There was a corner in Greenfield’s library I found comforting. Like a sanctuary. Not many people came here, instead occupying the study rooms and tables around the building, and I preferred it like that.
Whenever I did homework, that was my ‘alone time’. During classes and clubs, I faced the stress of socializing. Before, I wouldn’t have minded it, but now, I didn’t feel like talking to anyone.
My phone buzzed loudly with a video call. Amelia’s beautiful face was on my screen. Smiling, I answered.
“Hey, babe,” she said, walking. Ceiling lights passed over her head.
“Hey.” I scratched my neck.
“How are you? I miss you.”
“Okay. Getting there.”
“I’m sorry I haven’t visited yet.”
“It’s okay, I know. Freshman year is crazy.”
“Oh, yeah.” She sat down at a table, setting her phone against something so I could see her properly. “It’s October and I have a project.”
“For what?”
“Rhetoric and Composition.” She brought out a notebook and flipped through the pages. “I can’t wait to get through my Gen-Eds.”
“Me, too,” I agreed. “God, the Math course I have is so easy, I feel like I’m cheating. And people in my class are just stupid.”
Amelia laughed. “Don’t be mean. Any courses you’re taking that you like?” she asked.
“Yeah. First Aid and CPR Training. It’s my favorite,” I said as I turned a page of my textbook. “The book was pretty expensive, though. But the professor ‘doesn’t like e-books’.”
“Is it worth it?”
“Yeah. It’s a fun class. Just expensive.”
She paused, turning a page. “Jack… how have you been doing, really?” She clicked her pen and wrote something down.
“What do you mean?”
“You know.”
I put down my book and sighed. “I don’t know. It’s like… I look at my parents, and they’re complete strangers. Even Kyle doesn’t talk to me that much anymore. And Tommy and Harry… they’re angry with me.”
“You didn’t have to be so mean to them.”
“It’s because I’ve been having a hard time— because of her. And Mom and Dad want us all to just go back to normal. They’re holed up in their room ignoring us.” I mindlessly read the pages. “At least she won’t be at Summit anymore.”
“Oh, she’s not?”
“She’s transferring to online school. She starts on Monday. Tomorrow’s her last day.”
Amelia clicked her tongue. “Poor thing probably dealt with a lot at school.” Her undertone instilled a wave of guilt, but I remained silent.
“Her caseworker’s coming over on Tuesday, too,” I finally said.
“I thought she was going tomorrow?”
“She was ‘busy’, so she postponed it.”
“How does that go?”
“She’ll just come over and see how we’re doing. We just need to act… ‘normal’, and we’ll be fine.” I cringed at the thought. Acting was never my strong suit.
“Does Diana want to leave?” Amelia asked.
“I don’t know.”
“What about the bullying at school?”
“I don’t know,” I repeated robotically. “It’s probably reported already.” Did the caseworker know about her arms? Did Diana’s therapist know? Probably not. She’d hidden it for so long.
My phone buzzed, an alert covering Amelia’s face. ‘STR Info Night’, it said. I cursed. “I have a meeting, I forgot.” I dismissed the alert.
“What meeting?” Amelia asked curiously.
I packed my things. “A frat thing-” I stopped, kicking myself.
Amelia sighed disapprovingly. “I don’t know about that, Jack.”
“It’s just an info night. I’m not rushing until next semester, anyway. Too much going on right now. I missed fall rush already.”
“Are you sure you want to do this?”
“Amelia, come on. You sound like my mom.”
She chuckled lightly. “I just don’t want you to get hazed on top of everything that’s happening. The team already hazed you, right?”
“It wasn’t that bad. Just lunch. It’s not like they made me strip or anything. Besides, your roommate’s in a sorority, isn’t she? You said she looked happy.”
“She looks happy. Greek Life isn’t as big at Waterford. And I feel like women’s clubs are at least a bit safer.”
“What do you mean?” I started out of the library, holding my phone.
Amelia raised a brow. “Jack. You men are a whole other species.”
I rolled my eyes. “I’ll be fine. It’s just a little meeting.”
“You skipped work for that?”
