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camera crew in the center of them.
    The very thought of a celebration was distasteful. Had everyone in the neighborhood forgotten what today was? Or had they already forgotten about Byron, so it didn’t matter to them that today was his birthday?
    My mom gave me a look that asked me to at least act like I was happy. So, for her sake, I did. I acted surprised and overwhelmed by the outpouring of love shown by our fellow neighbors. I humbly gushed to the reporter about how surprised I was by all of this. How I never dared even dreamed of being fast-tracked. The only time I stumbled was when the reporter asked me if there was anyone I wanted to send a message to. I got choked up. I wanted to tell Byron that I would never forget him, but all I could get out was his name.
    Luckily my mom was nearby and jumped in explaining that my best friend had already left for his training and couldn’t be here today, but our thoughts were with him.
    I disappeared from the party the first chance I had. Unfortunately, that chance didn’t come until it was late at night. I said goodnight to my parents and headed up to my room to pack the few personal items I was allowed. I looked at my small carry-on full of mementos. It was hard to believe the sum of all my memories fit into such a small, sad bag.

 
    Chapter 5
     
    Thanks to a sleeping pill from my mother I had a restful, dreamless sleep and was ready to go early the next morning. Breakfast was painfully quiet. No one knew exactly what to say. I could tell my parents wanted to be excited and thrilled for me. But my vacant expression told them everything they needed to know: that I was too filled with pain to even feign excitement. I scraped most of my cereal into the disposal and said a quick goodbye to my dad. He wished me luck and hurried to the tram. He had stayed later than normal just so he could see me off. Soon after, I headed to the tram with my mom.
    She rode with me all the way to the air-tram station, putting on a brave show instead of a sappy, tear-filled one that would have more accurately reflected how she was really feeling. She said her goodbye to me at the gate. I tried to smile for her, but the rest of my face betrayed my sadness. I promised to call often, and headed to the air-tram.
    Leaving home had been made easy for me. Sure, I’d miss my mom and dad, but they really didn’t understand what I was going through. It was easier for them to think that my feelings were no more than a crush, because at lease then I had a chance of rebounding.
    Everything at home reminded me of Byron, from the worn green couch where my mom first caught us kissing, to the rock that jutted out of the grass next to our porch steps. When I was little I tripped and fell on that rock, slicing a deep cut in my chin. Byron sent Camille to get my mom while he used his sweatshirt to stop the blood. The entire time he held my hand and told me over and over again that it would be okay. If you looked closely you could still see a faint scar along my jaw line.
     
     
    Admittedly, I was nervous riding an air-tram for the first time. I didn’t know anyone who had ever ridden in one, and had no idea what to expect. My mom had looked up some tips on her tablet. Supposedly chewing gum made take off and landing easier. I didn’t know exactly how that worked, but the moment I sat down I popped a piece in my mouth.
    I looked around to see what everyone else was doing, but the area the attendant had seated me in was empty, even though there were eight seats total, four on each side of the aisle, facing each other. I leaned back in my chair and discovered that it reclined. A footrest flipped out, just like my dad’s sofa chair – but this was so much more comfortable. Looking around I found two pairs of retractable ear buds, still wrapped in plastic. One was labeled Movie , while the other one was for music. I popped the music buds into my ears and found a song I liked. Closing my eyes I leaned back and did my