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Zack, tearing a bite from his garlic bread, said, “So I haven’t told you the best part about my summer.” Braden had a grin on his baby face that emphasized the depth of his dimples, so I knew this story wasn’t new to him. “Did I tell you my mom had a garage sale?”

“No.” As soon as he said it, I thought I should’ve done some of my clothes hunting at some of those with my grandma, too, instead of just thrift stores. Maybe next time.

“Yeah. She got a bug up her ass to ‘declutter,’ and she made me help. She told me she’d pay me, so I did.

” He took a bite of a ravioli and I noticed he didn’t wrinkle his nose like it was the most disgusting thing he’d ever eaten.

I would have asked him how it tasted, but I could see the excitement in his eyes.

“We have this old Victorian house. Three stories. I’ve lived there my whole life.

” He cracked open the can of soda he’d brought with him, but he kept talking before he could actually take a sip.

“So there are tons of rooms, plus a basement, an attic, and a garage—and we have shit everywhere, and mom said she was tired of looking at it. So we’d clean out a room, put price tags on stuff, and then drag it out to the garage before tackling another room.

“And she was right. There’s a lot of useless shit.

“But when we got to the basement, mom asked me to do a lot down there. She’s not really girlie, but she’s still freaked out by spiders, so she promised to pay me double if I did most of the work down there. And guess what I found?”

I hadn’t eaten a bite since he’d begun his story. “I have no idea.”

“You’re not even gonna try to guess?”

My imagination wasn’t cooperating, so I just said the first thing that came to mind. “A treasure chest.”

“Practically.” Then he held up his hands as if willing me to picture his discovery. “I found an electric guitar.”

“Cool.” With my newfound interest in music, I was intrigued and still hadn’t eaten a bite.

“I spent a lot of the summer learning how to play it.”

“Seriously?”

“Yeah. You can find anything on YouTube, and I found a bunch of guitar lessons.”

“Will you play for us sometime?”

“Hell, yeah. I just want to get better first.”

Stabbing my fork into the salad, I finally took a bite. Braden asked, “Are you gonna tell her the rest? You know, about your dad?”

It was as if the shadow of a cloud drifted over Zack’s face, and I guessed it was something he didn’t want to talk about.

Braden chewed on some garlic bread, oblivious to the quandary he’d put his friend in.

If Zack chose not to tell me, he might look like an asshole but, if he told me, he might be sharing something with me he wasn’t ready to.

I wanted to relieve the pressure. “It’s okay. I don’t need to know.”

“Nah. It’s no big deal.” He took another swig of his drink, his words almost convincing.

“My mom didn’t want to give me the guitar at first. It was weird.

I told her I’d pay for it out of what I was earning and she just freaked out.

I’ve never seen her act like that before.

And it pissed me off, because it’s a sweet guitar.

A Schecter.” I had no idea what that was, but I nodded.

“Anyway, that night at dinner, she told me a bunch of shit that freaked me out.”

“What?”

He frowned, staring at his half-empty plate.

“I don’t know if I should even believe it, but she said the guitar belonged to my dad.

” Now, from what little Zack and I had talked about family, I knew his dad wasn’t in the picture.

That was one of those things we had in common, making it easier for us to relate to each other in the beginning.

“That was why she wanted to get rid of it, because she hates his guts and thought she’d gotten rid of everything of his.

” He picked up his bread again. “Except for me, of course.”

It made me wonder if my mom had anything at our house that belonged to my dad—and I was considering asking her at some point.

“But here’s the weirdest part of all. You ready?” I nodded. “She said my dad was a rock star.”

Now I was all in. “What? You’re kidding.”

“That’s what she said. So I asked her who—and she told me she’ll take that information with her to the grave.”

I examined his face, looking for something familiar, but I hadn’t been following rock stars long enough to be able to recognize their facial features, especially looking for something in someone else.

Noticing my intense scrutiny, Zack grinned.

