Page 171 of Johnny

dunno. I was in a weird place, I guess. Which brings me to this story, but if it’s gonna make you hate

me, then I won’t tell it.”

She sucks in a deep breath and then lets it out all dramatic and shit. “OK, then. Go ahead.”

I close my eyes and smile. “OK, so when I was a kid it was pretty cool for a long time. I had a

pretty great childhood, actually. I mean, if you take out the fact that my mother went missing before I

was old enough to go to school, then I can’t complain about the early days.”

She frowns at me. And I can’t tell if that frown is because she can relate or because she can’t.

“My brothers were always there,” I continue. “And we’re so close in age. Just one year apart. So

when I was like nine and Joey and Jesse were eight and seven, we had this little… I dunno. Imaginary

world going on in our building. I explained the building, right? The high-rise where I grew up?”

“You mentioned it.”

“It’s not an apartment building. It’s an office building. Seventy-five stories tall and we all lived on

the top five floors. So it was huge. Like… I’m talking mega-mansion, castle-like huge where you

could actually get lost three or four times in one afternoon of playing.”

She smiles, her eyes fluorescent blue now because the waves have picked up, and the yacht is

rolling with it, and that has the plankton crashing around down below all excited beyond belief.

“So this world we lived in. The imaginary one? Like, I’m not even sure who made it up first, or

which of our minds it came from, or how it got to be so complicated, but we were space pirates. Like

a cross between Luke Skywalker and Captain Hook, ya know? We had costumes and everything.

Some maid or nanny must’ve made them for us. I’m sorry I don’t remember her name. It looks bad that

I don’t remember, and I should just make something up so you don’t start thinking of me as a bratty

trust-fund kid. But I get the feeling you’re looking for honesty right now, so I’m trying to be honest.”

“I’m not judging,” she says, crossing her heart with her finger.

I hold my breath for a moment because I really want to kiss her. It’s just… not yet. “We had laws,

and legions of imaginary friends, and we had all these battles in the various stairwells, and rooms,

and hallways. I think we drove our father crazy back then with all our imaginary play. Because one

day he took me up into his office and said I had to stop. I was too old to play those games anymore. I

had to stop living inside my head and be part of the real world. And Joey and Jesse were still kids so

they could play, but I had to grow up.”

Megan crinkles her nose at me. “That’s not fair. You were only a year older.”