She asked if I was sick and if I needed to lie down in the nurse’s station. I repeated the lie that my mother was picking me up and that I was fine. She looked uncertain, but the office phone started ringing, and I used that distraction to sink into a plastic chair by the window.
The chair felt freezing against my skin, but my face was burning with a fever. I folded forward and wrapped my arms around my middle while I waited. At 11:03, my phone finally buzzed with a message from Meredith.
She said she was coming, but she used the word “fine” as if she were granting a massive favor. They did not arrive at the school until 11:31. I saw our black SUV pull up to the curb through the large glass window of the office.
Rick was behind the wheel, and Meredith was in the passenger seat wearing dark sunglasses. Chloe was in the back seat with her earbuds in and her face illuminated by her phone. I stood up too quickly and felt my balance waver as the room tilted.