Chapter One - The Birthday Party

CHAPTER ONE

The Birthday Party

MILO STOOD AT the edge of the backyard, his fingers tight around the string of a balloon.

The party was loud. Too loud.

Kids ran across the grass like fireworks—screaming, laughing, bursting with sugar. A speaker thumped music in the corner. The cake smelled like frosting and food coloring and someone’s shampoo.

Milo's brain spun. The sounds got jumbled. The colors got too big.

Someone shouted his name.

He didn’t move.

“Milo! Come on! We’re gonna play tag!”

But tag meant running. And yelling. And people touching him when he wasn’t ready. That was too many things all at once.

So Milo let go of the balloon. It floated up—soft and slow and quiet.

He watched it until it was just a dot in the sky. His breathing slowed. The colors got smaller.

“Are you okay?” a voice asked.

It was Emma, the birthday girl. Her tiara was crooked. She wasn’t yelling.

Milo nodded.

“Do you wanna come inside?” she asked. “It’s quiet in there. We can look at my rock collection.”

Milo looked back at the crowd, then at Emma.

“Okay,” he said.

And just like that, the party felt okay again.