I felt my forehead with the back of my hand and slumped against my locker. With an annoyed groan, I concluded that I was running a fever. I pushed off from the locker and trudged to the cafeteria, my head pounding while I walked.

"What's with you?" Sophie asked, using her spoon to circle my face.

"I'm not feeling so hot today," I admitted.

Casey gently placed her hand on my neck and shook her head. "You feel pretty hot to me Cam. You're burning up."

"I know, I feel so miserable," I grumbled, slouching in my seat.

"C'mon, I'll take you to the nurse's office," she offered, pushing her lunch away.

"I'll watch over your food," Madison promised."

"It had better be here when I return," Casey warned.

I laughed and then scrunched up my face. It even hurt to laugh. With a groan, I followed Casey, gripping her arm for support.

"What's the matter, Camille?" Krista asked, ushering us into the office.

"I'm dying."

Casey rolled her eyes and helped me lie down. "She has a fever. Where's Nurse Alice?"

"She left to get a snack," Krista answered with a smile.

"What's wrong with you?" I asked her.

She shrugged. "I like hanging out here."

"She feeds off of other people's pain," Casey supplied, but I wasn't entirely sure that it was a joke.

"Does she also take it away?"

Krista rolled her eyes and smiled at me, while Casey laughed and patted my knee.

Nurse Alice returned a few minutes later with Savannah in tow. I glanced at Casey and her smile morphed into a glare directed at Savannah who was trying her best to look everywhere but at her. Suddenly the room felt really crowded.

"Hi there!" Nurse Alice chirped, hovering over me.

"Hi," I said feebly, glancing at Savannah. Her eyes were puffy and her nose looked bruised. "You okay?" I asked her.

She nodded and tapped Krista on the shoulder. "May I have an aspirin, please?"

While Krista searched for the aspirin, Nurse Alice took my temperature and smiled sympathetically at me.

"It looks like you'll be spending the rest of the week at home," she said, scribbling something on a prescription pad before tearing the page and giving it to Casey. "She needs to take this three times per day, after each meal."

"May I have an aspirin, too?" I asked Krista. "My head hurts."

"I'll get that for you," Nurse Alice offered. "Ms. Collins should not even have access to my medication," she scolded Krista, who simply shrugged.

"Yeah, so can I go now?" Savannah asked.

"I don't see anyone holding your legs," Casey muttered.

"Nobody asked you!" Savannah snapped, glaring at Casey.

"Well, alrighty then," I said after an awkwardly silent minute. "Am I good to go?"

Nurse Alice nodded and Casey helped me to my feet.

"Krista, Savannah, the aspirin please," I heard Nurse Alice say as we left the room.

***

"Did the dinosaurs know that they wouldn't go on?"

"Probably not," I shrugged, glancing at Logan who was perched at the foot of my bed, wearing a surgical mask.

"I refuse to catch your germs," he'd told me with a flick to my nose.

"What happened to my water?" I asked, pointing to my empty glass.

"I drank it."

"That's so gross!" I shrieked, wrinkling my nose. "I hope you do catch my germs."

He laughed, but it was muffled by the mask. "I'm totally kidding, you drank it all."

I chuckled and kicked him. "I'm thirsty."

"So?" he scoffed.

"I'd like another glass."

"No."

I sighed loudly and glanced at the ceiling. "If I die from dehydration, I'll haunt you for the rest of your life," I promised.

"That's so stalkerish of you!" he retorted with a wink.

"Please," I pouted.

"Can you not?" he asked with an annoyed groan.

I threw a pillow at him, which he tossed back at me before sliding off the bed. "Can I also have a pop-tart?" I asked as he was almost through the door.

"No," he said, before disappearing down the hallway.

"Jerk," I muttered.

Kicking back the covers, my eyes drifted to the ceiling for a moment before I closed them.

The sound of my phone vibrating woke me, and I stared at it stupidly for a few seconds before trying to summon the energy to reach for it. When it vibrated twice more, I gritted my teeth and grabbed it.

"Logan," I groaned as I swiped the screen.

Fancy having some soup?

There's also cold pizza

I'll just bring both

I bit back my smile and typed my reply. Don't forget my water!

"Having only two arms is such an inconvenience," Logan complained, walking slowly into the room.

He was no longer wearing the mask and in one hand he held a box of pizza and a bowl of what I assumed was soup, in the other.

"Where's my water?"

"I knew that I was forgetting something," he said, passing me the bowl.

"And my pop-tart?" I added, relieving him of the pizza box.

"I'll be right back," he promised, turning to leave the room. "Don't start without me!"

"A spoon would be nice too!" I called after him.

