When You Reach Me

Miranda keeps time for her mother as they practice for the upcoming game show. Practice for the speed round of the game has gone well, and hopes are getting high for Miranda’s mother to win. Miranda and her mother keep a list of things they hope to buy with winnings from the game show: a vacation, a camera, new carpeting, and a TV. Richard has added a sailboat to the wish list, but Miranda confesses that she and Richard have their own secret plan for the winnings.

Back in October after Sal gets punched, Miranda begins walking home alone and encounters Marcus, the boy who punched her friend. When she comes upon Marcus on the sidewalk, Miranda uses her strategy of asking him the time to avoid confrontation. Marcus doesn’t have a watch, but he is able to tell Miranda the time based on where the sun stands in relation to a building. Miranda is impressed, but she feels guilty for chatting with the boy who punched her friend. The interaction is enough to make Miranda forget about the laughing man, who she observes sleeping with his head underneath the mailbox on the corner.