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Ellie squeals, her fists clenched to her sides, and does a little jump. It’s like she gets so excited she can’t possibly containherself and this is the only way she can release energy. Where she gets all this energy from, I’d like to know. I’m sure if she could bottle it and sell it she’d be a multimillionaire.

She grips my arms and shakes me violently. “Is this like a super-secret awesome place to eat that only locals know about and it’s like a total diamond in the rough and my mind is about to be blown to a whole other level of awesomeness from hot dogs alone?!”

I blink a few times. “Uh... yes.”

Ellie does a little happy dance, then grabs me by the arm and pulls me toward the food truck. I coach her through ordering, warning her not to even mention ketchup in the presence of the uber-grumpy-but-secretly-nice owner, who is just as likely to yell at you about the sports team you support as he is to donate his kidney to help a stranger. A few minutes later we’re sitting in the sunshine at one of the picnic tables with foot-longs on pretzel buns and craft sodas.

She takes her first bite, moaning pornographically.

My chest swells with satisfaction. “Good, hey?”

With her mouth half-full, she mumbles some complimentary words, and possibly a few expletives, before swallowing her first bite. “I tell ya what, that is the best meat I’ve ever had in my mouth!”

Her proclamation is so loud that the owner behind the grill laughs.

“I would never in a million years have thought to eat at the food truck behind the Canadian Tire,” she says, wiping her mouth on a napkin. “It’s so cool you grew up here. You must know all the awesome secret places. I wish I got to grow up in a small town.”

“Chilliwack and Abbotsford are cities,” I correct.

“Dude, you have farmland in the middle of your cities. I saw a herd of cows next to a school.”

I consider this a moment, then nod. “True. But it wasn’t asgreat as you think. Actually, it kind of sucked. I wish I’d grown up in Vancouver.”

“Why? So you could share the Sky Train on your way to school with the unhoused old lady and the pet rat that lives on her shoulder?”

I blink a few times. “What?”

Ellie shrugs. “Her name was Gertie. The rat was Alfonso.” She takes another huge bite, putting an end to that story before it even begins. Then, with a full mouth, she asks, “What could have sucked so bad that you left this awesome place?”

“Maybe if I’d grown up in a bigger city, gone to a bigger school, there’d have been more kids like me. I was just... a little different. I never fit in.”

“Example?”

“I don’t know. While the other girls were going through theirMy Little Ponyphase I was super into zombies.”

“In other words, you were awesome.”

I shrug, glad she thinks so. “In grade six...” I hesitate, unsure if I should continue, never one for sharing embarrassing anecdotes. I haven’t known Ellie very long, but after only a few days I can tell that she is probably the least judgmental person on the planet. She waits patiently while I gather my courage, her big round eyes staying focused on my face. I take another breath, then try again. “You’d think that Halloween would be my time of year to shine, right? It’s supposed to be morbid and dark and creepy. Guess I missed the memo about that. First year of middle school there was a costume contest, and I was stoked. I’d been dabbling in costume makeup for a few years by then, and I had this awesome idea I wanted to try. I got up on stage with my costume I’d worked on for weeks, of a zombie with its guts spilling out, and I made a huge show of cannibalizing my own intestines since I made them out of gummy worms.”

“That’s awesome!” Ellie shouts, slapping a hand on the table.

“Yeah. No. Someone screamed, a few others cried. One kidthrew up. I was sent to see the school counsellor, who called my parents, who showed up and were absolutely mortified since they’re evangelicals and super upstanding members of the church community. I was suspended from school for a week and my parents grounded me. I wasn’t allowed to watch my ‘creepy shows’ anymore. Not that it stopped me, I still snuck them in.”

“I’m sorry.” Ellie’s shoulders slump. “Who ended up winning the contest?”

I roll my eyes. “Jessica and Brittney. One was a horse and the other a cowgirl.”

Ellie snorts. “How original.”

“Right?” Ellie’s approval is so validating. “I had been a weirdo at school before that, and I was even more of a weirdo after. I kept to myself.” Ellie’s eyes turn pitying, which sours my stomach. “Anyway,” I say, eager to change the subject. I haven’t talked about myself for so long since... ever. And now I’m feeling all exposed and squirmy about it. “We should figure out what to do about Jax. Are you sure you still want toHome Alonehim?”

Ellie’s already done her hot dog, whereas I’ve had maybe two bites. She wipes her face on a napkin while nodding. “Hell to the yes. Let’s teach this dirtbag a lesson.”

I get out my phone and open the Notes app. “Okay. Ideas?”

She leans forward, elbows on the table. “How about this. We blindfold him and tie him up in a field and put bird food all over him.”

“Uh... okay.” I write that down.