Chapter 23I woke up with a pounding headache and a thawed bag of soggy carrots wedged under the crook of my neck. My pillow was damp from the condensation of the plastic vegetable bag.
Floorboards squeaked out in the hallway, and the outline of feet appeared in the slit under the door. I couldn’t let my parents see me this way. I hurried to distract them and send them away.
There was one firm rap.
My father.
I pretended to be asleep. But then my cell vibrated on the nightstand.
What timing! I rolled my eyes, groaned against the intrusion, and struggled to swallow back the pasty consistency of my wicked morning breath. My stomach growled. I was hungry, but I lay motionless, willing to ease the hammering in my head.
“Jay, it’s Dad. You up?”
Not taking my silence as a response, he cont
