Buck's POV:

I stifled a yawn and slouched further down in my seat, canceling out every sound except the ever-so-slow tick, tick, tick of the clock at the front of the room. Mrs. Sanderson was explaining something about isolating the x in a radical equation, but I wasn't really paying attention. Algebra was my last class of the day, and also my least favorite.

My eyes drifted over to the empty desk a few rows ahead of me, next to Brad Ralph. Valerie's old desk.

We'd never really been friends. I mean, to be honest, she'd never really been friends with anyone, unless there was something in it for her. But even so, her loss was something we all felt acutely.

My heart went out to Brad. For some reason I would never be able to comprehend, he'd been absolutely crazy about her. And he just hadn't been the same since, well…the accident. None of us had, really.

I worried about Jules, almost constantly. I was used to being in control of my situation. But I had been powerless over what had happened to her that day. I couldn't stand to think about what it would have been like to lose her…

I shifted restlessly in my seat, fingering the worn scrap of paper in my pocket. Another note from my mother. I'd discovered it only a few days ago, tucked under one of the ribs inside the hope chest she'd left me. I hadn't shown it to anyone yet, but I'd read it so many times I had its contents memorized. She had probably written it only a couple of days before she died.

"It won't be long now," she wrote. "The doctors won't say it to my face, but I know it's true. It's okay, though. I'm ready now. After so many years of running away from Him, I've rediscovered the peace and forgiveness that can only be found in Jesus Christ. I can only hope that someday you'll find it, too, my Bucky Bear."

Her words brought to mind something Felicia had said to me: "Something changed in her those last couple of days. She drifted in and out of consciousness, but she seemed so calm and peaceful. During one of her waking moments, she turned to me and said, 'He's forgiven me, Felicia. He's forgiven me!' She'd had a falling-out with her father many years before; I can only assume she was talking about him."

Felicia was partially correct about that. Except it wasn't her father my mother had been talking about. It was her Father. God. She explained as much in the letter.

It gave me a lot to think about.

The bell rang, startling me back to reality, as a swell of teenagers flooded out into the hallway.

"Jules!"

Spotting her in the crowd, I jogged over to her and wrapped her up on a too-tight hug, then pulled back, embarrassed. Since the accident, I had almost hated to let her out of my sight. It didn't make sense, but I had this idea that if the people I cared about were always with me, they'd be okay, because I was somehow always okay.

"Hey, Buck." She absently twisted a strand of hair around her finger.

"You nervous about seeing your mom again?" I guessed.

She nodded. "I'm supposed to meet up with her and Connie at Whit's End."

"I'm heading that way, too. Could you use some company?"

I offered my hand, and she took it.

"Yeah, I'd like that."