Hello Beautiful

by Ann Napolitano

This was the first time a grown-up had looked directly at him—noticed him, and noticed what he was doing—and the attention threw him into distress.

This made my heart hurt.

William had the strange thought that he might never see his parents again—that they’d only ever had one child, and it wasn’t him.

This sentence struck William like he’d been shoved in the chest. He didn’t deserve to be alone? He didn’t think this was true, but he believed Sylvie meant what she said.

In different ways, three of the four Padavano sisters continued to care for him, as if their sheer number, and adjacency to Julia, could paper over the hole he’d created in his own life. You’re not alone, their attention told him, and he was moved by that kindness.

Julia kept returning to the idea that it couldn’t be good for Alice’s happiness to spend time with someone who saw life as disposable. Life was opportunity, a chest of drawers to open, one after the other, and William had tried to hurl the chest out the window.