Jane was startled when she opened her bedroom door to go downstairs and found Camilla hovering in the hallway. 

"Oh. Are you here to see Bear?" she asked. She couldn't think of any other reason Cam would be there. 

It was mid-July, a blisteringly hot day, and Jane knew Bear was having some people over to swim. He'd told his sister, and asked if she wanted to join them. Jane, of course, had said no. She had zero interest in seeing anyone who wasn't her family, and rarely left the house anymore, unless it was her weekly appointment with her psychiatrist in the city.

Camilla shook her head. Jane noticed that she'd cut her pretty brown hair into a sleek bob, which accentuated her pointed eyebrows and elfin features.

"I came to see you," she said hesitantly.

Jane blinked at this information, then stood back so Cam could come into her room. It was dim, the curtains drawn against the sun. Cam went automatically to her old spot at the foot of Jane's bed, and Jane sat by her pillows, like she always had. 

Cam looked at her friend with concern. She hadn't seen Jane since the beginning of June, since the end of school, and, as bad as Jane had looked then, she looked even worse now. She was rail thin, and so white her skin almost had a bluish tinge to it. She certainly didn't look like a girl living in New Jersey in high summer, a girl who lived in a nice, suburban house with a swimming pool.

"I wanted--I want to say I'm sorry," Camilla began.

Jane listened patiently.

"I haven't been a very good friend, I know, and I'm sorry for that, and for what happened between us," she continued, unsure of what else to say.

Jane finally nodded, rising.

"Okay," she said. "I accept your apology." She opened the door for her friend.

Camilla looked at her in surprise. "Wait, hold on," she said. "That's it?"

Jane shrugged. "Did you want to say something else?"

Slowly, Cam shook her head. She rose and walked to the door. "Wait, I changed my mind," she said, her hand on the knob. "I want to say something else. Am I allowed to do that?"

Jane, who had returned to sit on the bed, nodded.

Cam shut the door, but remained standing. "Okay. I should never have left that night. You were right. I was jealous, and I didn't know how to handle it. It never occurred to me that I couldn't get anything, anyone I wanted, that I'd lose, especially to you, though that doesn't make any sense." 

She moved closer to the bed. "Jane, you're the most amazing person. It's easy to be happy and smart and funny all that other shit when people think you look nice." She sat down next to Jane. "My life's been an easy ride, from the day I was born, I know that, because of the accident of how I look. I've skated by, I've been lazy, and I know you've seen that, sweet Jane, though I never knew how you felt about it, not until that night.

"You never said a word, you let me get away with it. Until all this. Until that night. And you were right. About everything." Camilla wiped away her own tear, then reached out and wiped away Jane's. "It's not surprising, is it, that someone finally saw how much beauty you have inside you, hm? When you have so much?" 

Jane took a deep breath, feeling like she was shedding a thick skin, a carapace. "You're wrong, though, Cam. You haven't been lazy. You have it, too. You haven't skated."

Camilla was so relieved when she felt Jane's arms come around her, and the two friends sat on the bed, holding each other for long minutes.

"I heard you got in to all your schools," Camilla said gently.

Jane nodded.

"I also heard that you're not going?"

Jane nodded again.

"I'm just not up to it right now, you know?" she said softly. "All of them said I could defer for a year with no penalty...

"I've missed you so much," Jane finally said.

"I've been the most terrible friend, the most awful person," Camilla said, kissing Jane on her sparse, blonde hair.

"No, I pushed you away pretty hard," Jane replied, finally looking up.

"It doesn't matter," Camilla said, shaking her head. "You were drowning, you've been drowning, and I've been watching and doing nothing. Well, no more." 

She looked around Jane's room. "The first thing is to get a little light in here," she said firmly. She rose and pulled the curtains back, letting the sunlight into the room. 

Jane squinted.

Camilla opened the window to let in a little fresh air, too.

"Now, I want you to put on some fresh clothes and come out back, okay?" Camilla said.

"What?" Jane looked at her friend. "Baby steps, okay? That's what my shrink says."

"Jane." Cam laid a gentle hand on Jane's arm. "There are only a few people back there. Hope, Kath, Jordan, Tom, Ryan? All good friends. No one's judging you. Come on."

She helped Jane put on fresh shorts and a blouse, managing to hide her concern at just how skinny her friend looked under her clothes. 

A couple minutes later, Camilla opened the door to the back yard, calling out a cheerful hello, and a pale, silent, Jane followed her.

"Hey, Jane," a few people said. Other than that, no one bothered her, and she pulled up a chair under the umbrella and just sat. 

