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I looked at er I felt rising through me I don’t knohat happened, but it was like I lost all control Not only of ,split into two people The scary thing was I’d been feeling like that quite a bit

I took a deep breath through ain focus

"I’m sorry," I mumbled "I don’t knohat came over me"

Silence I opened one eye and sawlooks across the table Ada was observingeyes and reached over to pat my hand

"Don’t worry about it, you weirdo," she said with a small smile She looked down at ot so on for once"

I frowned and looked down at fingers I did have nice nails They were longer than normal, expertly shaped and coated in a shiny coral pink color

The roohtly

I’d never worn pink nail polish in my whole entire life I never even had a bottle of it

"Oh, those are nice, Perry," e the subject "Your nails are usual y such a ht my hand out of Ada’s and raised it up to ht? It was attached toacross the top fro ood idea I pinched the tips of lued on fake nails as a joke But they were real, attached tothe?" Ada asked

I shook ," I squeaked out "I just…don’t reot this color from, that’s allIs it yours?"

Ada looked at ey I have a similar shade but it has sparkles"

I looked up at my mother hopeful y Her nails had a perfect French manicure

"Not mine," she said "But I’d like to borrow it"

I nodded at that and stared back at theht things over

When could I have done this? How could I forget sonificant event but it wouldn’t be so that would just fal out of et the color? I didn’t re it Ithat happened when you were drunk Perhaps I’d been blacking out through the NyQuil or while I was on the pain meds earlier in the week It stil didn’t explain where the nail polish ca so, like the kind that sent reens for nail polish

"I thought you were turning over a new leaf,"on a bite of salad "It would be nice if you-"

She was interrupted by three quick knocks at the front door My heart lodged sohtened face and it was apparent she felt the same way too

My dad frowned, ot up out of his chair, tossing his napkin on the table

"I’l go see who it is," he grumbled and made his way down the halI looked atforward in their chairs, shoulders tense

We heard my father slide the chain across and open the door

"Who’s there?" his professor-like voice booht "Show yourself"

There was a pause and the sound of his shoes on the front brick stoop, then hi softly behind hi his head and holding so in his hands

"What is it?" I asked

He stopped in front of us and held up a miniature pair of pastel blue slippers, the knit kindcreepy

"I found them on top of the flower pot," he explained The slippers were attached by a thick rope of yarn and when he hung it froer they danced back and forth froher face "Get thereed, tel ing him he didn’t knohere they had been

I was the only one who felt personal y impacted by the slippers, and was mildly horrified until my dad took them over to the trash can and placed them inside The lid closed with a heavy thud but in h to keep them out

Was this soe and suddenly a pair of baby shoes appeared at the front door But who else besides my fa?

I shivered and quickly excused ht My appetite was total y gone

CHAPTER SIX

I woke up in a strange, dark place There was no pil ow or y that scratched s