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She scratches her head. “Well, it’s a new school so you don’t have friends. I wouldn’t want you to be alone.”

I set my bag down. “I don’t need friends.”

“Everyone needs friends. I’ll be yours.”

I cross my arms and glare. “You’re my cousin, not my friend, and I’d rather be alone.”

Olive stands, grimacing. “Well, you’re definitely not going to make any friends with that attitude.”

“Good.”

She walks out, and I shut the door behind her.

First day of school

I shudder, feeling a sudden chill run through my body, and I open my eyes. Olive stands at the foot of my bed, tugging my covers off.

I jerk up. “Have you lost your mind?”

She stares at me with big eyes, like a bug. “You were crying again.”

I hurry to grab the sheets and cover myself. I don’t cry. “I don’t know what you’re talking about.”

She looks off at the wall making an expression like she wants to call my bluff but won’t. “You slept through your alarm, and we have to go,” she says. “Mom is driving us. I call shotgun.”

Like I’d fight her to sit next to Laura.

Olive turns and heads to the door. Her light hair bounces with every step she takes. She wears a green gingham dress with lapel pins all over the straps and bright orange knee-high socks.

As soon as she leaves, I jump up and pull the jeans I wore the day before back on. I don’t have very many that fit. I still haven’t touched the new clothes Laura bought me.

Once in the bathroom, I brush my teeth and run my handsthrough my hair to try and calm it. I need a haircut. I hate when it’s long enough to touch my lashes. I’m constantly brushing it out of my eyes. If it gets much longer, I just might shave it all off. The only thing stopping me is the fact I’m always cold, and this school has a no-hat policy.

“Hey, we have to go,” Olive says, knocking on the door.

I open it, giving her time to see my unamused expression before pushing past her.

Laura runs into the hallway juggling her purse. “I swear the keys were in here a second ago,” she says. She rummages through it for a minute before pulling out her shiny set of keys. “Found them. Let’s go.”

I saunter forward, dragging my heels every step as I follow them into the car.

“I was thinking we could visit your grandma this afternoon,” she says, glancing at me through the rearview mirror. “It’s been a while since you’ve seen her.”

I stare out the window, ignoring her. Why would I want to see her? Half the time she doesn’t remember who I am. And when she does remember, she treats me the way she always did—like I’m a burden. She was obsessed with my grades and never let me do anything outside of studying. She never let me have friends over or play with the neighbors growing up. It would’ve been fine, but she didn’t spend much time with me either.

If I had it my way, I wouldn’t go at all, but Laura insists. My life is completely out of my control. I’m a puppet, watching everything play out while someone else makes all the decisions for me. It doesn’t matter who I live with, that’s how life goes.

“I could pick you up from school, and we could get something to eat on the drive over.” It’s about a twenty-minute drive from the school to the nursing home, and I generally zone out and fall asleep for most of the ride.

“What do you say?” Laura asks, smiling.

“I don’t feel like it.”

“But you didn’t go last week,” she says.

“I’ll go another day.”

She sighs. “Why don’t we talk about this later.”