I licked at Tonio’s face. Bad brain, I said again, now that he was looking at me. He nodded and wiped at his eyes. “I guess I was more worried about it than you were. That makes sense,” he admitted, “because I’m always worried.”
“No sweat. For real.” Devon hugged Tonio around the shoulders with one arm. “I even still have the shirt! Washed right out.” I cringed. Humans always think things have “washed out,” because they can’t smell it. I hoped his shirt was really clean. “I’m sorry you thought I was pretending.”
“I’m sorry!” Tonio insisted, and Devon laughed again.
“Okay. We’re both sorry. So we’re even.” It was such a smooth, kind gesture—I was impressed again at how good humans could be at helping each other out. Especially the kids I’d met.
As the rain relaxed to a drizzle, Tonio said, “I brought my cards. Could you look at my decks and see if they’re any good?”
Devon pulled out his phone and looked at the clock. “Well, I’m supposed to be protecting the world from a great darkness at four, but—” At Tonio’s confused face, he grinned. “I’m joking! Yes! Let’s blade!”
We sat in the gazebo and went through Mia’s and Tonio’s decks. Devon said he’d let them borrow some of his newer cards to help get them ready for the tournament, and Tonio took careful notes in his journal of every tip about the game Devon said in his constant flood of words.
After Devon headed home, we tried to track down Mia, but she wasn’t around. We did run into Skyler, the teenager from Roll the Ice. She was leaning back in one of the benches in the park and glaring at her own nose. Tonio turned to leave her alone, but she stopped him with a little smile. “Hey, kid! Ring, ring. What’s going on?”
“Nothing,” Tonio answered automatically.
Skyler nodded. “Cool.” She sneezed a big loud booming sneeze into her elbow, then shook her head. “I came outside to get some air, but it turns out the air is poisonous! My allergies have gone crazy since I moved here.”
I saw Tonio’s little half nod. “My mom gets them, too. Where did you move from?”
“Chicago.” She rubbed her eyes under her glasses, but pushed too hard and they fell off. She scrambled to catch them again before they hit the ground, then laughed. “Geez. I’m a mess today.”
Tonio looked down at me, and I brought my brow up to show I was paying attention. Skyler seemed different from last time. Tired, at least, and a little bit sad. I, of course, couldn’t resist finding out why someone was mysteriously sad, and it seemed like Tonio was feeling a little brave, too. Or maybe he just liked Skyler too much to ignore it.
“Are you okay?” he asked, sitting down on the bench next to her and scooting back to look up through his curls.
“I think so. Just one of those days where everything feels like …” She held her hands on either side of her head and vibrated them. “Too much. Adult stuff.” Skyler had told him that she had bad anxiety, too, sometimes—I knew Tonio remembered—and that meant helping her was part of my job! I hopped up onto the bench on her other side and rested my head in her lap. She petted my head slowly and carefully.
“I have days like that, too.” Tonio sounded a little defensive. “It’s not just adult stuff.”
Skyler laughed, not unkindly, and sneezed again. “What are those days like, for you?”
Tonio considered her question seriously before he answered. “It’s like something in my stomach grabs my throat and shakes it, so I feel sick but also like I might choke.” I was surprised he answered so genuinely—he really trusted Skyler, and I understood why. She talked to him like a person, without any fake layers. Like someone who cared about what he had to say. “Or sometimes it feels like my brain has a thunderstorm inside of it. Like everything’s buzzing, and sometimes there’s a big, sharp lightning-bolt thought that’s really bad.”
“Wow.” Skyler rubbed her hands together, clenching and unclenching. “You’re right. Not just adult stuff.” She looked up at the clouds, finally moving away from Bellville’s sun. “I think I’m having a thunderstorm day. Any advice?”
“I dunno.” Tonio looked down at me. “Maybe get a dog?”
Skyler grinned. “This little guy working out for you?”
“Yeah. He’s helping a lot.” I twisted my tail and dipped my nose in a little thank you.
“You guys are coming to the tournament, right?”
Tonio took a slow breath instead of answering.
“Come on! I don’t like crowds, either, and I have to organize the whole thing. If I can do it, you can.”
“It’s not that.” Tonio swung his legs back and forth on the bench, his feet only barely scraping the ground. “Well, it’s a little bit that,” he admitted. “I don’t think I’m very good at it. And all I have is a bunch of old cards. And my friend was supposed to come, but I think she’s mad at me. So if I come and she is there, which I want to happen, then that’s kind of bad. But if I go and she’s not there, that’s kind of bad, too. And she might not go because she’s avoiding me. So maybe I just shouldn’t go.”
“What about the positives?” Skyler asked.
Tonio frowned. “What do you mean?”
“You know all the bad stuff that could happen. But what’s the good stuff?”
Tonio stared at her, brows knit together. “I mean … I guess, like …”
“You spend all that time thinking about the bad stuff, but haven’t even thought about the good stuff?”
“The good stuff is obvious!”
“Well then, if it’s obvious”—She spread her hands out, an invitation
