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She frowns "Ayden, you don’t need to call ether and remain silent I’ve never beenher anything butive them a week until they want to send nals for et so ready I’ll have Ethan drive you all to school He takes the rest of the kids a little bit later since junior high starts later than the high school"

I nod, slinging the handle ofover my shoulder "Okay"

She seems unnerved by ive her more

She pauses e reach the arch of the kitchen doorway "Are you sure you’re up for school? Because you could always skip a few days and start next hen you’re a little bit used to things And I could take you shopping for some new clothes"

I shake my head "I’m fine I’m used to stuff already And I’m fine with my clothes"

She offers me a sad smile "If that’s what you want"

I freeze, thrown off balance I’m pretty certain that’s the first ti like that to me "Yeah, that’s … what I want"

She whisks into the kitchen, crossing the length of the large roo toward the stainless steel stove The entire house is big and sparkly--fancy I feel very uncomfortable, because all the other homes I’ve been in have been small, dull, and broken

"I’ll see if Lyric wants to ride with you," she says as she refastens the tie on her apron "She’s a junior like you It estion makes me uneasy Lyric made me feel out of my elereen eyes are so unbelievably intense that I had trouble looking away from them I think I came off even , the dairl seemed determined to be my friend I haven’t had much in the line of friends, and wouldn’t even knohat to do with one, but I still agreed to be hers, figuring I’d only be here for a week, so keeping my proory begins stirring batter in a bowl

I nod as I take a seat at the rectangular table in the nook "Yeah, that’s fine"

I can tell she’s about to explode from my limited answers I wait for her to yell at me--it wouldn’t be the first time I’ve been yelled at by an adult for my silence Instead, she offers me pancakes, so many that I feel fuller than I ever have, as if she whole-heartedly believes that pancakes are the way to cure my silence

I wish they were