“No, my shift ended two hours ago.” I left the library building, heading for the shuttle bus stop. The sky was beautiful, moonlight illuminating thin clouds.
“Just be careful, okay? Frats… they’ve got a reputation,” Amelia warned me.
“Not every frat guy’s the same. Sam rushed.”
“Do your parents know you’re rushing?”
I licked my lips. “… They will.”
“How are you gonna explain the dues if you get in one?”
“I’m paying my own dues with my money.”
“Wasn’t your dad in a frat?”
“Yeah, and he says he regretted it because they hazed so much. But Greenfield’s different.”
Amelia seemed doubtful, but she said nothing. “Okay. Anyway…” She yawned. “I think I’ll call it a night and go back to my dorm. My roommate should be out working all night.” She took her phone as she put away her stuff, her video wobbling. “Let me know how it goes with Diana, okay?”
I sighed tiredly. “Yeah.”
“Don’t be too hard on her, okay?”
“I’m trying not to. It’s just… everything’s been so difficult with her around.”
“It’s not her fault.”
“I know, but it’s still hard. My parents just want another daughter. I don’t want to call her my sister.”
“You don’t have to. Amy is still Amy. You’re not replacing anyone. Just call Diana your friend.” She started leaving her area. The ceiling turned into a night sky above her. “Think about what Amy would do if she were here.”
Her words made me pause. How would she have treated her? She’d be thrilled at the prospect of having a sister in the first place. And being her… well, double…
But the thing was, if she were here, none of us would have a problem with Diana.
God, what do I do? I know I haven’t talked to you enough, but what do I do? Please, I want to be better. Why does it have to hurt?
“I love you, babe. I’ll talk to you later on. Oh, and I’ll let you know if I can visit,” Amelia said.
“Okay. I love you too. Bye.”
She hung up. I resisted tears, sitting on the bench. My leg bounced impatiently as I waited for the shuttle to arrive. I hoped I wasn’t too late. It would be a good distraction from all the chaos in my family. Sigma Tau Rho was the top fraternity on my list, and I didn’t want to screw anything up.
So far, I’d made a couple of friends there. Asher, the chapter president, was in a club I joined. Howard was a guy I met at the club fair. Hopefully, I’d make a good impression tonight.
I got off the shuttle at the Greek Housing section. As I walked, Kyle called me. “Hey,” I said, putting the phone to my ear.
“Hey, are you coming home?” he asked.
“No, I have an interview, remember?”
“Oh, yeah, I forgot. The scholarship, right?”
“Yup.”
“You have everything you need?”
“All set.” I approached the house with the big ΣΤΡ carved in the stone. There were some clusters of men hanging out on the porch, talking. Most wore shirts with the same Greek letters.
“So, you want me to pick you up when it’s over?”
“Sure. Thanks.”
“Alright. Love you.”
“Whatever.”
“Come on,” he chuckled. “What, you’re embarrassed?”
I rolled my eyes. “I love you, too. I’ll see you.”
Now that I realized, it had been… quite a while since I told any of my brothers I loved them. Even hearing it was rare. All Kyle and I talked about now was Diana and… everything bad.
I missed my brothers. I missed… normal.
~~~
Diana
I felt terrible as I entered my third-period Biology class. It was Friday, and everyone was impatiently waiting for the end of the day to come along.
I was more impatient than ever, since this would be my last day here. Over the weekend, I’d transfer to Kooskia Online Academy, effective immediately. After Kyle told his parents everything, they thought leaving school was the best for me. It took a lot of crying and begging to convince them to not tell my caseworkers, though.
I was giving up on everything. No one would see me walk these halls ever again. I was done. I’d gotten the answers I wanted.
I couldn’t bring myself to tell anyone. I tried three times to tell Mildred on the bus today, but failed every time. And now I had to face Tony in Biology.
He waved with a big smile when he saw me, increasing my guilt. I forced a small smile back and slipped into my seat.
“Hey,” he said, shifting in his seat.
“Hi.” I quirked a brow. “Anything going on?”
“Uh, no. No. Just… excited for the weekend, I guess.”
“Yeah, me too,” I sighed.
“Next week will be cool, too.”
“Next week?”
