Orbiting Jupiter

by Gary D. Schmidt

“Do you think Joseph will fit in?” my mother asked me later. “Rosie loves him,” I said. I didn’t need to say anything more. You can tell all you need to know about someone from the way cows are around him.

We turned left to head to school. And even though we didn’t talk much, I think Joseph might have been glad I was there.

You know what they say in books about your heart stopping? It’s true. It can. It does.