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Next to her elbow is a case of Monster energy drinks like the ones she used to bring me at the bakery.

“Rise and shine,” I say.

When she lifts her head, she smiles. All the way, like the sun coming up. Rise and shine.

Then her elbow bumps the Monsters, and a cloud drifts over her expression.

“Sorry,” she says.

“Nothing to be sorry about. Unless you destroyed some other property of mine?”

Her nose wrinkles. “Yeah. I was feeling bad about that.”

“Really?”

“Well, the money part. Krish told me how much a carton of cigarettes costs. I brought you these to make up for it. I f

igured if you’re going to get addicted to a stimulant because you’re running yourself ragged, energy drinks are a better choice.”

“Thanks.”

She gets to her feet. I don’t want her to leave. “What’d you and Franks do today?”

“I took her to the Student Senate meeting.”

“You on the senate now?”

“Yeah.”

“How is it?”

“Scintillating.”

She tosses her hair behind her shoulder. It’s a lot longer than it was last year, almost halfway down her back. I want to gather it up in my hands and feel if it’s heavier. Feel if it’s different.

She’s too skinny, I know that much. And in this light, the circles under her eyes are obvious.

When she was with me, I’d help her get back to sleep if she woke in the night.

“You talk to her yet?” she asks.

“Who, Franks?”

“About the bus.”

“No.”

I need to. It’s not just Caroline saying so—I get these emails from the counselor at Frankie’s school, who’s got her coming in to his office once a week so he can make sure she’s “settling in.” He keeps suggesting we get together for a little chat, but I can’t imagine anything good coming out of that.

Bottom line, I go in to see him, he’ll find out something I don’t want him to know. Something about murder and mayhem, something about my work schedule leaving Frankie alone for hours on end, something about me being twenty-one years old, too young to have complete responsibility for a ten-year-old kid.

I read his emails, then delete them.

Caroline’s frowning. “She’s having a hard time at school.”

“Everybody has a hard time at school.”

That makes the little V-shape between her eyebrows deepen. “No, this is worse than that. Something shitty happened today. She was crying in my car after I picked her up.”

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