IVY ROE:
These lies protect me.
I was grateful for them. I could turn the pages of my books, and work on Andi’s projects, and eat lunch and pretend to believe them. It’s not that bad, it’s not that bad.
But I heard them that night, through the walls of my room.
I sat up, looked over at Chaos’s bed. “You hear that?”
But she was still asleep, face pressed into her pillow, blanket tangled around her.
I crept out of bed, to the stairs. The banister seemed to glow yellow and orange. Maybe from the candles in the kitchen. Or maybe because I forgot my glasses.
They were talking about Elise’s idea—something to get our parents back. Andi clearly hated it. Elise’s voice went flat, promising something she didn’t want to promise.
Someone scraped their chair back. Elise’s footsteps. At the stairs, she lifted her head, caught my eye.
Eyebrows scrunched together, eyes pinched. Angry? Because I was eavesdropping?
But she walked up the stairs and sat next to me. Her eyelashes were wet.
She whispered, “You’d do anything to have Mom and Dad back, right?”
I nodded slowly.
“Yeah.” She reached out and tucked my hair behind my ears. “Me, too.”
“But Andi says we need to stay safe. He promised—”
Elise stood up from the carpet, looked down at me. “I don’t care what Andi says.” She walked to her room, and I could only hear her voice. “Goodnight, Ivy.”
It was hard to go back to sleep after that. I fumbled for a match in my nightstand, lit a candle, prayed the flare wouldn’t wake Chaos.
Then I opened my journal and scribbled my pen in the margins to get the ink flowing.
54Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ3tmZbVh6Hv
Things I did today:
- Worked on the alarm project with Andi
- Cried because I found a hole in Mom’s red sweater. I need to find a needle.
- Proofread Andi’s calculations
- Calculated how much food Chaos needs to get for us and how to ration it for the week
- Avoided a fight with Chaos (I told her yelling won’t fix anything. She didn’t like that.)
- Read seventeen pages of an old Algebra II textbook
Spied on Elise and AndiMy hypothesis: She’s gonna break her promise and I might be the only one who realizes
54Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡH9HFOd2tvL
I dropped my pen, as if scorched. Closed my journal. Then snapped it back open and scribbled over the last bullet point until the words were completely covered.
☾ ☾ ☾
54Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡXvw9q9a3VO
I got up early. Andi was already awake, spooning rice into three bowls.
He told me good morning.
“What were you and Elise talking about last night?”
His spoon stopped midair. “Oh. You heard that.” He shook his head. “It wasn’t anything important. Just trying to get them home faster.”
Elise thought it was important. She‘d been crying.
Sunlight streamed in from the windows. Andi took one of the bowls, sat down.
I asked if he wanted to hear a fun fact. The corner of his eyes pinched, asked me if we could just eat breakfast in silence.
“Silence?” I wrinkled my nose.
He sighed. “Fine. Tell me the fun fact.”
“No, I can eat in silence. Did you know silence helps grow new brain cells?”
He almost smiled. Reached over, grabbed papers off the counter. Showed me his calculations for where to put the pressure plate.
“Once you finish eating, maybe we can go outside. Take some measurements.”
I shoveled rice into my mouth. Of course I wanted to go outside and take measurements.
He set a tape measure next to my bowl.
I was glad he dropped the silence thing. I didn’t want to wonder what he was worried about. Didn’t want to think about how things were below the surface. It’s not that bad, right?
Right?
ns216.73.217.114da2
and then Add to home screen.