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around the kitchen.
    “ Rowan, I’m not going to apologize for last night and the way I acted or even for the state I was in. The truth is, it was the first time I’ve actually felt something since your…” He trailed off, unable to finish. I didn’t need him to; I already knew the ending to his sentence.
    “ I’m not asking you to apologize,” I said, more curtly than I’d intended.
    His red-rimmed eyes flickered to mine and I dropped my stare to the crumbling Pop Tart in my hand.
    “ You know you’re the spitting image of her?” he asked in a dazed whisper.
    I sighed and shifted my eyes to the kitchen window, watching the streaks of orange and pink fade into a blue sky. A crow cut through my view for a split second, an unwanted reminder of something else I had in common with my mother besides her looks.
    “ Yeah, well, I’m not her —I’m me ,” I said through my teeth, not sure who I’d meant the words for more: him, myself, or the crows.
    I threw the remaining piece of Pop Tart in the trash and stomped out of the kitchen, headed to school.

 

     
    Chapter Seven
     
    My blue sky didn’t last long; by the end of second period a dreary grayness had eaten it. By the end of third, the grayness had opened up, allowing a soggy wetness to pour out. It was the first time I didn’t mind the rain or even the extra chill which clung to the air because of it. It mirrored my mood and I took a small satisfaction in that.
    School seemed as dull and lifeless as the all-consuming grayness beyond the walls. I wondered why I bothered coming at all anymore; I had gone utterly unnoticed and invisible since the month after my mother’s suicide. High school has a fast-tracked time line; apparently a month was an ample amount of time for me to get over my mother’s suicide and when I didn’t I was bumped down the social ladder and forgotten.
    It’s those tough situations life throws at you that you walk out of knowing exactly who your true friends are. In my situation I’d only had one—Kami—and because I’d built such high walls closing myself off… I’d lost her too.
    Taking one month to bounce back from something in high school is a lifetime, but taking five months or more is an eternity, especially to a best friend.

    “ Rowan, hey.” A familiar bubbly voice called after me. “Wait up!”
    I stood in the crowded hallway after the final bell of the day had rung, releasing us all from this torture they called school, and waited for Kami to catch up.
    “ Hey,” she said, sounding out of breath. “I didn’t think you were ever going to stop! I’ve been yelling for you since Mr. Moore’s room.” She ran her fingers through her silky blond curls,  then straightened her shirt.
    “ Sorry, I didn’t hear you,” I admitted as we continued walking.
    “ It’s okay. I just wondered if maybe you wanted to catch a movie? There’s a group of us going and we’re all meeting in the parking lot now… so I thought I’d ask.”
    I could feel her brown eyes zeroing in on me, willing me to say yes. This was the last strand of our friendship she was reaching out to me with, I could feel it.
    “ A movie?” I stalled while I contemplated my answer.
    “ Yeah, it’s some stupid comedy,” she said, rolling her eyes. “But it should be fun! Emily Short, Kyle Taylor, Samantha Gordon, Shelly Wilmington, Cory Gilbert, Trent Holbrooks, and Darren Wooten are all going to be there. You should definitely come!”
    I could tell from the way she’d overemphasized Darren’s name he must be her new crush of the week. An awkward silence began building between us while I tried to think of an excuse to not go, I’d been lucky our high school was fairly new and hadn’t been built on any kind of burial ground so it was ghost free, at least as far as I could tell. But the movie theater was old, real old. There was no way I’d get lucky twice in one day. Besides, once I factored in Kami with the others she’d named, there