Haley nodded.

“You can wait out here in the lobby,” the museum lady said. She escorted Haley to the a brown chair that sat in front of a glass wall and beneath a car suspended from the ceiling with rods of light coming out of its gleaming white body from every possible angle.

Haley sat, hugging her backpack. The chair was softer than where she’d been sleeping the last few nights. She felt her muscles begin to relax, just a little.
“The tour will done in about an hour,” the museum lady said, her voice suggesting Haley could still change her mind.

“Okay.” Haley nodded, staring at the car hanging from the impossibly tall ceiling, ignoring the questioning looks of her classmates as they walked past the security and stepped onto an escalator. One by one, they glided up.

Out of sight.

Out of mind.

Meanwhile, Haley held her world in her arms.

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