"I CAN'T go to the Morgan Wallen concert. That's the week I leave for space camp," Mia said, turning away from her phone, annoyed but not surprised by her dad's apparent lack of interest in the most colossal thing she'd ever done.

  "Ah, that's right. I knew that. Not too long now, is it, Mi?"

  "Nope. You'll be taking your Christmas tree down, and I'll be on my way to Mars."

  This was the first year they wouldn't be spending Christmas together as a family. Her dad had ruined that.

  Ken was silent but then recovered, breaking out in an off-key rendition of Jingle Bells, which made Mia wince. She glanced at her laptop screen, still logged into the portal. Lilly, one of the blondes going to Mars, was being extra obnoxious. Her posts, thinly disguised kudos about her fantastic exercise routine and detailed food logs, were unnecessary. She also loved emojis and plastered them at the tail of everything she posted. Mia could tell Lilly wouldn't be her jam.

  "Earth to Mi, come in, Mia," her dad said, blowing into the mouthpiece of his phone.

  "Yes, I'm still here. Please calm down. This is the loudest phone call of my life, Dad."

  "Good, I thought you were asleep. Tell me about space camp."

  Mia glanced back at the portal. Some of the students had already gone. They'd posted about it on the portal, which was helpful. Kai and Milani had gone first. Their individual perspectives on space camp at Hickam Air Force Base had been quite different. Kai made it sound like he'd had the interactive experience of a lifetime, whereas Milani fixated on everything that sucked. Mia assumed her space camp experience would likely be an average of the two.

  "Well, I know we learn to function in different gravities, and part of our training is underwater. They put a locked box at the bottom of a swimming pool, and we have to get it open within a certain time. There's a launch simulator that mimics take-off. I know they practice that a lot. It produces up to 3Gs of force. I'll probably throw up. Lots of VR training."

  "VR training? What do you mean?"

  "Virtual Reality, Dad," Mia said, sighing.

  "I know what VR means, smarty pants. I meant, what kind of VR?"

  "Ok, well, there's one game that shows us how to navigate the spacecraft and another that teaches us how to operate a rover. We're going to use a rover to collect samples. One kid posted about troubleshooting a probe?"

  "Posted where?"

  "In the portal, Dad."

  "Oh, ok, that website thing you showed me the other day."

  "Yes," Mia answered, even though it wasn't a website, but what did it matter?

  Ken said he was impressed and spent the next ten minutes asking so many questions that Mia began to get a headache.

  "Dad, I have to go now. Lots of homework."

  Ken cleared his throat, and Mia braced herself for something heavy.

  Stolen from Royal Road, this story should be reported if encountered on Amazon.

  "Mi, I'm proud of you. This is big. It's really big. Your mom and I are in this thing with you 100%. I'm gonna miss you, kid."

  Mia felt heat creep up her neck as she struggled with her dad's words. They sounded nice, but he'd left her well before she'd been chosen to go to Mars. And the way he'd left was so awful. What he'd done to their family was unforgivable. She'd never really trust him again.

  "Will we see you on the Saturday before Christmas to open gifts?"

  "That's the plan," Mia said, letting the word WE sink in, as in him and Teresa—the same Teresa who'd been like an aunt to her before she'd decided it would be fun to have sex with her dad.

  "Excellent," Ken replied, and then they both said, "I love you," and hung up.

  Mia pulled her laptop on her belly, the warmth of its battery seeping through her cotton shirt. Lilly and Alejandro (Alex for short) were at space camp this week. Alex had posted something about being strapped into a gravity chair. He said it was like learning how to walk all over again.

  Mars has one-third the gravity of Earth. Due to the difference, they would need to practice moving their bodies under simulated conditions. Mastering the gravity chair sounded like a big hurdle. This was portal life, an unspoken competition between the six teams, with no group wanting to look less competent than another. Mia wondered what made the gravity chair so tricky, but was smart enough not to post the question to the group. She'd watch YouTube videos and learn about it on her own. Trevor posted often, sounding reasonably knowledgeable, so he'd become their spokesperson. Recently, they'd exchanged phone numbers as the awkwardness of their gym conversation faded.

  Mia's phone buzzed, dividing her attention between the laptop and a crumple of blankets. She wondered if it was her dad again, texting details about holiday dinners with the woman who'd ruined her mother's life. She decided that could wait and glanced back at the screen. Lilly had just responded to Alejandro's post about the gravity chair.

  It's not like you were that great at walking in the first place, Alex. Didn't you trip over your own scuba helmet today...

  Mia smiled, anticipating how Alex would handle the childish jab.

  I did trip. I cannot lie, but don't leave out that I was distracted watching you hyperventilate when you couldn't get your scuba helmet off. Next time, I'll spectate. You don't need saving from your own helmet, do you, Lilly?!

  Lilly typed a string of laughing emojis and one black heart. Three people liked Alex's comment, and then there was nothing more from Lilly. Were she and Trevor supposed to act like this at space camp? It was hard to tell whether the back-and-forth was flirting or just friendly banter. Mia wasn't planning to flirt with Trevor on the portal or ever. Her phone buzzed again, and she reached down to pick it up, annoyed. Speak of the devil- Trevor Bell was texting her.

  "Lilly seems like a pain in the ass. I bet you two will get along."

  Mia stared at the text, uncertain how to take it. She thought Lilly seemed more like a bitch than a pain in the ass. Was he teasing, or did he think she was a bitch, too?

  "I've already decided who my bestie will be, Sloan."

  Trevor began filling the screen with text bubbles, and Mia watched, feeling oddly excited for his reply.

  "Sloan? The one with pink hair?"

  "Yes. She can probably kick YOUR ass."

  Trevor texted back a smiley face with a crooked grin. Then came a string of bicep emojis followed by a lone black heart. Mia smiled and put down the phone.

  Sloan and Max were going to Langley AFB the same week as Mia and Trevor were flying to Kennedy Space Center—next week, to be exact. Sloan didn't seem interested in Max, but they did have some type of relationship. Her flipping him off that day on the Smart Meet felt playful.

  I'm leaving in four days, Mia thought, grabbing a pillow to cover her face. The list of must-brings and suggested items lay on her bedside table. The coolness of her pillow was calming. Would they have good pillows at space camp, or would the cases be washed in soap that made her face itch? How much time would she spend with Trevor every day? Jocelyn suggested he come over for dinner before they left, but Mia had nixed that idea.

  "Mom, you know he's Brian's best friend!"

  "I know. It's just you'll be spending lots of time together next week, and maybe having him for pizza before you go would make it more comfortable."

  "I've known Trevor a long time, Mom. Trust me, eating pizza with him the night before we leave is the last thing I want to do!"

  Jocelyn had nodded in agreement, her hand grazing Mia's tense arm. "Got it. Sushi for two, then. You won't get a decent California roll on Mars."