The Poison Apples by Lily Archer Page B

third time. And then, my body rigid, my hands pressed against my side, I fell.
    For a while everything went black.
    *   *   *
    I woke to find a bright buzzing light shining into my eyes. I squinted. My head hurt.
    â€œShe’s awake!” someone whispered, and then a head floated into my line of vision.
    It was Pradeep. I smiled groggily at him and assumed I was dreaming.
    â€œUh, hey,” he said. “Molly? That’s your name, right?”
    â€œMmhm,” I murmured, and his beautiful eyes swam in and out of focus.
    â€œI’m really sorry, dude,” he whispered.
    Unable to help myself, I kept grinning at him.
    â€œCan you understand me?” he asked.
    I bobbled my head around, trying to nod.
    â€œIt was really lame, what happened,” he said. “We just … we were talking, and we forgot, and it was a total accident, but it was…”
    I wasn’t sure what he was talking about, but I didn’t like the words he was using. Lame. Accident. We.
    â€œWhere am I?” I whispered.
    â€œOh, dude,” he said. “You must be really out of it. You’re at the nurse’s office.”
    A stern-looking woman’s face appeared above me. “You have to leave now,” the face told Pradeep.
    He nodded, and his head floated away.
    My forehead suddenly throbbed with pain. I winced. I heard the door click as Pradeep left the room. The woman stared down at me.
    â€œYou, my dear,” she said, “have a concussion.”
    â€œNope,” I said. “That’s impossible.”
    â€œIt is the very opposite of impossible,” she said. “It’s fact. Your friends forgot to catch you and your head hit the concrete.”
    I felt a stinging sensation in the back of my eyes.
    Of course.
    This was the kind of thing that could only, only happen to me. This particular brand of pathetic humiliation was Classic Molly Miller.
    â€œThey’re not my friends,” I whispered.
    â€œWhat did you say, sweetheart?” she asked.
    â€œThey’re not my friends!” I said, and then burst into hot, burning tears.
    *   *   *
    I drifted in and out of sleep. A day passed. Maybe two. I awoke to a ray of midafternoon sun streaming in through the window and falling across my legs. I could see thousands of dust particles in the air, fluttering in the beam of light like little insects.
    â€œMolly,” someone said.
    The voice sent a chill down my spine. I recognized it but couldn’t place it.
    A hand reached out and shook my wrist.
    â€œ Molly ,” the voice said again.
    I raised my head up, painfully. Candy was sitting in a chair across from my bed, her hands folded across her lap.
    It took all of my strength to stop myself from groaning out loud.
    â€œHow are you feeling,” Candy said. She said it like a statement, not a question.
    â€œI’m okay,” I murmured. “Where’s Dad?”
    â€œAt home with Sandie and Randie.”
    â€œWhy aren’t you at home with Sandie and Randie?”
    â€œDo not mouth off to me, missy.”
    â€œOkay, okay.”
    There was a long pause.
    â€œI want you to come back to North Forest,” Candy said.
    I shot up in bed. Pain seared through my skull. “What?” I yelped.
    â€œYou should come home.”
    â€œWhy?”
    â€œWe need your help.”
    I stared at her. Her face was expressionless. Her mouth formed a tight little line. Her blue eyes looked dull and blank.
    â€œYou need my help doing what?”
    â€œYour father and I are both working full-time. Spencer is practicing for the statewide twirling competition. Sandie and Randie need someone to—”
    â€œNo.” My head throbbed. My whole body was trembling. My fingers clutched at the edges of the sheet. I made direct eye contact with Candy. “I will not come home.”
    â€œYou don’t belong here, Molly.”
    â€œYes I