“Yeah, it’s Homecoming. There’ll be events all week.”
Homecoming. I’d completely forgotten. Somehow, all the banners and posters around school didn’t catch my attention. Tommy and Harry had been talking about it, too; they were training long and hard for the big game against Lawson High School.
“Um…” Tony’s legs bounced. “Did you buy your ticket to the Homecoming Dance yet?” His fingers twiddled.
“There’s a dance?”
“Y-yeah. Yeah, next weekend. I can’t believe you didn’t know.”
I shrugged. “I guess it never came up.”
“There should be enough tickets left, though.”
“Doesn’t matter. I’m not going.”
“Why? It’ll be fun. You can go with someone you know…”
I hesitated. “Tony…” I’m not coming to school anymore, was what I wanted to say, but I couldn’t form the words. “It’s just… you know… with my reputation here, I don’t think it’s a good idea.” That was half the truth, at least.
“You sure? Your other friends will be there, right?” he asked.
“Yeah…” I wasn’t even sure if they were my friends. Blanche and Alma were using me as publicity the whole time. What if Thelma and Kate had ulterior motives? What about Mildred? They didn’t get anything out of being friends with me except additional rumors about them. Why else would they want to be around someone like me?
Stolen from its original source, this story is not meant to be on Amazon; report any sightings.
What if Tony was the same? Why would he endure his soccer team bullying him over being my friend? Was it all a charity case? Did people talk to me because they felt sorry?
“School dances just aren’t my thing,” I told him.
“That’s fine. The whole week will be fun, though. Your foster brothers are playing against Lawson, right?”
“Mm-hmm.” A bit of disdain crept into my voice at the mention. Those two blabbermouths weren’t people I wanted to talk about.
“We can cheer them on together.”
“Sure.” I smiled thinly, guilt crushing my insides. I didn’t know why I couldn’t just tell him I wasn’t coming back next week. The words stuck in my throat.
Maybe I could go to that dance… No, that was a horrible idea. I’d probably end up like Carrie; people liked calling me that, anyways.
His life would be a lot better. I always made everyone miserable.
~~~
Kyle
October 17th, 2023
I stepped into the foyer with Jack. Looking in the dining room, Tommy, Harry, and Diana were seated at the table, which was nicely set. Mom and Dad were in the kitchen.
Jack had canceled his work shift today, and I’d left my Spanish class early. I was eager to get this dinner over with and get back to school for my other course. We went up to our room to change into something more decent.
“This is gonna go well,” Jack said as he also changed.
“We just have to not fight.”
He scoffed.
“Jack, we don’t have to act, or add anything extra, we just need some basic human decency. It’s not that hard.”
“I guess you’re right.” He buttoned up his shirt. “You think she’ll ask any questions?”
“Probably basic stuff. Shouldn’t be a problem.”
“You think she knows about…?”
“I hope not.”
“She’s here!” Mom called. We rushed downstairs and sat at the table. The smell of lasagna filled the room, watering my mouth. I was starving.
Mom came out of the kitchen, untying her apron and giving it to Dad. The doorbell rang. She took a deep breath and went to the foyer. Diana suddenly exhaled, her face noticeably paler than usual. In fact, she looked like she was going to be sick.
“You good?” I asked.
She looked at me, raising a brow skeptically. “I guess.”
“I was just asking.”
Harry reached out and took her hand. She smiled, accepting his comfort. I pushed down the resentment and looked back as our guest entered.
The room instantly felt cold. A shiver ran down my spine as I took in the sight of a woman in her 50’s, salt-and-pepper hair tied up into a tight, neat bun. She was dressed in a blue business-casual suit, which was perfectly pressed, not a wrinkle in sight. She held a clipboard in her arm.
Her eyes were of a warm golden brown, but her gaze was as cold and hard as a frozen lake. She was nothing like the first caseworker we met. I’d forgotten his name, but he was a lot friendlier when he came over for the house inspection, before Diana came.
“Boys, this is Janet Bredlong,” Mom introduced her politely. “Ms. Bredlong, this is our family.” She waved a hand towards us.
