Question
Well, Shay’s mother did, at least. She couldn’t stop crying. This had been her home for over twenty years. This
small, two-bedroom, third-floor walk-up with good sunlight and hardwood floors. A show fireplace and ornate
molding. Ugly prewar3 bathroom tiles, like standing on a psychedelic4 chessboard. This was where Shay took
her first steps. Where she took sink baths before pretending her dolls were mermaids in the big tub. Where she
scribbled her name on the wall in her room under the window, before slinking into her parents’ bed to snuggle.
This was where she left trails of stickiness across the floor whenever coming inside with a Popsicle from the ice-
cream truck. Where she learned to water her mother’s plants. Plants they weren’t able to keep because now
this space — their space — was gone. Bought out from under them. Empty. All packed into a clunky truck that
was already headed south. And since Shay’s father left early to get a jump on traffic, it seemed like a good idea
to let her mother take a much-needed moment to weep in peace.
Plus, then Shay could have a much-needed moment to eraser tattoo Dante.
It felt like nothing at first, to Dante. No different than a finger rubbing. “Where y’all going again?” Dante asked.
“For the millionth time, Dante, North Carolina.”
“I know that part. I mean, what city?” Dante’s skin started to itch a bit.
“Wilmington,” Shay said. “Not too far from the water.”
Dante didn’t say anything. He had never heard of Wilmington, so he figured it was far. Figured it was a place
buses couldn’t get to.
“And that’s good. I mean, not good that I have to move, but that I’m gonna be near water so I can work on my
career stuff. Maybe get an internship or something.”
“I know, Shay. You wanna save fish and whales and all that.”
One of the new tenants, a young white woman, came from the truck and approached the house, her wavy hair
whipping in the breeze. She climbed the steps carrying a chair over her head. Dante scooted to the left an inch
to let her by.
Shay cocked her head to the side, lifted the pencil for a moment, the air instantly cooling Dante’s arm. “A
marine biologist. Somebody gotta care for all the stuff underwater that nobody can see. It’s a beautiful world
down there, full of living things that most folks don’t understand.”
“Like sharks.”
“Like fish that glow in the dark.”
Dante ticked his tongue against his teeth. “Fish that glow, Shay? Really?” He shook his head. “It don’t matter
anyway, because when I get rich and famous for building bridges, I’m gonna build one from here to...”
“Wilmington.”
“Wilmington.”
“Or, you could just buy me a plane ticket.” Shay chuckled to herself and started in again with the eraser. She
was concentrating on the top of the S, a curved back-and-forth motion — a frown.
“I’m gonna buy you a plane ticket. Shoot, I might just buy you a whole plane. And this house so we can live in it.”
Shay nodded but didn’t respond.
“You don’t believe me?”
“I do. I just don’t want to think about all that.” Shay glanced up at him with sadness, a dim shooting star in her
eyes. She blinked it away. “Right now, I just want to think about burning my initial into your arm.”
“Yeah... and, just so you know... um... it’s starting to burn.”
“Am I not worth the pain?” Shay tightened her face, cut her eyes at Dante playfully.
“Whatever, Shay. Ain’t like you getting my initial. So don’t give me that.”
“Come on, Dante. Let’s be real — ”
Just then, she was interrupted, not by Dante, or by any sound. Just by the other new tenant — the white man
from the truck, cradling a big box, waddling up the stoop. Dante scooted a little more to the left, this time to let
the guy pass before he was bowled over.
Shay picked up her thought. “Let’s be real,” she said. “What if we break up?” And before Dante could interject
with all the reasons they wouldn’t, and why would you even think like that, Shay added, “Not that we will or that
I want that, because I don’t. But... what if we do? Then I gotta have that ugly D on my arm forever.”
“And I’m gonna have this S, so...”
“Yeah, but at least you’ll be able to tell people it’s a snake or something. What am I gonna say?”
“Whatever, Shay.” Dante winced as the eraser broke the skin, and the two people trotted past them, back down
the steps. Back to the truck.
“Hurt?” Shay asked slyly.
“A little,” Dante lied. It hurt like h—. Like someone was trying to strike a match on his flesh. He glanced down at
his arm, the eraser rolling back the brown as Shay started on the curve.
“You don’t gotta lie. Remember who you talkin’ to. The girl who healed your boo-boos when we were kids.”
