Some Quiet Place

They lift her up onto a stretcher, rattling off numbers and medical talk I don’t understand. When they take yellow Maggie away, I follow them. No one stops me; the hall is full now.
    “She’s the girl that, like, doesn’t eat, right?”
    “No, she throws it all up, I thought.”
    My classmates’ hushed, speculative chatter fills my ears. I follow the paramedics outside, and so does everyone else. I go as far as the edge of the parking lot and watch the men carry Maggie hurriedly toward the vehicle.
    A moment later, movement out of the corner of my eye catches my attention and I turn to see Maggie’s mom rushing toward me. “What happened?” she asks in a high, trembling voice. Her grip is so tight on her purse that her knuckles are white, and her hair is a wild mess.
    “She collapsed.” I’m not the only one staring at the commotion; the front steps are now littered with students. Their expressions are full of curiosity. Not concern.
    “I was out in the car,” she tells me with a twisted expression. Emotions shimmer into view and stand close to her. Guilt, Worry. I’m careful to keep my eyes on Maggie’s mom. “I should never have let her come,” she babbles on, “but she wanted to so much that I thought maybe—”
    The paramedics slam the doors shut behind Maggie.
    “I’d better go,” her mom says, tearful. She touches my elbow before jogging toward her car. The lights of the ambulance, red and blue, swirl over the parking lot. I watch it pull out of the parking lot and squeal onto Main Street. Maggie’s mom is close behind in her minivan. Before they’re out of sight, I turn away. There’s nothing I can do, after all.
    I’m one of the first to head back to class.

THREE
    I can feel Joshua Hayes staring at me again. I put my pencil down with a click , ignoring him. Our history teacher prattles on about the Revolutionary War. “It was when the outcome began to look worse for them that Washington made his move … ”
    “Hey, freak.”
    Sophia Richardson pokes me, moving quickly so Mr. Anderson doesn’t see. I glance up from my notes. “Yes?”
    She raises her brows in a mocking imitation of interest, resting her elbow on the back of her chair. “There’s a football game Friday night. Are you going?”
    Unlike the others in my class, Sophia doesn’t pretend I don’t exist. Her resentment shoves whatever instinct she has to the back of her mind. Which is why she taunts me with questions about football games and parties. Just like Fear, she waits for my answer even though she already knows it. I never go to social events. Not since Maggie stopped making me go.
    “No, I don’t think so,” I tell her.
    Satisfaction radiates from Sophia’s tight smile. She plays with the ends of her straightened hair and says casually, “No one wants to hang out with you because you’re—”
    A crumpled-up piece of paper pops Sophia in the back of the head and she jerks, scowling. She reaches down to pick up the ball, scanning the room for the culprit. His head is bent down and he’s studying his textbook intently, but I suspect Joshua Hayes isn’t as innocent as he seems. Sophia must suspect it too, because she blanches. Tough as she may act, she’s had a crush on him for years. A crush that’s never been reciprocated. Then Sophia scowls, and when she turns her churning green eyes on me again, it’s evident she somehow blames me for all of it.
    Everyone has a motive behind their actions. Sophia’s is based in pain and jealousy. I know a side of her she so desperately tries to hide. It’s obvious she’s tired today—she keeps rubbing her eyes and can’t hold back her yawns. Rumors circulate all the time, but I don’t need to listen to them; I know firsthand. Sophia’s little sister, Morgan, is autistic. She has a babysitter who stays with her during the day, but since Mrs. Richardson works long hours, it often falls on Sophia’s shoulders to look after her sister.
    Once upon a time, Sophia considered me her best friend. I was over at her house a few times a week, playing dolls or whatever other game she invented for us. She tried to hide Morgan from me, deliberately dragging me to places that were as far from her as we could get. Until one day the babysitter brought Morgan outside for some fresh air and there was nowhere for Sophia to go, so I met the younger Richardson sister for the first time. And for some unfathomable reason, Morgan took to me like a drowning victim to a life