"You're what? What are you?"

She smiled. "I'm tired."

"You slept for three hours this afternoon."

"Callum." She shook her head.

"Sorry." I turned away, but noticed my father watching us from across the table.

Tatum wiped her mouth and asked Everly, "So you go to school with Callum?"

I tried to kill her with my eyes.

"We met at Cornell. Yeah."

Amelia snorted. "Aren't you a little young for Cornell?"

Tatum added, "Yeah are you like a prodigy or some . . . thing?"

Everly glanced between them. Tatum smiled at her.

"I started college when I was thirteen. So yeah, I guess I'm some . . . thing like that."

Tatum laughed quietly to herself. Amelia and Noelle gaped.

"You started med school at thirteen?" Noelle asked. She looked at our dad. "Is that even possible?"

I interrupted. "She can even spell amnesia. How incredible is that?"

Tatum laughed harder, shaking her head at me. "We're just screwing with you."

"But Callum and I do go to school together," Everly added.

"Why would you go to school with Callum if you're not a student?" Noelle asked.

Everly looked at me, but I didn't say anything. Finally she answered, "I'm a subject."

Amelia's turn. "Why would he be studying you? Are you like . . . sick or something?"

Tatum looked at me. "She's something. Isn't that right Callum?"

"Definitely a something." I glanced to Everly expecting her smile, but she looked like I had slapped her in the face, and I didn't have time to recover before Amelia spoke again.

"Well that makes more sense. You're studying a sick girl and brought her home to your fancy beach house for July Fourth Weekend. You're just a little Make-a-Wish foundation, these days, Callum. So noble."

"Shut the fuck up, Amelia."

"No," Everly said, "it's fine. Go ahead, Amelia. I'm not afraid of the truth. Go ahead."

"That's what the look is for, Peach?" I asked. "You're pissed off at me? We were just joking."

Amelia said, "So what do you have? Cancer?"

Everly ignored me. "I'm not allowed to say. I'm part of a differential."

"They have to diagnose her," my father explained, lifting his glass to his lips. "Good luck with that."

And then Marta inserted her two cents. "I don't understand. Why wouldn't you just tell us that she was part of your class assignment?"

"Yes Callum," Everly said. "Why not just tell them?"

"You're honestly angry with me?" I laughed disbelieving the turn this had taken. "Angry that I didn't tell a table full of people about your private medical history?"

"You can't tell them my history because you don't even know my history. But you do know that I'm not a prodigy, and I'm sorry, but yeah, I'm going to get upset about you snickering back and forth with your friend about me as if I'm a joke sitting here."

"He wasn't . . ." Tatum began to explain but I cut her off.