Diana stood and smiled sweetly. I would have believed it if I didn’t know her. “It’s nice to see you, Ms. Bredlong,” she said.
She ignored her, her eyes slowly moving over us. My whole body was uncomfortably stiff. “Please, take a seat.” Dad pulled out a chair for her.
She nodded at him and sat down, looking pointedly at Diana, who also sat. “It’s nice to meet you,” she said, her voice like iron. It didn’t sound like she was that happy to be here.
“We made some dinner for you. I’ll bring it out.” Mom wrung her hands together, glancing at Dad as she went into the kitchen. Dad sat down stiffly.
“Mr. Field,” Ms. Bredlong addressed Dad. His back went rigid and he smiled politely. “You’ve had Diana for 62 days, correct?” she asked him, holding up her clipboard. She took out a pen and clicked it, making Diana flinch.
“Uh- yes.”
“How has the situation played out for you and your family?”
“It’s been going well. Diana has been a great foster daughter,” he answered.
“How?”
“She… she’s given us some much-needed company. She’s very sweet and bright. We’ve enjoyed having her here.”
“My colleague, David Brian, has been in communication with Diana. He says she had a bit of… trouble at the beginning, with your sons. Is that true?”
I tried to hide my nerves. I bit my lips together, listening to Dad’s answer. Diana started playing with her yellow sweater sleeves.
“It was more of an acclimation process. Our sons weren’t prepared to have a foster sister, but they’ve gotten used to her being around. They’ve gotten along well.”
There was silence as Ms. Bredlong scribbled in her clipboard. Mom came with some plates, setting them down in front of Ms. Bredlong and Dad. I glanced at Diana. Her face was still deathly pale and her hands were reddened. She kept playing with her sleeves.
She always wore long sleeves. I never saw her with a T-shirt before. I always wondered why she’d wear long sleeves, even when it was sweltering outside. Now I knew.
“What’s your name, young man?” Ms. Bredlong eyed me. I glanced at Jack next to me and pointed at myself with question. She nodded. “Yes, you.”
“Kyle, ma’am.”
“What were your first impressions of Diana? She resembles your late sister, am I right?”
My stomach knotted as I nodded, breaking out in a cold sweat. “Yes, ma’am. Um… I was kinda… shocked at first? I didn’t expect her to look… so much like her.”
Diana’s gaze was fixed on her lap now. Mom served plates of lasagna to me and Jack. She glanced between us nervously.
“What about your brothers? What’s your name?” She now looked at Jack.
“Jack. I, uh… more or less had the same reaction. Our sister died a few months ago, so…”
Ms. Bredlong wrote something else down. “Would you say you have connected with Diana despite her resemblance to your sister?” Her tone was clinical, devoid of emotion or empathy.
“… I’d say yes,” Jack answered carefully. “It’s a bit hard, since she’s in high school, and Kyle and I are in college. We usually have a lot of homework and stuff. But we talk when we have time.”
Mom came in, now moving more stiffly, and gave Tommy and Harry their plates. Dad stood to help, but she motioned for him to stay.
The lying was killing me, but I knew it was necessary. Before, I thought being honest would benefit us all, but seeing this woman now, I knew lying was all we could do for Diana’s sake. As resentful as I felt around her, I didn’t want this woman to re-assign her somewhere else.
I saw her file only once, and only partially. That one glimpse of a page was enough for me to know that the system really screwed her up. It was no wonder she was doing this to herself.
Guilt flooded me. I was so selfish. I should’ve been…
“What year of high school is she enrolled in, Mr. Field?” Ms. Bredlong then asked as Mom came out with Diana’s plate and her own.
“Second year.”
“And she attended school face-to-face?”
“That’s right.” He took Mom’s hand as she sat next to him.
“How long ago did she transfer to the online program?”
“Over the weekend. She started yesterday.”
I glanced at Diana again. She stared at her plate, her entire body rigid. Mom cleared her throat. We took each other’s hands, except Ms. Bredlong’s, and prayed quickly. I forced myself to cut a piece of lasagna. My previously eager appetite was gone, my stomach clenching uncomfortably.
