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problelance at Rebecca, as scowling ―Did you know about this?‖

―Not exactly,‖ Rebecca said ―Dr Lord, don‘t you--‖

―I didn‘t think it was necessary to involve Becky in the prelie and even Rebecca didn‘t call herself Becky ―This isn‘t Becky‘s decision to make anyway‖

―But you didn‘t askthat maybe, oh, all those hours of family therapy had ist, jumped in ―Your father didn‘thomeschooled?‖

―That‘s a nonstarter,‖ said Dad

―Why?‖

―Because Eeries scheduled every day, and that‘s not counting eency reconstructions I‘m at the hospital six, sometimes seven, days a week Neither your mother nor I have the time to babysit you‖

That drew a little blood, as Dad had intended I looked away, chewing onthe tears not to fall I turned to Rebecca ―Please Say sohed ―Unfortunately, your parents have a point, Jenna You do need to be around kids your own age, and preferably ones without serious proble alone is when you‘ve run into problems‖

―Yeah, but I was in school when it hap--‖ I let that die I couldn‘t argue Even though I hadn‘t cut for over six weeks--a new record for e was there, all the tiirl froo an hour and don’t think about throwing up, I worry there’s so h, and I knew it

All the doors in the new McMansion had locks, but I wasn‘t allowed to use thee in as I was toweling off with her patented: ―Oh! I didn‘t know anyone was in here‖ Uh-huh I sa her eyes flicked fast, up and down, searching for new cuts, fresh scabs I knew she checked the trash for bloodied tissues or used Band-Aids Heaven forbid they ever looked behind the false panel beneath my vanity and found my nail scissors I hadn‘t used them since I‘d been ho else ―Wait a minute,‖ I said to Rebecca ―Don‘t you need ?‖

Rebecca shook her head ―Not technically You‘re only fifteen‖

―I‘ll be sixteen in Septehteen, your parents have full say over release of your records Legally, I can‘t stop theet our attention ―Let‘s stay on track, shall we? The point is, Jenna, you are perfectly capable of being around kids your own age, and Turing‘s an excellent private science and tech school‖

―Who said I‘h that was probably the stupidest thing I could‘ve said The best Christotten was this Edu Junior Scientist Kit Matt bought with his own money when I was five Moe smoke ―Doesn‘t my opinion count?‖

―She has a point,‖ Rebecca said About time, too ―I‘ll be honest, Dr Lord I was under the i I had no idea Jenna‘s records had been released, otten a request for a suuidance counselor‖

―Wait‖ Mom looked at Dad ―They don‘t have a letter frohed as if he was just so sick of having to get us all up to speed He spoke slowly and distinctly, like ere h that Jenna‘s wastedfrom her‖ He waved a hand to swat my past away ―I see no reason e should burden her further by prejudicing them with Becky‘s observations Jenna‘s out of the hospital She‘s on no medications She‘s at home, not in a straitjacket She comes here, what, twice a month? Becky, no disrespect, but there are one hundred and sixty-eight hours in a week, out of which hter spends, exactly, one hour with you No, less than that: fifty minutes Your involvement is minimal I doubt you have much of an impact at this point‖

―I see‖ Rebecca‘s tone dripped acid ―So what, exactly, is your point, Dr Lord?‖

―My point is that we are grateful to you We acknowledge the help you‘ve given Jenna But her future will not depend upon the fifty minutes she spends here, nor an assessment based on limited exposure‖

―In other words,‖ I said to Rebecca, ―you‘re fired‖

Psycho-Dad blustered a little bit, said things like outgrown and hatched and tis, like I was some kind of baby bird Rebecca just wouldn‘t let out of the nest, she was so protective But it all boiled down to this: Dad decided I needed a fresh start Turing was in, and little Becky was out My opinion didn‘t count God hath spoken

So that happens a lot when your dad‘s last name is Lord

c

That summer, I stayed put in my parents‘ new McMansion, which never felt like hootten rid of all my old furniture I now had a four-poster with a frilly canopy that I co how hard I‘d begged when I was younger because all princesses had canopy beds