I debated between eating the pizza or drinking the soup. Pizza was the obvious answer but the thought of it made me sick, so I chose to have the soup instead. I lifted the bowl and put it to my lips, taking a sip, before pushing it away. "Urkk," I gagged.

I didn't have much of an appetite, a realization that really bugged me since eating just so happened to be my favorite pastime.

"I told you not to start without me!" Logan whined.

I grimaced and pointed at the soup. "I can't."

"You have to," he reminded me, placing a glass of water on my nightstand along with my medication.

"Where's my pop-tart?" I grumbled when he sat.

"Finish your soup first," he ordered.

"I can't," I repeated. "It won't stay down."

"Then I'll make you a cup of tea."

"Who knew that you were so domesticated," someone said from the doorway.

"Well, one of us has to be," Logan retorted, rising from the bed as Caitlyn strode in.

"You look like crap," she commented, taking Logan's place at the foot of my bed.

"Good," I said dryly. "I was trying to look like you today."

She quirked her brow, but instead of snapping at me, she smiled and reached for the pizza box. "So..." she said, pausing to take a bite of her pizza. "I was thinking."

"Oh, no," I muttered, massaging my temple. I've been in this house long enough to know that whenever Caitlyn had a bright idea, it never ended well for me, so when I looked at her and saw the smile on her face I cringed.

I really hated that stupid smile.

"We're going to be spending a ridiculously lousy Thanksgiving break together," she continued, scrunching her nose at the pizza slice in her hand.

"Yes, I'm aware," I replied with a bored sigh.

"So, I have some ground rules."

"Of course you do."

"This is serious."

"I know it is."

Silence filled the room and I turned to look at her, only to find her staring at the wall above my bed.

I didn't have to look up to know what had captured her attention. She was staring at a photograph of my father and I that was taken a few weeks before his death. We had just left the movie theatre and he'd asked a random guy to take our picture, saying something about not wanting to forget the little things. I was smiling broadly and he had an arm thrown around me.

It was the last picture that we took together.

The wall on the other side of the room had most of my other photos on the picture clothesline that Casey had helped me make. But I'd left this side empty, with the exception of that one photo of us.

"You looked so happy," Caitlyn said softly.

"I was."

"I'm sorry."

"That I was happy?"

She shook her head and subtly wiped her eyes.

"Are you crying?" I questioned, crossing my arms. "Because you do not get to cry about any of this. That's my forte."

"I'm not crying," she muttered.

"Right," I chuckled, feeling my chest tighten. I closed my eyes and took a deep breath, willing the tears to stay at bay because there was no way in hell that I was going to start crying with Caitlyn there.

"Rule number one: no cold pizza," she said, scrunching her nose again.

I laughed and nodded in agreement, grateful that she'd steered the conversation back to safer grounds.

"And no beer," I added. "I can't stand the taste."

"There won't be any beer," she said matter-of-factly. "It's a punishment, not a party."

"Duly noted."

She rolled her eyes and I managed a small smile.

Logan returned with a steaming cup of cocoa―much to my delight and plopped himself down on the bed beside Caitlyn with a groan. "I've reached my quota of kindness for the day," he informed us.

"But did you bring my pop-tart?" I asked, stifling my smile.

He glared at me and I winked at him before taking a sip of the cocoa.

Caitlyn nudged him and grinned. "I could really go for a pop-tart too."

***

Tori pulled the curtains apart, letting sunlight into the room and I covered my face with my pillow.

"How are you feeling kiddo?" she asked, plucking the pillow from my face.

"Like a million bucks," I grumbled.

"Have you eaten?"

"A little," I replied, glancing at the half empty bowl of cereal that was still on my dresser.

She tousled my hair before picking up the bowl. "I'll be right back," she promised.

"There's really no need," I assured her. "I'm just gonna have a bath."

"Oh, okay," she said with a small smile. "Maybe when you're done we can talk for a bit."

"I was planning on sleeping for the rest of the day," I confessed.

Talking to Tori beyond what was necessary was the last thing that I wanted to do. I'd sooner spend an entire day with Caitlyn before I did that.

Her face fell but she gave me a tight-lipped smile before leaving the room.

"Finally," I muttered and swung my legs off the bed, trying to decipher my thoughts.

I stripped out of my clothes and stepped into the bathroom. I ran the water in the tub while I brushed my teeth before climbing in.

My relationship status with Tori can best be described as majorly complicated and I was so not ready to open up that can of worms. Some days we got along pretty well and then there were those days that I resented her with every fiber of my being. I found it hard to look at her most days because I simply could not understand how a mother could abandon her child.

The excuse of her being just a teen when she got pregnant did not even come close to absolving her of any wrongdoing. But I wasn't being completely irrational, I knew that it wasn't easy being a mom at that age but what hurt the most was that she'd abandoned my Dad and me only to marry someone else who already had two kids of his own.