“Why did she transfer to the online program?” Ms. Bredlong asked. She put her clipboard down and started eating her lasagna, nodding at Mom. “Thank you for the meal,” she said. Mom nodded back.
“She was, uh… having some problems in high school. I think only she can tell you what exactly happened,” Dad said.
“What are your names?” Her attention was now on Tommy and Harry.
“Tommy, ma’am. And Harry,” Tommy answered for them. Harry’s jaw was wired shut.
“You attend the same high school, correct?”
“Yes. I’m a senior and Harry’s a junior.”
“What happened at school that made Diana want to learn at home?” She ate a piece of lasagna.
She wasn’t asking Diana anything. She wanted us to speak for her. It was almost as if she were pretending the girl wasn’t here. That wasn’t right. Diana was the only one who could express what she felt, not us.
“Well… because of how much she looked like Amy, people at school were a bit… affected,” Tommy answered truthfully. “They spread a lot of rumors about us and Diana. So… that can weigh down a lot on someone, you know? So Diana switched to online school.”
“Sh-she did make friends, though,” Harry hastily added. “Right, Diana?”
She nodded silently, smiling convincingly. “Yeah. On the bus, I met Mildred. She’s really cool.” She smiled, now genuine. I was amazed at how I could tell the difference. “Actually, once, in the cafeteria-”
“Diana, was I talking to you?” Ms. Bredlong raised her brows, her tone condescending.
I raised my brows. Diana instantly deflated and went silent, anger flashing in her eyes momentarily.
“Amy is your late sister, correct?”
“Y-yeah.”
“Continue, Harry.”
“Um… w-well, I know she’s made a lot of friends, but I couldn’t really tell you a lot about them. They’re Diana’s friends, so… she knows who they are.” He laughed nervously.
“Hmm.” She ate some more lasagna and swallowed, patting her lips clean with a napkin. “Would you say Diana is more comfortable learning from home than at the high school, Mrs. Field?” She looked at our mom.
Mom’s eyes widened slightly. “I-I… yes, I’d say so. It’s only been since yesterday, so…”
“I have been feeling better at home,” Diana added.
Ms. Bredlong wrote something else in her clipboard. “She hasn’t stopped the habit of speaking out of turn, I see.”
I looked at Jack, who was thinking the same. What was this woman’s problem? All these questions should’ve been directed to Diana, not us.
“Would you consider Diana to be obedient?” she asked our parents.
“Oh, yes. She’s a very respectful, polite girl. We’ve never had a major problem with her,” said Mom.
“Have there been any disturbing habits she’s taken? Any incidents related to her disorders?”
Harry squirmed in his seat. Tommy patted his shoulder, giving him a look. I looked at the ceiling, praying they’d keep their mouths shut.
“Recently, no,” said Dad. “She does react to loud noises, like something dropping on the floor, or doors slamming accidentally. But nothing major.”
“At school, did she ever act up?” Ms. Bredlong was halfway finished with her lasagna. Everyone else had hardly taken a bite.
“Not that we know of.”
“Did you see her act up in school?” she asked Tommy and Harry.
“She’s in a different year than us, so we didn’t really see her,” Harry said. “We did hear through other people that she acted up in class, but we don’t really know if it’s true.”
“Is it true, Diana?” Mom prompted her.
Diana shifted. “I did… have a couple panic attacks in class, mostly from social anxiety. I didn’t really know about Amy, so at first, I was anxious about people staring at me. After I found out, the rumors got worse.”
Ms. Bredlong wrote some more in her paper. “She didn’t know about your daughter?” She looked at my parents with question.
We all looked at each other, eyes wide. I cursed mentally. “I-it was a hard subject to broach at first-” Mom started.
“We assumed her other caseworker had told her,” Dad quickly interjected.
“And how did she react when she was told? How did she find out?” Ms. Bredlong leaned forward with interest.
“Um… she was… pretty shocked. Harry told her about it. She…” Mom’s mouth flapped.
“She was shocked, yeah,” Harry said. “I stayed with her for a bit. It wasn’t an easy pill to swallow.”
“So she found out by chance? You hid this from her?”
“Th-they just lost their daughter, so I don’t really blame them,” Diana said. “And like Davis said, they assumed Mr. Brian told me.”
