FKMS
“Where will you go after school?”
“The school library.”
Mom watches me fake-swallow the pill and chase it with water. I close the bathroom door behind her. The pill’s only in my mouth for thirty seconds, but a bitter, chemical aftertaste remains. I roll the pill in toilet paper, then shove it in my front pocket. It would be easier to flush it, but I can’t do that to the fish. They never did anything to me.
Mom drives me to school, early. Leah sits in the front seat, which she leans all the way back. I watch her fiddle with the cuff of her hoodie.
“Ray can pick Amy up,” Leah says.
“Who’s Ray?”
“Um, Fay Ray Duckworth? The girl who—”
“No.”
“Why? Ray’s mom is totally cool with guests. We can—”
“What did I say?”
Leah woofles and slumps down even further. “What about Grandma Rose