“There’s nothin’ to see, Dani. I thought about it all summer, and I’m pretty sure she’s full of shit.

If I had a famous dad, she would have said something before.

I mean, think about it. Why wouldn’t she have gotten child support? She could have made bank.”

I gave it some thought. “Maybe she didn’t want the publicity. Maybe he was married or something.”

“Yeah, but that’s on him. And you don’t know my mom. Trust me. That’s not like her. She’s pretty obnoxious about other stuff.”

“What if she wasn’t like that back then?”

Braden laughed. “That’s what I said.”

Zack shook his head and finished off the raviolis on his plate.

For a few minutes, we were silent, simply focusing on food, and I decided to talk about our classes so far, but I noticed Ava was looking for a place to sit.

Part of me hoped she’d join us, because on one level, I’d missed her.

I appreciated my freedom but wasn’t quite sure what to do with it.

Fortunately, the two friends I was sharing a meal with wouldn’t let me down.

“You wanna know what I think?” Zack asked.

I nodded, eager. Braden did, too, but he might have also heard this before.

“My mom’s worked for the Department of Corrections for a long time—and I’ve heard stories about her job all my life.

There’s a lot of skeezy things that happen there, and it’s not always the inmates doing them.

But mom’s never wanted to talk about who my dad is and I always wondered why.

When I was younger, I was desperate to know about him.

Look at Braden here. Yeah, his dad’s an asshole, but at least he’s got one.

” Braden’s mouth was screwed up in a ball, like he’d trade places with Zack any day of the week.

“Sorry, bro. We’ve had this discussion before.

But my mom always blew me off and sometimes got mad when I asked, so I finally quit asking.

I even asked my grandpa, and he said that was something my mom said she’d never share.

“So why would someone hide that information from someone else who might need that information?” Zack continued.

“Like if my dad had some genetic defect he passed on to me. Like I said, I finally quit asking, but I didn’t stop wondering.

And then one day it all came clear. I figured out why she would keep it a secret.

” He lowered his voice, leaning over the table so no one could overhear. “She must have had sex with an inmate.”

Now that I too was leaning close to Zack, Ava was the farthest thing from my mind, even as she sat at the table behind ours. “Do you really think so?”

“It’s the only explanation that makes sense. Why else would she be so afraid of talking about it, of someone finding out? Having a rock star’s baby would be like badge of honor. Yeah, I fucked Johnny Church and I have the baby to prove it. ”

But my mind raced, trying to think of all the reasons a woman might not want to divulge that information. “What if she was raped?”

“By an inmate?”

“Yeah, or even someone else. I don’t think I’d want to tell my kid his dad was a rapist.”

“Maybe…” But Zack didn’t sound convinced. “But I like my theory better. It just fits. Trust me here. I can’t imagine my mom getting raped.” My expression must have communicated my thoughts that it was possible. “She’s tough, Dani. You’ll have to meet her sometime.”

“Yeah,” Braden added. “She’s a character.”

“She is, huh?” Zack placed his palms on the tabletop and letting out a long breath. “You guys ready to head out or do you need a few more minutes?”

I hadn’t eaten everything on my plate but I wasn’t hungry. Noticing Ava just behind Zack’s head had jolted me, and I no longer had an appetite. In fact, I wanted to get the hell out of there right this moment.

As we made our way back into the heart of the school, I asked, “So can I talk you into recording yourself playing the guitar for me so I can watch you?”

“Too bad you couldn’t come to my house after school.”

I snorted. “If my mom had to drive to Dalton to pick me up, she’d kill me. She doesn’t go to work till around nine, so I’d be interrupting her sleep.”

“Tell you what. I’ll bring my guitar tomorrow. It’s not the same without an amp, but you’ll get the idea.”

Remember how I’d mused about how sometimes a pivotal moment in your life comes along and you don’t know it was like that until you look back years later?

That next day would be another one of those moments but, as I walked down the hall with my two new best friends after lunch, I had no idea it was coming.