Ms. Bredlong sighed sharply, giving her a look. She quieted again and looked down. “Sorry.”
That was enough. “Excuse me, Ms. Bredlong?”
“Yes, Kyle?”
“With all due respect, shouldn’t you be asking Diana all this? There are some questions that only she can really answer. I… personally think that her feelings about living with us should be more of a priority to know.”
Everyone stared at me. Diana’s sea green eyes were wide, boring straight into mine.
Just like Amy’s eyes.
Ms. Bredlong’s eyes narrowed. “My job is to evaluate you objectively as a whole. I haven’t finished my review yet, young man.”
“I understand that, ma’am. I don’t mean to undermine you or anything. I just found it… weird that you were asking us questions about Diana’s feelings. What she felt at school, what she feels with us here… we don’t know any of that for sure. She can give you an accurate answer to those questions.”
Ms. Bredlong’s teeth ground together and she huffed softly, curving her thin lips into a fake smile. “You make a point. But… she has a history of lying.” She glared at Diana. “So I usually ask the family first to be sure that the stories line up.”
Diana shifted, her jaw clenching. “That was one time.”
Ms. Bredlong scoffed. “No, it wasn’t.”
“Well, I’m happy here, FYI, so I wouldn’t lie.” She fiddled further with her sleeves, biting down tightly on her lip.
“Don’t talk back to me.”
Dad suddenly scrunched his brows in question, looking at Diana. It was a fleeting moment, but Ms. Bredlong saw it. “What was that?”
Dad went rigid again, as if responding to a drill sergeant. “What was what?”
“That look on your face.” She imitated his expression. “What was it?”
“Uh- nothing. I was just… thinking… about something.”
A long, tense silence. Diana was squirming in her seat, now hiding her arms under the table and wincing a bit. Ms. Bredlong’s cold amber eyes narrowed at her. My heart picked up speed and my mouth dried.
“Are you sure she hasn’t picked up any habits while here?” she asked our parents.
“What habits do you mean, exactly?” Mom asked.
“You’ve read her file. I’m sure you know about her self-harm. She attempted suicide at age twelve.” The blunt nature of her words sent me into shock. Twelve? “And she has a history of harming herself.”
“W-well, we know she’s taking normal doses,” Mom said carefully. “A-and we took her to the doctor’s recently. He said she was fine. She was a bit underweight when she came, but now she’s putting on some healthy weight.”
“Hmm. Be sure to take her again.” Ms. Bredlong wrote some more. “We can’t have any negligent behavior.”
Diana scoffed, rolling her eyes. “You guys never cared about ‘negligence’,” she said, making quotes with her fingers. “Why do you think I did it in the first place?”
“Don’t undermine me. Besides, we know you were trying to grab everyone’s attention.”
A deafening beat of silence passed over. All of us were in shock.
“I was what?”
“Mrs. Field, Mr. Field,” she nodded at our parents, “I’d advise you to be careful with Diana when it comes to issues like these. She has a history of chronic lying and has inflicted wounds on herself to either move out of a home or get attention. Her previous therapists have reported this behavior-”
“Yeah, because they’re idiots!” Diana shouted.
“If I hear another word out of you, I’m pulling you out whether you like it or not.”
I stood at her words. “Whoa, okay, I don’t think-”
“Your defiant and erratic behavior need correction. Do you want that again, or do you really want to stay here? From what I’m seeing here…” She crossed her arms, scanning us. “There’s something you’re hiding.”
“I just hated school. That’s out of the way,” Diana said, standing. “I’m happy here, okay? They actually treat me like a human being, unlike you and everyone else.”
“You’ve always hated school, Diana. Why did you suddenly ask to go? And to the same school as your foster brothers? You could’ve gone to another.”
Diana paled, glancing at our parents. Ms. Bredlong turned her attention back to them. “What did she say to you about school before the academic year started?”
“Um… well, at first… she was pretty against going,” said Mom. “But while she was looking up online schools, she looked at Summit’s curriculum, and she came to our room to ask us to let her go with our sons.”
“Weren’t you worried about how the other students would react? It’s obvious they knew your daughter if she attended that school.”