“Uh-huh. Which is why this is so funny — the girl who taught me how to tie my shoes so I wouldn’t hurt myself is
now... hurting me,” Dante said, through his teeth.
“Ah, so it does hurt.”
“It hurts, Shay. It hurts. It didn’t at first, but now it does.”
“Just don’t think about it. Take your mind off of it.”
“Um... I can’t. I mean, what you want me to think about? I can’t think of nothing except for the fact that my arm’s
on fire!” Dante now clinched his jaw and squirmed on the rough clay step. He was doing his best not to quit, to
keep his word and go through with this even though he was regretting it more and more each second.
“Okay, okay.” Shay stared up at the sky, thinking. “How ʼbout... You remember when you told me you loved me?”
“The first time?”
“No. We were five. That ain’t count. You told everybody you loved them back then. You used to kiss your juice
boxes after you drank them and tell the straw the same thing.” Shay shook her head.
“I did love juice boxes, though.” Dante shrugged. “Seriously, straws are made for kissing!”
“Whatever.” Shay shook her head again. “I’m talking about the first time you told me forreal. In the ninth grade.”
A smile crept onto Dante’s face. A perforated5 smile, interrupted every few seconds by a grimace. Partly due to
the burn from the eraser, partly due to the burn from the memory. “Yeah. It was part of our secret handshake
at first. Two claps, a pound, one clap, a dap, then ‘I love you’ from the both of us.”
“Exactly, and we had been friends so long that it was no big deal. Like family. Until one day...” She was scrubbing
his skin vigorously with the eraser, now coming into the second curve. Almost done.
“Until...” Dante’s words caught in his throat, overtaken by a painful hiss. “Until one day I hit you with the smooth
okey-doke.”
“Wasn’t no d— okey-doke!” Shay teased. “You dapped me, and we both said ‘I love you,’ like usual, except you
wouldn’t let go. And you had this wild look in your eye like my face was lunch or something.”
“Yeahhhhhh.” Dante gave a cocky nod.
“No, Dante. It was scary. But then you said it again. But you were super serious. Like real serious.”
“And you remember what you said?” Dante bit his lip to hold in a grunt. Again, part eraser, part memory.
“You always try to bring that up.”
“No, Shay, you, brought this whole thing up! I just wanna make sure before you move to Wilington — ”
“Wilmington.”
“Whatever. I just wanna make sure before you move you get this part of the story straight. So, I told you I loved
you, but this time I said it forreal. And you said...”
Shay sighed. “And I said, ‘No doubt, homie.’”
“NO DOUBT, HOMIE!” Dante yelped, showering Shay in fake disappointment. “That’s what you said!” Dante
dramatically slapped his free hand to his chest. When the “no doubt, homie” fiasco first took place, he thought
his heart would split in half. But it’d been a long time and he’d gotten over it, for the most part. Now it was just
something he loved to tease Shay about.
“Because I didn’t think you were serious!”
Perforated (adjective) pierced with a small hole or holes
“But you just said you knew I was serious, Shay!”
“Okay. Okay. So, I was scared. Because I knew I loved you too, but it was strange. It’s always been me and you,
and so for you to, like, try and make it us, well, that was a little weird for me at first. But after we walked away
from each other, what happened?”
“Well, I was crushed.”
“No you weren’t!”
“Oh, yes I was. But then you ran up behind me and pinched me on the butt, and I knew you loved me too.”
“Yeahhhhhh!” Shay howled. “And that is what you call game.”
Dante shook his head, first at Shay, then at the young man and woman now carrying a mattress toward them.
They started up the stoop, but Dante and Shay had no more space to scoot over. They were already up against
the railing.
Dante put his free hand up. “Wait, wait, we can just get off the stoop so y’all can go up,” he snapped, his tone
somewhere between annoyed and confused. He and Shay stepped down so the couple could step up. “I just
don’t know why they couldn’t say excuse me,” Dante grumbled, loud enough for the couple to hear. But they
didn’t respond. Didn’t even flinch. And as Shay and Dante watched the man and woman struggle up the steps
inside, they also watched Shay’s mother struggle down the steps, eventually bumbling through the front door.
