The boy who called himself an angel came to her in the desert.

The night the sky broke open and the constellations moved, and she could see the bloodstream of the universe, blue and flowing and bleeding with angels.

She was standing in the desert and he came to her, quiet in the feet and strange in the eyes, and feeling like something that was lost.

"I'm not lost," he said.

"Then why are you here?"

"I've been looking for you."

"Do you even know my name?" she said.

"I'm the person that you miss."

She held onto the jacket.

"No, you're not."

"I may look different, but I'm still the same person."

"No, you're NOT."

The boy looked angry.

"Don't you know how ungrateful you are?" he said. "I'm the best gift you've ever had, and you still won't love me? You're wrong, and you're bad."

"That's not what he would say at all!" Katie shouted. "You're not my brother! You're just… mean!"

"Maybe he was never that special in the first place, if I can replace him!"

"You CAN'T!" Katie said. "What are you even doing here?"

The boy was breathing strangely. He turned away.

"It doesn't feel good to be lied to, does it?"

Katie crossed her arms.

"It doesn't feel good to lie, either."

"You'd think they'd feel that way," said the boy.

"Who?"

"Everyone."

He sat on the ground and looked at the sky. It made him look smaller.

"Why did you come here?" Katie said. She knew that he hadn't been looking for her.

"There's no one at home I can talk to," said the boy.

"Why not?"

"That's how it is now. Everyone's a liar."

And then he was quiet. Small and quiet, looking up at Cassiopeia. It was a wonderful night to see Cassiopeia.

It was a wonderful night to not see it alone. Katie sat next to the boy.

"We used to do this all the time," she said. "But it's never as good anymore."

"I know what that's like."

"Where did you come from?"

"From far away," said the boy. "From the planet Altea."

"I come from here," she said. "My brother liked aliens."

"Your planet is officially pre-contact."

"Well, he always wanted to meet one."

"My mother met lots of people from lots of planets."

"That sounds cool."

"She took me to some of them. We used to feed the yelmores."

"What happened to her?"

"After she died… somebody came to my planet. She came to be my new mother."

"There's no such thing as a new mother."

"That's not what the people say," said the boy. "They liked her. More than the old one."

"That's scary."

"She's gone now, too. But, they wanted her to be my mother…" The boy grabbed at a handful of sand. "I don't think they love me."

"I'm sorry," Katie said.

"No. I'm sorry I lied to you."

"I knew you were lying. I'm not stupid."

"Not like my family."

"So, come back with me," Katie said. "We have an extra bed."

"I can't be your new brother."

"You can be my friend."

He looked down from the sky, at her this time.

"I think I would like that."

His ears were pointy, like an elf's. His skin was some color that she couldn't quite see in the dark.

"Are you cold?" she said. "The desert's cold at night."

"A little, yes."

She took off the jacket. It was still too big for her.

It was big on the little boy, too.

"I'm a prince, you know," said the boy.

"We have princes on Earth."

"I'm not really an angel."

"I told you I wasn't stupid."

"Do you believe in angels?"

"Everyone else seems to."

"Grown-ups are strange."

"I wish they would stop talking about heaven."

"I'm sorry about your brother."

"Yeah. And your mom, too."

"She was never a strange grown-up," said the boy. "She didn't want to be replaced."

"Neither would Matt."

"Would he have been friends with me, too?"

"He would have loved you," Katie said. "But not as much as he loved me."

"Nobody loves me as much as my mother did."

"I still want to be your friend."

"You're smarter than the grown-ups."

"I know."

He must have moved because she felt him touch her arm. The outside of the jacket was cold.

"Do you think about space travel?" he said.

"Uh-huh. Matt and I used to talk about meeting aliens."

"What kind of things did you say?"

"We said that we'd ask what video games they have in space, and then show them the ones we have on Earth."

"We have a klanmuirl herding simulator," said the prince.

"We have Mario Kart. Do you wanna play Mario Kart with me? You just can't be Luigi."

"I don't want to play right now."

"Okay."

She didn't want to play, either.

"I'm going to be in trouble for running away," said the boy.

"Yeah. Me too."

"Are you going to go home?"

"Are you?"

"I have to go home."

"So do I," Katie said.

"Where do you live?" said the boy.

"Not that far away."

"Do your parents want another son?"

"You can't do that."

"I just want to pretend."

"You're as bad as the grown-ups."

The boy had started crying.

"Wait," she said. "I think my mom would like you."

"I'm being bad," he said.

"Yeah. Well, so am I."

She put an arm around him. His bones through the jacket were strange.

"Katie!"

It was her mom. Katie turned around and stood up.

"Mom…"

"I was so worried about you."

"I know."

"It's not safe to be out by yourself."

"But I'm not," Katie said. "I'm here with the prince."

"The prince?"

"Him," Katie pointed.

But the boy was gone.

"He was right here!" she said. "He's a prince from the planet Altea, and he has pointy ears and he misses his mom. We were gonna play Mario Kart together."

"I'm glad to hear that, Katie."

She could tell that she didn't believe her. Katie looked down and folded her arms.

There was nothing on them.

"The jacket," she said. She was afraid she was going to cry. "And he never even told me his name."