“She insisted on going with them… because she didn’t want to be alone. She cried. We couldn’t say no.”
Ms. Bredlong raised a brow at Diana. “And then you wonder why I believe you’re a chronic liar.”
“I just wanted a change of pace. I thought it would be a bit different this time,” she explained.
“It clearly wasn’t. And you kept going to school.”
“I just wanted to know why I kept getting those… looks. I thought someone at their school would tell me.”
“When did you find out about your resemblance to Amy?”
“I… I dunno. Last month?”
“And you still went to school?”
“I had friends! Like Harry said. I’m happy, okay?” Her tone was unconvincing, her acting skills fading as her frustration increased.
“If you’re so happy, then why are you making such an effort for me to pull you out?”
Her body tensed and trembled further, her skin reddening. “I begged you to pull me out of the Masons’, and the Goslings’, and the Jaspers’, and the Ellisons’, and… so many others’, but you wouldn’t! You kept convincing everyone that I was fine!”
“We needed to be sure you were telling the truth,” Ms. Bredlong replied coolly. “You cried wolf a lot, and you still do.”
“Diana, could you please just calm-” I held out a hand, motioning for her to sit back down.
“You’re the liar! You tell all the others that I’m lying and you manipulate them, and I’m the ‘chronic liar’?!” She then cursed.
Ms. Bredlong stood, taking her clipboard. “I think I’ve gotten what I need.”
Everyone was now standing. “Ms. Bredlong-” Mom started.
“I’m not sure if any of you are adequate for the care of this child. Especially if you are aiding and abetting her into taking advantage of this system.”
“I’m not taking advantage of anything!” Diana yelled.
Harry put his hands on her shoulders. “Diana, please-”
“I’m staying here! If you pull me out, I swear I’ll keep cut-” She choked.
After a long pause, a smile slid onto Ms. Bredlong’s face. “I knew it.”
Diana breathed heavily. The rage seemed to fade into panic. She shook her head, going up to her caseworker and gripping her arms. Her sea green eyes filled with tears. “P-please… I like it here. They’re better than everyone else. Please.”
“Ms. Bredlong, we can explain-” Dad started.
“It was school. They did a bunch of messed-up stuff to her,” said Harry. “But now she’s out, so it’s better…”
Ms. Bredlong took Diana’s hands off her. “I’ll think about it. In the meantime…” She took Diana’s wrist, pulling her sleeve up. Everyone gasped at the damage done to her bandages, which were practically torn off. When did she…?
Diana fell to her knees in tears. “Please don’t.”
“Well, it seems she’s resumed. I didn’t hear this from her therapist.” She looked at us pointedly. “You could face serious legal consequences for negligence… and withholding information.”
Mom gripped Dad’s hand. My neck ached with tension. “W-we didn’t know what to do. We didn’t want to make anything worse. She begged us.”
Ms. Bredlong let out a large sigh. “Typical. I’ll let you go. For now. I’ll have to discuss this with everyone else.” Diana’s gasping grew louder. She glanced down at her. “Her self-harm needs attention, even so. How long?”
“We only found out last week,” Mom confessed. “We thought pulling her out of school would be enough for her to improve.”
Harry crouched next to Diana, wrapping his arms around her. Her body was faint and she was pale as a ghost, unable to breathe properly.
“Did any of you know?” Ms. Bredlong eyed me and my brothers like a hawk.
I shook my head. “We found out recently, too.”
Harry sighed. “We knew,” he said. “She was scared she’d be moved, so she asked us not to tell so she could stay.” Tommy covered his face in response, breathing tensely.
“I’ll be sending a liaison to keep an eye on Diana. If she’s legitimately hurting herself, she should be monitored.”
Diana broke out of Harry’s arms, her legs collapsing as she practically crawled up the stairs. Ms. Bredlong headed to the door. “I’m afraid I’m out of time. I’m sorry I couldn’t finish that meal— it was delicious. I’ll be in contact with you. Good day.” She looked pointedly at Dad. After realizing, he rushed over and opened the door for her. He closed it and leaned his forehead on the wood.
What a disaster.