“Wasn’t even out of the house before they started moving in all their s—,” Shay’s mother muttered under her
breath. She wiped her eyes, then glanced up, noticing Shay and Dante at the bottom of the stoop. She flashed a
sad grin. One of loss and love. One of understanding. “You ready, baby?”
Shay nodded, sighed. Her mother moved slowly, as if giving each foot a moment to mourn each step, and Shay
threw her arms around Dante, kissing him on the cheek.
“I love you.” It slipped easily from his lips. Like breathing. Like usual.
“No doubt, homie,” she replied, her whisper bookended by sniffles. Then she pinched him on the butt.
Dante walked Shay and her mother to the car, opened the passenger-side door. Before Shay got in, she gingerly
put the pencil back behind Dante’s ear, and he held his arm out so she could see her work. She blew on it, her
breath cooling the burn for just a moment.
“Looks good,” she said, simply, while slipping down into the seat.
“Not exactly.” Dante forced a smile, closed the door, and told Shay to call him when she got there. To
Wilmington. A place he’s never heard of, where buses probably didn’t go. He watched Shay and her mother pull
away, their car easing slowly past the double-parked truck — its emergency blinkers still on — that had left only
a sliver of space to get through. And as they turned the corner, vanishing from sight, Dante glanced down at the
S on his arm again. The burn. White where brown used to be.
He knew the sting wouldn’t last forever.
What is the main conflict happening in the story?
Why is shay moving?
Describe the setting of the story.
What is an eraser tattoo?
Why does shay give one to dante, but dante doesnt give one to shay?
3 words to describe shay and dantes relationship with evidence.
What does the story have to say about first love and creating memories?
small, two-bedroom, third-floor walk-up with good sunlight and hardwood floors. A show fireplace and ornate
molding. Ugly prewar3 bathroom tiles, like standing on a psychedelic4 chessboard. This was where Shay took
her first steps. Where she took sink baths before pretending her dolls were mermaids in the big tub. Where she
scribbled her name on the wall in her room under the window, before slinking into her parents’ bed to snuggle.
This was where she left trails of stickiness across the floor whenever coming inside with a Popsicle from the ice-
cream truck. Where she learned to water her mother’s plants. Plants they weren’t able to keep because now
this space — their space — was gone. Bought out from under them. Empty. All packed into a clunky truck that
was already headed south. And since Shay’s father left early to get a jump on traffic, it seemed like a good idea
to let her mother take a much-needed moment to weep in peace.
Plus, then Shay could have a much-needed moment to eraser tattoo Dante.
It felt like nothing at first, to Dante. No different than a finger rubbing. “Where y’all going again?” Dante asked.
“For the millionth time, Dante, North Carolina.”
“I know that part. I mean, what city?” Dante’s skin started to itch a bit.
“Wilmington,” Shay said. “Not too far from the water.”
Dante didn’t say anything. He had never heard of Wilmington, so he figured it was far. Figured it was a place
buses couldn’t get to.
“And that’s good. I mean, not good that I have to move, but that I’m gonna be near water so I can work on my
career stuff. Maybe get an internship or something.”
“I know, Shay. You wanna save fish and whales and all that.”
One of the new tenants, a young white woman, came from the truck and approached the house, her wavy hair
whipping in the breeze. She climbed the steps carrying a chair over her head. Dante scooted to the left an inch
to let her by.
Shay cocked her head to the side, lifted the pencil for a moment, the air instantly cooling Dante’s arm. “A
marine biologist. Somebody gotta care for all the stuff underwater that nobody can see. It’s a beautiful world
down there, full of living things that most folks don’t understand.”
“Like sharks.”
“Like fish that glow in the dark.”
Dante ticked his tongue against his teeth. “Fish that glow, Shay? Really?” He shook his head. “It don’t matter
anyway, because when I get rich and famous for building bridges, I’m gonna build one from here to...”
“Wilmington.”
“Wilmington.”
“Or, you could just buy me a plane ticket.” Shay chuckled to herself and started in again with the eraser. She
was concentrating on the top of the S, a curved back-and-forth motion — a frown.
“I’m gonna buy you a plane ticket. Shoot, I might just buy you a whole plane. And this house so we can live in it.”
Shay nodded but didn’t respond.
“You don’t believe me?”
“I do. I just don’t want to think about all that.” Shay glanced up at him with sadness, a dim shooting star in her
eyes. She blinked it away. “Right now, I just want to think about burning my initial into your arm.”
