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Hollis texted the group chat about the situation. Annie got back to him quickly with a bunch of frowny faces, but Yulia didn’t respond.

It was still so early in the day. Lunch was already over, but school wouldn’t be out for a full three hours.

Hollis started walking home.

Take us to the train tracks.

Now?

You said you would.

Hollis shook their head and changed direction. The woods around their town was different depending on what side you went to. The trees were big and close together by the abandoned houses. They formed a canopy above your head that got so dark it almost looked like nighttime during the day. The forest by the train tracks was the exact opposite. The trees were thinner, lighter, the sun filtered through the leaves, bathing the wood in a calm green light. People hiked around here. No one hiked at the other side of town.

How long did you do this before we met?

Five years. I’m not the only one in my family who did. My mom’s brother did it too.

Did he teach you or something? I should kick his ass.

Hollis laughed.

No, no. My ma just told us about it. He’s dead now, so I guess you’ll get your chance at that sometime. She told us about it, and then when I had a hard day, I got desperate enough to want to figure out if it would help.

You must have been twelve, maybe thirteen. You were just a little kid....

Hollis shrugged one shoulder. Walt had their other arm, and he was using it to trail their fingers across the plants and pull leaves off every so often.

They sat down on the embankment by the tracks; Walt tucked Hollis’s shoulder bag beneath them so they wouldn’t get wet.

There should be a fence here. People shouldn’t be allowed to get this close.

There should be a lot of things that we don’t have in this town.