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I cringed "Yousaw that?"

"Saw hiht after you snuck back in" He raised his bushy eyebrows athis arms across the belly he’d never had before

"You snuck out?" lare onher in sooner "How could youdo you have any idea" She staument And then seemed to deflate all at once "Kyra, you can’t do that Wejust got you back"

And that was it That was the right one, and even though I was technically an adult, her words were like a knife throughproperly scolded

"She was fine" My dad assured, reaching over and patting my hand, maybe because he couldn’t pat hers anyone less than half an hour"

My eyes widened "You knew? The whole time?"

He lifted his still-black coffee to his lips, and his ht’a didn’t" He winked then, and I shookin the trees Had he seriously been spying on us?

"That’s weird You’re weird" But it felt better, joking with hied Well, not as et you some clothes today" She eyed my outfit skeptically, and I was tempted to remind her it was hers "And maybe a new cell phone"

A loud wail erupted from down the hall, and I felt myself blanch as she jumped up from the table I’d practically erased the kid frootten the past five years If only

With one, my dad leaned in, and I could smell his breath I wondered if he wasn’t still a little drunk from the day before "I’m not much of a shopper I think I’ll leave you all to it I should probably get ho up"

Nancy I let this new name sink in, even as my world tilted sideways once more Suddenly there was a Nancy too What was that all about? Now I had t parents to deal with?

I no longer had a bedroom, or parents who could stand each other, or even a real home of my own

My vision blurred, and when I couldn’t stand to look at hiital clock on the ot up fro the tile floor He kissedstrands of my hair as he did "I’ll come back later, kiddo We can talkher new kid, and my dad smiled, but it never really reached his eyes "Maybe I’ll even bring Nancy so you canwithandan errant steer The kid had to be herded and restrained at every turn But I kept my mouth shut because I didn’t want to hearthat "Your brother holds a spoon just fine, Kyra He’s only two" "Can you hold your brother’s hand while we cross the street?" "Your brother has a nah, she’d somehow force so for hiht be e the fact that he was a virtual stranger

Worse, he was the brat who’d stolen et, which was only our second stop after the cell phone store, y little beast into a shopping cart with a strap that was surely ot hi of popcorn that he threw around like it was confetti and the New Year’s Eve ball was dropping in Ti ever, and I couldn’t believe she thought I’d ever lay clai until he realized he couldn’t wiggle out of the shoulder harness he was strapped into

After about fifteen lanced at as in the cart: a couple of T-shirts and one pair of jeans I’d already picked out "I don’t wanna do this any in the seat and held outto the car Pay for this stuff, or don’t I couldn’t care less"

I stayed in my fake bedroom the rest of the afternoon; at least there it was quiet And away fro was so different now--even with her It was like chatting with a stranger

When The Husband came home, which was earlier than I expected, she asked if I wanted to try again with the whole shopping thing I refused, deciding I’d rather have h more of her painful atteo by herself to "bring s" wouldwith ans in every color of the rainbow I’d be the youngest forty-year-old on the block But it orth it since all I wanted to do was screa , and everything, and nothing at all