Valo stared down at her hands, picking at the delicate flesh around her fingernails, as she always did when she was distressed. She sighed, shook her head, and willed herself to stop, at least for a moment.

Grant, she thought. I was supposed to be there with you when it happened. I was sick and couldn’t come along. And… and I was supposed to die, too, wasn’t I? But I was home, and I lived. You must hate what has happened. I’m sorry. A tear ran down her face. If I had known, I’d have stopped you from going… or maybe I would have gone along as well. Grant, you don’t know how much I miss you. Every day, I wake up, and something’s just missing. There’s a huge hole in my life, now that you’re gone. Look at me. I’ve pretty much starved, I’ve been so distressed all these months. It’s too late for me to start again. I’m too old to try to find someone new. But… but just tell me something. Tell me, why was I allowed to remain alive when someone as wonderful as you had to die? Maybe it is true that only the good die young. If that’s the case, maybe I’ll live forever. I’m a pretty horrible person…


“Aunt Jess!” Sean called out. Valo heard his footsteps pounding on the floor as he raced to her office. She hurriedly wiped at her face, trying to hide that she had been crying. She smiled warmly as he entered, a huge grin on his face. “Aunt Jess, Aunt Jess! We did our speeches today, and the teacher loved it. She said it was really good and well-researched, and I got an A on it!”

“That’s great, Sean,” Valo replied, trying to sound as enthusiastic as possible.

“Thanks for helping me,” Sean added, hugging her tightly. “I probably wouldn’t have done as well if you hadn’t helped me. You‘re the best!”

Valo’s eyes widened a little, and she returned the hug. So… I see… she thought. This is the reason, then?


Eva sat in the classroom, her head bowed slightly, as it always was. Around her, she heard the whispers and snickers and felt the scratch of the small balls of paper that they threw at her. She kept her face blank, impassive. Just have to take it one day at a time, she reminded herself. Someday, this too shall pass. She knew that things would only get worse on the playground, and, indeed, when the teacher found her beaten up and bruised, her lunch money taken, as she was taken to the principal’s office, she thought to herself, How much more of this can I take? When will I snap and be crazy like those people on TV? How much longer until they beat me senseless? I don’t know how much more of this I can take. Why can’t anyone just make them stop?


When Tiffani arrived at the school, looking angry enough to murder anyone who stood in her way, all Eva could think was, I’m just doing what Aunt Emily told me. But I think they took my pride a long time ago. I think… I think that somewhere along the way, I’ve just given up. That’s it, isn’t it? In the end, they’ve won. Where did it go wrong? But it’s too late now, isn’t it? How can you retrieve your pride once you’ve lost it? Can you lose your pride for good?

And while Eva was silently mulling over all of this, Tiffani was berating the principal, asking, “How could you let this happen again?”