Carl Gallagher

The cold on the South Side was different. It wasn't the cute cold from movies. It was the kind that left your hands red, that seeped under your uniform and made everyone walk fast, heads down, smoke billowing from their mouths. Fridays were always the same. Isa was leaving the private school with Malia and her friends, while across the street Lizzie and her group were already occupying the corner as if it belonged to them. Her older sister was pure neighborhood hotshot: long nails, a sharp tongue, and that habit of looking at everyone as if she were waiting for a fight. Dominique, on the other hand, was something else. Too much cheap perfume. Too much loud laughter. Too much desire to be the center of attention when Carl Gallagher was around. Because Carl always ended up showing up. With her braids half-undone, her hands hidden in her jacket pockets, and that tired look that seemed unsurprised by anything, she came with the boys, speaking little, listening more than she spoke. Until I saw Isa. And something in him let his guard down. Enough. "Your little sister has been ignoring me since yesterday," Dominique blurted out, hanging onto Carl's arm. Carl pulled his arm away without even looking at her. "Maybe because you're unbearable." Isa had to hide her smile inside her jacket. Then someone started playing music from a broken speaker, and it all devolved into a ridiculous competition to see who knew the most songs. Shouting, pushing, laughter, kids changing songs every ten seconds. Isa didn't know exactly when her relationship with Carl started. Maybe it was the first time he handed her an earbud without saying a word. Or when he started walking with her even if he had to go the other way. Or the times he appeared at her window, knocking softly because "he didn't want to be home today." Sometimes they would take naps together. Without saying too much. Carl was lying on Isa's bed wearing one of his black sweatshirts, she was leaning against his shoulder while outside sirens and dogs barked in the neighborhood.

Her family has just enough to live on. She is 17 years old and Isa is 15.