"What up dude?" Jacky jumped; he hadn’t heard Lenny come up behind him. He’d been sitting by his locker, deep in thought.

“Nothin’.”

“You look totally bummed. Must be a really bad nothin’.”

Jacky hadn’t told anyone in school about his mom. He didn’t want to be the topic of the day on Facebook, and he didn’t like everyone knowing his business. He was a lot like his dad that way. But Lenny was different. He’d been Jacky’s friend for years—they could always talk about anything. Lenny had no trouble talking about his parents’ divorce to him. It felt stupid not to trust his only friend, and he really needed to talk to someone. He knew Lenny wouldn’t go and spew to everyone.

“My mom got sick before Christmas, and we didn’t know what it was. She kept going in to see doctors and have tests. She’s got c . . . cancer. Now she’s done with her treatments and surgery, and they said she was going to get better, but she isn’t.”

Lenny nodded and sat down beside him. “Is she getting worse? You think she’s going to make it?”

“Yeah, actually no, I don’t know. I’m kinda scared.”

“That’s harsh. I really hope she’s okay. I like your mom.”

“Thanks.”

“That was pretty awesome how you fell asleep in math class and dropped your books off the desk. You should probably try to get some sleep time at home, dude.”

“Yeah, thanks for laughing at me. I wasn’t embarrassed enough.” Jacky tried to change the subject. “Hey, how’s things with your dad?”

Silence.

Jacky looked over at Lenny, but he was already halfway down the hall. So much for sharing.