need to have a serious discussion about your trajectory. Or have you just given up on botany?”

“Yep!” Jesse stepped outside and shut the door.

. . .

“Oh shit dude,” Devin said, facing Jesse from Frederick's couch, controller in hand.

Jesse could only see the back of the TV but knew Devin was playing Halo—as they always had. A controller sat alone in the spot beside him. Across the messy living room lay the disordered kitchen. A disassembled skateboard deck lay on the cluttered table. Beyond the table and out the broken screen door came the prototypical bark of a bull terrier. The house smelled like ramen. Frederick stepped into the house beside Jesse. He was carrying in two cases of Miller's Lite.

“I brought not only the alcohol,” Frederick said, “but also, out of the good nature of my heart, I rescued this long lost puppy as well.” He sat the cases on the floor and patted Jesse on the back.

“Wow, thanks for that, Fred,” Jesse said. “What's up Devin? We playing Halo or what?” Jesse's phone began vibrating with an incoming call, which he ignored.