Sarah had barely spoken to her the past couple of days. Alice always had plenty to say, but Tori really didn’t want to hear any of it. She wanted to go home and stay there forever.

Or maybe just disappear. None of these people would miss her.

Tori closed her eyes and banished the idea. Her mom and dad would miss her. Her whole family would. She was just feeling sorry for herself. She hadn’t done anything wrong.

The coach’s whistle shrieked, and Tori’s attention shifted to the girls on the court. Alice had fallen. Two of her teammates helped her up. She walked as if she’d twisted her ankle. The game resumed as soon as Alice had hobbled over to sit on the floor next to Tori.

Great.

Alice rubbed her ankle and winced.

“You okay?” Tori found herself asking in spite of her intention not to say a word. Her mom had warned her to stay away from Alice.

Funny thing, since Brendal’s fall Alice had suddenly turned into like the most popular girl in school. Tori didn’t want to hate anyone, but right now she hated Alice. Maybe she even hated Sarah.

“It’s nothing,” Alice said. She hugged her knees to her chest. “I don’t like this class. It’s so boring and pointless.”

This was one thing they could agree on.

When Tori said nothing, Alice turned to her. “Are you okay?”

Tori shrugged. “Cramps.”

“I thought maybe you were upset about Sarah.” She stared forward then as if she hadn’t dropped a bomb.

“She’s probably just not feeling well,” Tori said. Sarah almost never missed school. She had to be really sick to be absent. Twice this morning Tori had started a text to her and then deleted the words. Sarah hadn’t sent her a text. Hadn’t called. Hadn’t talked to her at school.

Why should Tori be the one to reach out?

“She had to be interviewed by the police again,” Alice said. “She told me yesterday. She was really worried.”

Tori made a face. “She didn’t tell me.”

“I’m not surprised.”

Tori stared at Alice’s profile. “What does that mean?”

“She told me she was going to tell the police the truth.”

Dread swelled in Tori’s stomach. “What truth?”

“That you were the one who pushed Brendal.”

“What?” Tori hadn’t meant to shout the word. Several girls in the game glanced their way, as did the coach.

“I told you,” Alice said in a sharp whisper. “Sarah believes it was you.”

Tori wasn’t listening to this again. “Just stop.” She scrambled to her feet. “You’re making that up. Sarah is my best friend, not yours.”

Alice stared up at her as if Tori had slapped her. Tears burned Tori’s eyes, but she refused to let anyone else see them. She stormed to the dressing room. As quickly as she could, she stripped off her gym clothes and tugged on her jeans and sweater, then her shoes. She was going home. She would just call Aunt Diana and ask her to pick her up. Tori couldn’t take this anymore.

“Tori.”

She shut her gym clothes into her locker and turned around slowly. “Yes, ma’am?”

Coach Lawrence stood just inside the door, her hands on her hips. “Are you okay?”

“I’m sorry,” Tori said, unable to hold back the new wave of tears. “I think I just need to go home.”

“I understand this is a difficult time for you,” Lawrence said. “Why don’t you go on to Mrs. Leary’s office and talk to her? I’d feel better if you did that first.”

“Yes, ma’am.” Tori grabbed her backpack and headed to the counselor’s office.

Even the few students she passed in the hall stared at her as if she were some sort of freak. She just wanted to run away. To hide. To disappear.

Mrs. Leary waited at her door for Tori. When they were settled in her office, she started the conversation with, “If you’d like me to call your mom, I will.”

Tori swiped her eyes. “I guess I can try to get through the rest of the day.” She had to be strong. Her mom and Falco would figure this out. Wouldn’t they? Worry twisted inside her. What if they couldn’t?

“I intended to call you to my office this afternoon.”

Tori stilled. “Why?”

“I’ve heard about the outbursts you’ve been having.”

Tori stared at her as if her head had split open and an alien being had emerged. “What outbursts?”

“The anger episodes,” Leary explained. “Like the one in the gym only a few minutes ago.”

“That hasn’t happened before,” Tori said, suddenly terrified of what the counselor might say next.

“We all show our emotions in different ways,” Leary assured her. “As long as our reactions don’t get out of control, it’s not a problem.”

“Wait.” Tori held up her hands. “I don’t have anger episodes. Where in the world did you hear something like this?”

“Tori, let’s not worry about that; let’s focus on what we need to do to deal with your feelings.”

The world felt as if it were spinning out of control. “I’d like to call my mom.”

A knock on the door stopped whatever Leary intended to say next. When she would have stood, the door opened.

“I apologize for the interruption,” Mr. Foster said. “I need a word with you, Mrs. Leary.”

“Excuse me, Tori.” Leary moved around her desk and stepped into the corridor with Mr. Foster.

Tori closed her eyes and exhaled.

“Oh my God!”

The words sifted through the door, had Tori turning toward it. The sound of a sob or gasp had her rising from her seat and moving closer to the door. It was sobbing! Mrs. Leary was crying! Pulse racing, Tori held her breath and leaned an ear to the door.

“We won’t announce anything until we have further details regarding her condition.”

“Sarah’s parents must be beside themselves.”

Sarah? Had something happened to Sarah? Tori curled her fingers into fists to prevent yanking the door open and demanding to know what was going on.

“For now,” Mr. Foster said, “let’s be thankful the suicide attempt was unsuccessful. My God, what next?”

Sarah had tried to kill herself.