Introverted, socially awkward Jay Kirkman, known to his Grams as “Jay Bird,” is riding the ups-and-downs of youth while living with overbearing parents and dealing with the pressures of being a senior in high school. A month away from graduation, Jay hopes to flee the small upstate New York town of Milton for a life anywhere but in his dead-end hometown. He wishes for more than he has now: scholarly, eccentric parents, and watching Grams, the closest person to him, slowly dying before his eyes. His equally withdrawn but edgier best friend Rocco has a hearty appetite for drugs, alcohol, and promiscuous sex. When the law comes knocking, asking questions about a crime Rocco may or may not have committed, he finds himself in big trouble and turns to Jay for help. Is Jay and Rocco’s friendship strong enough to sustain life’s tough obstacles as they navigate the highs and lows of growing up together?

Jay Bird

“Hurry up. You’ve got forty minutes left.” She tapped the antique silver watch on her bony wrist.


I nodded and walked quickly to the door.


“Don’t forget the restroom paddle,” she said, gesturing to the ledge of the dry erase board behind her.


I grabbed the block of wood from the bottom of the board, darted out of the room, and raced towards the end of the hall as if I really needed to empty my bladder.


Lining the toilet seat with strips of torn Charmin, I sat down on the john to think. I pulled out my iPhone from my back pocket and navigated the Internet landscape for answers about Rocco.


My friend had not posted anything on his Facebook page, Instagram, or Twitter account in seventy-two hours. His last Facebook entry was dated three days ago. “Love sucks,” he wrote with a broken heart and sad emoji face.


Who or what was he talking about? I wondered, scrolling through his feed and finding nothing to satisfying my curiosity.


Chapter 13