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 His equally withdrawn but edgier best friend Rocco has a hearty appetite for drugs, alcohol, and promiscuous sex.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

Woozy, eyes swimming in a druggy haze, Nick leaned forward and whispered, “I’m doing you a fucking favor.”


“Stay away from Rocco. He’s bad news.”


I shoved past him and swung the door open. “You don’t know shit about anyone.”


They were the last words I heard from Mr. Pot Head before heading down the hall and dashing through the rest of the day with blinders and a nagging feeling that Rocco was in serious trouble.


I had to help my friend before he became the next small-town headline.


Being interrogated by my parents was the equivalent of North Korea’s threat to invade the United States. Hearing all week in history class about the warning to the U.S. set me on edge, but nothing felt more real than being grilled by Mom and Dad.


I listened to my father whistling loudly as he ground his coffee in the kitchen.


Chapter 14