“Yeah... and, just so you know... um... it’s starting to burn.”
“Am I not worth the pain?” Shay tightened her face, cut her eyes at Dante playfully.
“Whatever, Shay. Ain’t like you getting my initial. So don’t give me that.”
“Come on, Dante. Let’s be real — ”
Just then, she was interrupted, not by Dante, or by any sound. Just by the other new tenant — the white man
from the truck, cradling a big box, waddling up the stoop. Dante scooted a little more to the left, this time to let
the guy pass before he was bowled over.
Shay picked up her thought. “Let’s be real,” she said. “What if we break up?” And before Dante could interject
with all the reasons they wouldn’t, and why would you even think like that, Shay added, “Not that we will or that
I want that, because I don’t. But... what if we do? Then I gotta have that ugly D on my arm forever.”
“And I’m gonna have this S, so...”
“Yeah, but at least you’ll be able to tell people it’s a snake or something. What am I gonna say?”
“Whatever, Shay.” Dante winced as the eraser broke the skin, and the two people trotted past them, back down
the steps. Back to the truck.
“Hurt?” Shay asked slyly.
“A little,” Dante lied. It hurt like h—. Like someone was trying to strike a match on his flesh. He glanced down at
his arm, the eraser rolling back the brown as Shay started on the curve.
“You don’t gotta lie. Remember who you talkin’ to. The girl who healed your boo-boos when we were kids.”
“Uh-huh. Which is why this is so funny — the girl who taught me how to tie my shoes so I wouldn’t hurt myself is
now... hurting me,” Dante said, through his teeth.
“Ah, so it does hurt.”
“It hurts, Shay. It hurts. It didn’t at first, but now it does.”
“Just don’t think about it. Take your mind off of it.”
“Um... I can’t. I mean, what you want me to think about? I can’t think of nothing except for the fact that my arm’s
on fire!” Dante now clinched his jaw and squirmed on the rough clay step. He was doing his best not to quit, to
keep his word and go through with this even though he was regretting it more and more each second.
“Okay, okay.” Shay stared up at the sky, thinking. “How ʼbout... You remember when you told me you loved me?”
“The first time?”
“No. We were five. That ain’t count. You told everybody you loved them back then. You used to kiss your juice
boxes after you drank them and tell the straw the same thing.” Shay shook her head.
“I did love juice boxes, though.” Dante shrugged. “Seriously, straws are made for kissing!”
“Whatever.” Shay shook her head again. “I’m talking about the first time you told me forreal. In the ninth grade.”
A smile crept onto Dante’s face. A perforated5 smile, interrupted every few seconds by a grimace. Partly due to
the burn from the eraser, partly due to the burn from the memory. “Yeah. It was part of our secret handshake
at first. Two claps, a pound, one clap, a dap, then ‘I love you’ from the both of us.”
“Exactly, and we had been friends so long that it was no big deal. Like family. Until one day...” She was scrubbing
his skin vigorously with the eraser, now coming into the second curve. Almost done.
“Until...” Dante’s words caught in his throat, overtaken by a painful hiss. “Until one day I hit you with the smooth
okey-doke.”
“Wasn’t no d— okey-doke!” Shay teased. “You dapped me, and we both said ‘I love you,’ like usual, except you
wouldn’t let go. And you had this wild look in your eye like my face was lunch or something.”
“Yeahhhhhh.” Dante gave a cocky nod.
“No, Dante. It was scary. But then you said it again. But you were super serious. Like real serious.”
“And you remember what you said?” Dante bit his lip to hold in a grunt. Again, part eraser, part memory.
“You always try to bring that up.”
“No, Shay, you, brought this whole thing up! I just wanna make sure before you move to Wilington — ”
“Wilmington.”
“Whatever. I just wanna make sure before you move you get this part of the story straight. So, I told you I loved
you, but this time I said it forreal. And you said...”
Shay sighed. “And I said, ‘No doubt, homie.’”
“NO DOUBT, HOMIE!” Dante yelped, showering Shay in fake disappointment. “That’s what you said!” Dante
dramatically slapped his free hand to his chest. When the “no doubt, homie” fiasco first took place, he thought
his heart would split in half. But it’d been a long time and he’d gotten over it, for the most part. Now it was just
something he loved to tease Shay about.
