It didn't take long for Mom to figure out I wasn't moving around upstairs. She stomped up the stairs. She had probably been in the kitchen packing our lunches. Thinking of food made me feel nauseous. My throat burned, but I pushed down my vomit. The acid in my stomach swooshed. It sounded like a huricane.

Mom turned on the lights when she reached my room. Even though my eyes were already closed, I shielded them from the light by putting my arm in front of my face.

"Please turn off the light," I pleaded.

"Get up! No more company if you'll be groggy the next morning."

"I have a headache."

Mom walked softly to my bed. She moved my arm away to study my face. I didn't have any energy to fake looking pitiful. I'm sure I looked as awful as I felt.

"How long have you had it?"

"Since I woke up. Can I stay home today?"

"Not over a headache, Loren. Take some Children's MOTRIN IB and you'll feel better."

"It'll make me tired. Can't I just stay home? Mrs. Wilson could take care of me."

"Not at this short notice. Get up. Meet me in my room so I can give you the medicine. You'll have to have a snack with it."

"Mom, please," I begged.

It didn't work though, because she walked away. I cracked open my eyes. I squinted, trying to get my eyes to adjust to the light. It took all of my might, but I made my way to the light switch and flipped it off. The only light came from the hallway now. In my closet, I reached for any pair of jeans and a shirt. I didn't care if they matched. I wanted to meet Mom as soon as possible if she had a solution to ease my pain.

I met Mom in her bedroom in front of her dresser. She handed me a pill and glass of water. I looked at them, hesitating. Why wouldn't Mom let me stay home? I looked up at her, and said, "Thank you."

She kissed me on the cheek. "Hurry and get ready so you're not late. By the time you brush your teeth, I'll have waffles for you."

On the walk to school, I was quiet, very quiet. So far, the pill worked, but I was afraid it'd be a false hope, like any excitement and then my headache would return with a vengeance. The cool breeze felt good. I walked beside Gregory and watched Kina half walk, half skip as if she didn't have a care in the world. Hannah trailed behind with her gaze glued to her phone. I waved at two construction workers who were sitting on a block of cement. They smoked cigarettes as they stared at us walking by. People were excited for the new movie theater. Fall couldn't come soon enough.

I couldn't get out of my head how Maria kept saying wonderful things about Kina last night in my room. They met at the pool for swim meets. Of course, Maria would volunteer her free time to help the swim coach and lifeguards teach kids how to swim. She was the type of student to do a lot of after school activities for credit.

I had no idea why I never went to any of Kina's swim meets. Even before Franco had died, I never went. Franco might've gone to support Kina a few times. If I was being true to myself, maybe he had gone a lot. I looked over at Kina again and wondered what she was thinking. Maybe I should stop messing with her. Franco would want me to step up and be a good older sister to Angela and Kina. There was no way the real Franco wanted me to hurt--let alone kill--Kina. The ghost I saw wasn't Franco. He didn't have a mean bone in his body. I needed to stop imagining him in that way. That version of him wasn't real. It also wasn't real that Mom and Kina plotted to kill me. Mom didn't have to take me to the hospital after I fell, but she did. She could've let me bleed internally. Kina constantly asked for my forgiveness. I didn't think she'd do that if she wanted to hurt me. There was no need for mind games. She would've just done it. She had plenty of opportunity when I slept next to her at nights.

I needed to get better. I would get better.