Bear smiled at Cam with real gratitude, and she smiled back, giving him a quick thumbs up. The radio was on, and Jane and Bear's father kept them well supplied with snacks and drinks. After a while, Jane even went and put her pale legs into the pool. It was just like the old days.

The DJ's smooth voice filled the back yard after the song, and Jane, who'd only been half-listening, was jolted to attention by the mention of a familiar name.

"And finally, we're hearing from Charlie McAllister you guys. It's been three years since The Jacks released their final album, and all four of the other boys have released solo material since then. Charlie, or Charles as he likes to be known now, has been busy pursuing a movie career, of various sorts," and here the DJ paused and laughed, "but he's released a new album, dropped it out of nowhere, and, in the tradition of Ed Sheeran and others, he's named it after a symbol, or punctuation, in this case."

A commercial played, and everyone surreptitiously looked at Jane. 

She shrugged. "I don't know anything about this, you guys." She considered going inside, but she felt safe, and not freezing cold for the first time in months, so she stayed.

The commercial ended, and the DJ's voice came on again:

"Like I was saying before the break, Charles McAllister finally has some new stuff for us, off an album that's unpronounceable, though if I had to give it a name, I guess I'd call it, uh, Ellipsis. You know, those dots you put when you leave words out of a sentence? So yeah, he's living his life, he gets discovered, gets mega-popular with The Jacks, they basically break up, sorry girls, but that's what they've done, he pursues acting, has this sex tape scandal, disappears for six months, like literally falls off the face of the earth, then drops this album out of nowhere. So, without further ado, here's Charlie McAllister's new single. Oh, it's called "Sea Glass".

It was haunting, with just an acoustic guitar. Jane had seen Charlie play a few times, though he was pretty private about it. She'd walked in on him, and he'd stopped almost immediately, setting it aside, holding his arms out to her. 

Like swimming in the ocean
On a warm summer day
Wrapping around my heart
Sea glass, Sea glass
My life was a storm
You were a harbour
Calm and safe
Sea glass, Sea glass
Who knows where you came from
Shaped through pain and strife
To wash up in my life
Sea glass, Sea glass

Jane sat motionless as the last strains of the guitar died away, miraculously dry-eyed.

Oh my god.

"Excuse me," she said softly. She rose and went in the house, running lightly up the stairs to her room. She sat on her bed, opened her laptop and googled "Charles McAllister" with three periods. 

And there it was. He really had released it out of nowhere, in the middle of the night, though it had been morning in England. Jane read the song list, as her eyes filled with tears:

Sea Glass
Columbus Circle
Gams
Kissing in the Rain
Call Me Charlie
Dot Dot Dot
Whatnot
One Last Snap
Janey Bird
Subway
Sightseeing

The last one made Jane's breath stop in her throat. Surely he hadn't written about that? He couldn't have.

He wouldn't have.

She clicked on it.

Concrete jungle, Big Apple,
It goes by so many names
Busy streets, people move 
Playing their busy people games

But with you, sailing through 
In our big black boat
We are together in our forever
You are me and I am you

We created our own language
We spoke to each other's hearts 

We did
We did
We did

Oh my god. 

Jane sat, unable to move, unable to think or do anything, for long minutes. 

Her door opened, and Camilla poked her head in.

"Jane?"

"Oh, Cam," Jane sobbed. "I need--I need your help!"

Camilla scurried over. "Of course, of course, don't cry. Whatever it is, we can take care of it, we can." She sat down and put her her arm around her friend. "What is it?"

"I've been so stupid, so so stupid, and I don't know how to fix it. I need to talk to Charlie. He came to see me a few months ago and I sent him away--" she continued to cry.

"Okay, shh. First, have you tried just texting him?" Camilla asked logically. 

Jane swallowed and looked at her friend. She shook her head and grabbed her phone. She typed out a quick text and hit send. 

Ten minutes later the girls were still waiting. 

"What time is it in England?" Camilla asked. 

"Nine? It's nighttime," Jane said. "I don't know for sure that that's even where he is, though."

"Do you have his email?"

Jane shook her head.

"I have his attorney's name and number somewhere, though," Jane said hopefully. "I mean, my father does." She looked at Camilla.

"Maybe as a last resort," Cam responded. 

"I have his address in London," Jane remembered. "I had to text it somewhere once, because his phone was dead."

"You want to write him a letter?" Camilla asked doubtfully. "It'll take a few days..."

Jane slowly shook her head. 

"You want to go to his house?" Cam asked in disbelief. "What if he's not there, like you said? What if he's moved? I mean, Jane, you haven't left Redmond for the last six months. You're still famous." She trailed off, looking at Jane's face, which had a determined look on it.

"What will your parents say?" she asked, giving up on trying to change her mind.

Jane shrugged. "I'll just have to convince them," she said.