“Because I didn’t think you were serious!”
Perforated (adjective) pierced with a small hole or holes
“But you just said you knew I was serious, Shay!”
“Okay. Okay. So, I was scared. Because I knew I loved you too, but it was strange. It’s always been me and you,
and so for you to, like, try and make it us, well, that was a little weird for me at first. But after we walked away
from each other, what happened?”
“Well, I was crushed.”
“No you weren’t!”
“Oh, yes I was. But then you ran up behind me and pinched me on the butt, and I knew you loved me too.”
“Yeahhhhhh!” Shay howled. “And that is what you call game.”
Dante shook his head, first at Shay, then at the young man and woman now carrying a mattress toward them.
They started up the stoop, but Dante and Shay had no more space to scoot over. They were already up against
the railing.
Dante put his free hand up. “Wait, wait, we can just get off the stoop so y’all can go up,” he snapped, his tone
somewhere between annoyed and confused. He and Shay stepped down so the couple could step up. “I just
don’t know why they couldn’t say excuse me,” Dante grumbled, loud enough for the couple to hear. But they
didn’t respond. Didn’t even flinch. And as Shay and Dante watched the man and woman struggle up the steps
inside, they also watched Shay’s mother struggle down the steps, eventually bumbling through the front door.
“Wasn’t even out of the house before they started moving in all their s—,” Shay’s mother muttered under her
breath. She wiped her eyes, then glanced up, noticing Shay and Dante at the bottom of the stoop. She flashed a
sad grin. One of loss and love. One of understanding. “You ready, baby?”
Shay nodded, sighed. Her mother moved slowly, as if giving each foot a moment to mourn each step, and Shay
threw her arms around Dante, kissing him on the cheek.
“I love you.” It slipped easily from his lips. Like breathing. Like usual.
“No doubt, homie,” she replied, her whisper bookended by sniffles. Then she pinched him on the butt.
Dante walked Shay and her mother to the car, opened the passenger-side door. Before Shay got in, she gingerly
put the pencil back behind Dante’s ear, and he held his arm out so she could see her work. She blew on it, her
breath cooling the burn for just a moment.
“Looks good,” she said, simply, while slipping down into the seat.
“Not exactly.” Dante forced a smile, closed the door, and told Shay to call him when she got there. To
Wilmington. A place he’s never heard of, where buses probably didn’t go. He watched Shay and her mother pull
away, their car easing slowly past the double-parked truck — its emergency blinkers still on — that had left only
a sliver of space to get through. And as they turned the corner, vanishing from sight, Dante glanced down at the
S on his arm again. The burn. White where brown used to be.
He knew the sting wouldn’t last forever.
What is the main conflict happening in the story?
Why is shay moving?
Describe the setting of the story.
What is an eraser tattoo?
Why does shay give one to dante, but dante doesnt give one to shay?
3 words to describe shay and dantes relationship with evidence.
What does the story have to say about first love and creating memories?
Answers
GPT-4o mini
### What is the main conflict happening in the story?
The main conflict in the story revolves around Shay and her family having to move away from their home, which holds sentimental value for her and her mother. Shay is grappling with the emotional impact of leaving her childhood home and her friends, particularly Dante, which brings uncertainty and sadness to both characters.
### Why is Shay moving?
Shay is moving because her family has been bought out of their home. Her mother is deeply affected by the move, as it has been their home for over twenty years. The relocation to Wilmington, North Carolina, is tied to a need for a new living situation, possibly influenced by financial decisions.
### Describe the setting of the story.
The setting of the story is a small two-bedroom, third-floor walk-up apartment with good sunlight and hardwood floors. It features a show fireplace, ornate molding, and a prewar bathroom with psychedelic tiles. This apartment has served as Shay’s home for most of her life, making it a significant place filled with memories of her childhood.
### What is an eraser tattoo?
An eraser tattoo is a makeshift tattoo created by rubbing a pencil eraser on the skin, causing a temporary mark or burn. In the context of the story, Shay uses the eraser to create an “S” on Dante’s arm as a symbol of their close relationship.