I wondered if I had ever crossed her mind in all those years that we were apart, but judging from the amount of phone calls and letters that I'd never received, I'd have to say that I probably never did, and that thought left me with a bitter taste in my mouth and a heavy heart.

Stepping out of the tub, I grabbed my towel and wrapped it around myself before leaving the bathroom. I dressed quickly in a t-shirt and boxer shorts before climbing back into my bed.

I drifted off to sleep sometime later and when I opened my eyes again it was dark.

"Hey," Caitlyn's voice chirped, startling me.

"Holy shitballs," I whispered, clutching at my heart while I switched the light on. "You scared me."

"Sorry about that," she apologized.

I sat upright and rubbed my eyes before glaring at her. "What do you want?"

"I needed to know that you're okay."

I gave her a dubious look and raised my brow. "I'm fine, thanks for stopping by?"

She rolled her eyes and tossed me a granola bar. I caught it and ripped the packet open, mumbling a feeble thank you.

She nodded and pushed my feet aside a little so that she could join me on the bed.

I took a bite of the granola bar and peered at her as she tucked a strand of hair behind her ear and chewed on her bottom lip.

Something was clearly bothering her, but I wasn't about to ask her what. We didn't share that kind of relationship and that was for the best.

Probably.

"I'm sorry about your Dad," she said softly, catching me off guard.

I shrugged. "It's fine."

"Why don't you ever talk about him?" she asked and my breath caught in my throat. "You were clearly very happy," she continued. "So, why don't you―"

"Stop," I sighed, cutting her off. "Caitlyn, why are you still here?"

"I thought you might need a little company," she shrugged.

"Well I don't."

"You're upset," she stated.

I pulled my right leg up and rested my head on my knee, and glanced at her. She was just sitting there chewing on her lip again.

"I know that I'm not your first choice when it comes to talking about your Dad, because why would I be? But I'm a really good listener, at least that what I've been told." When I remained silent, she continued. "I understand if this is weird for you, because it's definitely weird for me."

"That's because you're weird," I mumbled.

She smiled and rolled her eyes. "Are you feeling any better?"

"My head doesn't feel like it's gonna explode anymore and my fever's broken, so I think so."

"Well," she said after a moment. "I'll just let myself out."

I nodded and let out a relieved sigh when she opened the door and Carter poked his head in.

"Dude!" he yelled, strolling in. "I've been calling you all day!"

"You have not!" I said, laughing.

"Okay, so I haven't," he conceded.

I shook my head at him. "I've had the weirdest day."

"Go on..."

"Your sister is playing nice."

"Oh, that," he laughed, rolling his eyes. "She's such a worrier. She's probably afraid that you'll die."

I raised my brow at him. "It's just a fever?"

"And she's the most pessimistic person on the planet. Expecting the worst is second nature to her by now."

I nodded and pulled the covers up to my chin. "Snug enough?" Carter asked, grinning.

"You have no idea," I answered with a cheeky smile. "I'm in heaven."

He laughed and took a seat on the windowsill. "How are you, really?" he asked, staring out the window.

I thought about giving him the same answer that I'd given to everyone else all week, but Carter wasn't just anybody. "I just want to go home," I answered truthfully. "Is that an awful thing to say?"

"No," he replied, tilting his head back to give me a smile. He hopped down from the window and pulled my desk chair closer to the bed before taking a seat.

"If you let go and allow yourself to like it here, it doesn't mean that you're replacing your home. Just like choosing to let us into your heart won't mean that you love your Dad any less," he spoke softly. "I don't know what it's like to lose a parent but I imagine that its heart wrenching and you should know that no one expects you to get over that loss simply because we love you too, but we― I, hope that in time that ache will fade and you'll let us fill that empty space with laughter and fun times."

I wiped a tear off my cheek and let out a breath that I hadn't realized I'd been holding.

"I'm sorry that we met under the circumstances that we did but nonetheless, I'm glad that you came to live with us and I'm so very lucky to have you as my sister, and I know that Cait feels the same way."

He paused and I used this opportunity to scoff at his last comment. "Yeah, sure."

"She may not show it but she likes having you around," he argued. "She said so herself. And Mom, well I don't know how bad things are between you two but she loves you more than you'll ever know and the same goes for Dad and Bailey and your friends, too. You're something special Camille, and everyone knows it."

I shook my head as more tears streamed down my face. I didn't know how much longer I could listen to him without unraveling.

"It's okay not to be okay," he continued. "But it's not okay to stay that way, and I promise you this little sister, I'll always be there to pick up your broken pieces."

"Nobody wants the broken doll," I croaked, my voice shaking.

"Some of us do," he whispered, giving me the smallest of smiles.