er focus. It kept her mind busy, away from the school hallway, Chloe's smile, or Julian Reed's words

kept kicking the seat in front of him. The woman next to Elara talked l

d against the window and

uzzed. She

Sorry, sweetheart

t more than anything Chloe

ce is

t her ph

This added twelve minutes but helped her avoid the moment she had to prepare herself for on the front steps

rice had ripped it out two years ago because the hydrangeas "attracted insects." It had a blue door her father painted t

. Beatrice had repainted it

her key in

re la

tiful in a calculated way, sharp cheekbones, always dressed, never a hair out of place. People at her father's office e

got stuck, as it often did around Beatrice,

at her over the

ha

ok out h

as de

eatrice set her glass down and looked Elara over, inspecting

water had dried into a tide mark across

led something

ddle. When she spoke clearly, her voice was low

she was almost never outright unkind. She was precise, honing in on Elara'

ve fast enough. You have a habit of just st

ked to th

Dinner needs to be started. You

d on the bo

rned a

ady picked up her

ned a page. "You left your science textbook on the dining table this morning. I put

tared a

ked up, mildly curious, as if as

he'd had since year ten, filled w

hed through

id, turning another page. "Now you have a re

eded to do, and she would not cry. She had a rule about crying. She hadn't cried since the morning her mother's car disappeared down their ol

adn't forgot

d just

irred th

ognized the rhythm of his entry-keys on the hook, briefcase on the floor, s

Something s

carried through. "I was working

aus

ther said generally

lated t

r conversation and Beatrice laughing at something. She made three

books shelved by subject, her desk facing the wi

You are not w

ard: Two

ers, with child-like handwriting:

her mother's

and opened her noteb

ft off. The equations were clear and satisfying, unlike anything else in he

e screen

wn nu

calls from numbers she didn't rec

is t

came q

umber from the class list, the teacher's assis

ked at he

you text

copy of the chemistry textbook. After wha

w tigh

to check anyth

aus

ibrary issue room. Room 4, ask for Mr. williams. He keeps extra

the messa

e know I l

ply took

But I think

phone face dow

d at her

ot what t

up her ph

im tha

Then immedi

stop guessing

n again and tried to

r and bright, and her father's voice joining in, the

index card in her m

back to her

uld think was the exact thought she couldn't afford to have, was the s

e mean

he sa

r pen hard aga

not afford