### Why does Shay give one to Dante, but Dante doesn’t give one to Shay?
Shay gives an eraser tattoo to Dante as a way to solidify their bond before she moves away. It’s an act of intimacy and connection that represents her feelings for him. Dante, however, jokes about the idea of Shay giving him her initial but implies he is not going to reciprocate with an eraser tattoo for her. This dynamic highlights Shay's emotional investment in their relationship, while Dante might be more playful or less serious about the permanence of such a gesture.
### Three words to describe Shay and Dante's relationship with evidence.
1. **Playful**: Throughout their conversation, they engage in teasing and jokes, such as when Shay recounts the first time Dante told her he loved her, and he humorously exaggerates her response of "No doubt, homie."
2. **Intimate**: Shay and Dante share a deep emotional connection, as seen when Shay kisses Dante on the cheek and tells him, "I love you," to which he responds similarly. Furthermore, the act of Shay giving Dante an eraser tattoo signifies a level of intimacy.
3. **Bittersweet**: Their relationship reflects the bittersweet nature of first love and the impending separation due to Shay’s move. Shay expresses sadness about leaving, and there’s a sense of melancholy as they reassess their memories and feelings amidst the context of change.
### What does the story have to say about first love and creating memories?
The story illustrates first love as a significant and formative experience, filled with both joy and pain. It emphasizes the idea that childhood friendships can evolve into deeper relationships, but they are often marked by the challenges of change and growth. The memories created in childhood environments, like Shay's home, are precious and shape who individuals become. Their playful interactions and shared memories underscore the importance of connection and how these moments linger, even as life circumstances change. The story also highlights the idea that while changes (like moving away) can be painful, the memories created can carry on, influencing future relationships and personal identities.
The main conflict in the story revolves around Shay and her family having to move away from their home, which holds sentimental value for her and her mother. Shay is grappling with the emotional impact of leaving her childhood home and her friends, particularly Dante, which brings uncertainty and sadness to both characters.
### Why is Shay moving?
Shay is moving because her family has been bought out of their home. Her mother is deeply affected by the move, as it has been their home for over twenty years. The relocation to Wilmington, North Carolina, is tied to a need for a new living situation, possibly influenced by financial decisions.
### Describe the setting of the story.
The setting of the story is a small two-bedroom, third-floor walk-up apartment with good sunlight and hardwood floors. It features a show fireplace, ornate molding, and a prewar bathroom with psychedelic tiles. This apartment has served as Shay’s home for most of her life, making it a significant place filled with memories of her childhood.
### What is an eraser tattoo?
An eraser tattoo is a makeshift tattoo created by rubbing a pencil eraser on the skin, causing a temporary mark or burn. In the context of the story, Shay uses the eraser to create an “S” on Dante’s arm as a symbol of their close relationship.
### Why does Shay give one to Dante, but Dante doesn’t give one to Shay?
Shay gives an eraser tattoo to Dante as a way to solidify their bond before she moves away. It’s an act of intimacy and connection that represents her feelings for him. Dante, however, jokes about the idea of Shay giving him her initial but implies he is not going to reciprocate with an eraser tattoo for her. This dynamic highlights Shay's emotional investment in their relationship, while Dante might be more playful or less serious about the permanence of such a gesture.
### Three words to describe Shay and Dante's relationship with evidence.
1. **Playful**: Throughout their conversation, they engage in teasing and jokes, such as when Shay recounts the first time Dante told her he loved her, and he humorously exaggerates her response of "No doubt, homie."
2. **Intimate**: Shay and Dante share a deep emotional connection, as seen when Shay kisses Dante on the cheek and tells him, "I love you," to which he responds similarly. Furthermore, the act of Shay giving Dante an eraser tattoo signifies a level of intimacy.
3. **Bittersweet**: Their relationship reflects the bittersweet nature of first love and the impending separation due to Shay’s move. Shay expresses sadness about leaving, and there’s a sense of melancholy as they reassess their memories and feelings amidst the context of change.
### What does the story have to say about first love and creating memories?
The story illustrates first love as a significant and formative experience, filled with both joy and pain. It emphasizes the idea that childhood friendships can evolve into deeper relationships, but they are often marked by the challenges of change and growth. The memories created in childhood environments, like Shay's home, are precious and shape who individuals become. Their playful interactions and shared memories underscore the importance of connection and how these moments linger, even as life circumstances change. The story also highlights the idea that while changes (like moving away) can be painful, the memories created can carry on, influencing future relationships and personal identities.