Then I pulled out a credit card.
“This is from me. A five–grand limit. Just ask
if you need more.”
She shook her head again.
“It’s too much!”
She held the cards like they were made of
gold, like she was praying.
I guess. Her foster parents beat her and
barely let her go to school.
It made me feel sick.
Brittany got home from the hospital, and I
was showing Ashley around the house.
Brittany was shocked, seeing me and Ashley
getting along so well.
“Sarah!”
I just nodded.
Ashley looked kinda awkward, looking at
Brittany, who looked like a princess, and then
looking down at her jeans. She didn’t say
<
anything.
Brittany got mad, eyes red, and ran upstairs.
Mom gave me a dirty look, then followed her.
Ashley looked at me, all confused.
I smiled to calm her down.
Like before, Mom and Dad enrolled Ashley in
our school.
But not in my class.
I’m a bookworm, but my sisters aren’t.
I walked into class, and everyone stared. I
knew what was up
—
my sister drama. They
were waiting for the show to start.
But since I usually keep to myself, no one.
said anything.
I got to my desk, and my bestie, Chloe,
nudged me, all gossipy.
“Hey, is it true your sister got switched at
birth?”
I nodded.
“I heard your other sister cut her wrists. Are
you totally freaking out? Should I beat up
Ashley for you?”
She said the same thing last time. I didn’t say
anything, so she took it as a yes.
That’s when my real sister got bullied for two
く
years. She ended up with depression and got
locked up in a mental hospital.
This time, I looked Chloe right in the eye.
“Why would you beat up Ashley? She didn’t do anything wrong. My adopted sister’s mom
is the one who switched the kids. She went
crazy and changed the babies.”
I said.
“Ashley had to deal with them for a decade.
Now this? She’s the one being crazy.”
Chloe thought about it.
“When you put it that way, your real sister got
a raw deal.”
<
These teenagers are intense, they only believe
what they see. What I told her made her think.
Chloe is good. She just wants to protect her
friends‘ sisters from getting screwed over.
At lunchtime, I went to Ashley instead of
going to Brittany like I usually did. Chloe
tagged along.
I went to her class, and asked where the new
girl was. They said some dude, Jake, took
her.
Jake!
I forgot about him.
He’s the one who ruined my family.
L
My sister must have told him to hurt my
sister.
I got to the bleachers and saw a crowd of
people.
I got close, and some girls were ripping
Ashley’s clothes off.
Chloe yelled, “What the F***!”
I ran up and kicked the girls.
I took off my jacket and covered Ashley.
I felt her shaking.