What had just happened? Will jumped out of bed and reached for his cargo shorts. He stopped before he put on his T-shirt, and stared at the full-length mirror. He’d lost some of the weight, right? Was he so hideous that she couldn’t stand to touch him? She had flown out of there as fast as if she had been a cartoon roadrunner. He threw the T-shirt on and fumbled into his sneakers. He ran down the stairs and out the front door. Luella was standing on the street, staring at her phone. “Luella!” he shouted. She looked up at him sharply. A dog barked down the street. “Lu. Sorry. Lu.” “What are you doing, Will?” “I just wanted to . . . Hey, can we talk about this? What just happened?” Lu looked suspicious. “Okay. I guess.” “Look, Lu,” he said, his voice serious. “I was thinking—” “Stop,” she said, “just stop.” Lu was smiling a weird tight-lipped smile. Will stared at her in surprise. It didn’t look like her at all. Something had changed really quickly, and Will had no idea when or how or why.
