Peyton watched the graduation intently, dressed in comfy sweatpants and an old t-shirt. She wondered what secrets Rebecca Timeberland was hinting at during her speech. Red Rock had probably written the whole thing.

  She remembered the dark-haired girl from mission four, although her role wasn't really that of an astronaut. She'd been an honorary team member, not pictured with the crew online. Her portal posts had always seemed juvenile, which made sense now. She was barely older than Mia and Trevor when she'd gone to Mars—her contribution to the mission, unclear.

  Something about Rebecca was off. Peyton had inquired about her age when Red Rock first reached out about a "future young adults only" mission.

  "Rebecca Timberland was an experiment, really," said the Red Rock employee on the other end of the phone. She did beautifully on the mission, which brings us to this moment. We want everyone on the M6 mission to be under 18. Of course, that excludes the flight crew and you, Ms. Lawrence. We feel the world is ready to see just how safe colonization actually is."

  Peyton had accepted the explanation but wondered how Mia and Trevor felt seeing her tonight. She'd always felt unsettled by Red Rock's omission of the truth, but had been instructed not to discuss Rebecca with the students. Their bringing attention to her on a televised event would make that impossible.

  "This thing wrapping up?" Bryant asked, swinging around the bar in Peyton's kitchen. "Pasta and cheesy bread are dunzo. Let's eat."

  "Yay," Peyton responded, grabbing her watch off the coffee table, which projected the graduation sideways as she moved through the kitchen.

  "Are your friends eating with us now?" Bryant asked.

  "It's their graduation, Bry. Come on. You know how important this is to me. Look at Trevor's little face. He's so proud. Mia looks adorable!"

  Bryant positioned the watch so they could both see the graduation, now projected on a wall in the kitchen. Peyton smiled and squeezed his hand.

  "Trevor's parents are divorced, huh? Where's the Dad?"

  "Don't get me started. Frankly, I doubt he even knows this is happening. Both his parents suck."

  Two nights ago, Peyton had phoned her space camp prodigies only to find that her call had been Trevor's only call all week.

  "It wasn't like he told me to get sympathy. He was literally just excited to get a FREAKING phone call," she'd told Bryant, moaning into a pillow.

  Trevor had shared that he was unsure if his parents knew his return flight schedule and asked if she could verify that for him. The Bells' lack of interest in their son's life repulsed Peyton so much that she needed to take a brisk walk. During the walk, another scenario surfaced. Would Trevor's parents be a no-show for his graduation? She wasn't going to let that happen and decided to call them before she reached out to Mia.

  "Hello, Mrs. Bell. This is Peyton Lawrence from Southern High," she said, trying to control her emotions.

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  "Oh, hello, Ms. Lawrence," Tanya replied, the sound of a podcast decreasing in the background. "Is everything OK with Trevor? He texted me about his return flight a few days ago. We have the info pinned on the fridge."

  Annoyance rose as Peyton realized Tanya did have the return flight schedule but had failed to text her son back. She ignored Mrs. Bell's acknowledgment of the text but planned to relay the info to Trevor.

  "Will you be attending the graduation ceremony virtually? It'll be a complete surprise for Trevor," Peyton said. They project a Zoom call to the entire audience. It's a huge deal for the kids. Mrs. Bell's silence told Peyton she'd been right to reach out, her heart breaking again for Trevor.

  "Oh goodness, I remember reading about graduation, but I missed the part about a Zoom call. What time is it?" she asked casually.

  Peyton had held the phone away from her mouth. Her bewilderment surrounding shitty parents always required a verbal timeout before responding to their negligence.

  "Red Rock typically hosts a Zoom call after dinner. You should've received an email with the link. The time to join should be in the email."

  "Oh, that's wonderful! Thanks for letting me know. Trevor's dad will be flying back from Houston, but I'll be there with BELLS on!" she'd said, pleased with the lame pun.

  "Good, you have my number if you can't find the email," Peyton answered, ending the phone call on a professional tone, knowing she'd see Mrs. Bell in person before Trevor's quarantine phase.

  "Mia doesn't like being on camera," Bryant said between bites of cheesy bread. "What did she have to say about space camp?"

  Peyton, lost in thought over Tanya Bell's stupidity, looked over at Bryant. His interest in the kids was sweet.

  Mia's phone call revealed a different problem. Jocelyn could barely stand sending her daughter away to space camp, much less Mars. And although Mia wasn't Peyton's biggest fan, it had been obvious she'd appreciated speaking with someone about the weight of being away from home for so long. They'd chatted about Trevor's near-drowning experience and the broken centrifuge. Peyton had laughed and divulged that she'd almost burnt down an organic chemistry lab in college. It was a good phone call, even though Mia remained somewhat guarded.

  "You're doing something phenomenal, Mia," Peyton had said. "I'm so proud. I know you had reservations about taking the M6 spot."

  Mia hadn't responded to Peyton's praise or inference that she'd needed more time to embrace her spot on the team. Instead, she deflected, mentioning how well Trevor had adapted to everything, calling him a rogue spaceman.

  "He does seem to enjoy it," Peyton replied neutrally, still unaware of the backstory between Mia, Brian, and Trevor.

  "You make a great team!"

  "My phone call with Mia went well, actually," Peyton said, spinning pasta around her fork. "We're getting there."

  "Girls are hard," Bryant replied. "They make you work for it, you know?"

  Peyton did know. She'd always gotten along much better with boys. How long would it take for her and Mia to get there? Lately, sleeping had become difficult, as thoughts of twelve young soon-to-be astronauts consumed her. Sloan was going to be a problem. The girl's portal posts were downright aggressive. If Sloan and Mia hit it off, would they make it hard for her to connect with the other girls? The idea unnerved her. Thank God for Trevor. He seemed to befriend everyone. Having him on board would be a joy.

  "Just be yourself," Bryant said. "It won't take those kids long to see how much you care AND how much you know. Kids respond to authenticity."

  Her mom was constantly reminding her to be herself, too, which she knew was solid advice. However, the fact remained that only two friends had attended her NASA-themed fifteenth birthday party. They'd thrown away so much pizza,

  "You're right. It's going to be great! I just wish I were with them. I don't know why they made me go to space camp last summer. I've forgotten everything, honestly."

  "My guess is you guys aren't going to be doing any heavy lifting."

  "What do you mean?"

  "Don't get me wrong. I'm super proud of you, and I know you've worked so hard for this, but I don't think you're going to be doing anything without a lot of supervision."

  "Yeah, I agree. I'm just starting to worry, more and more. These kids are my responsibility."

  Bryant nodded and continued to slurp down pasta. "You'll kill it. You always do. This kid, Rebecca Timberland, how old is she?"