Outside, the sun was high overhead. My phone was dead, so I couldn't be sure of the time, but I'd guess it was early afternoon. I'd been at the police station overnight.

My mother waited beside an unfamiliar black car, with darkly tinted windows. Parked on the other side of the street was her car, a beat-up old van.

My mother had her arms crossed over her chest and a frown on her face. Her dark hair was messier than usual and her dark eyes had shadows under them, as if she hadn't slept.

"Mom!" I said as I crossed the sidewalk. I expected her to hug me, but she didn't move. She hardly even looked at me. "I just heard what happened to Oliver. It's awful. Are you okay?"

But my mother didn't respond to my question. Instead, she narrowed her dark eyes. The look she gave me was pure disdain. It bordered on hatred. I swallowed hard as my stomach roiled uncomfortably.

"Are you angry with me?"

"I'm not angry, Selene," she said, her voice cold and detached. "I'm disappointed. You have shamed this family. Your brother is dead because of you."

Hurt flared in my chest. Though there wasn't any love lost between Oliver and me, I was sad that he was gone. And guilty. Vincent had said Oliver had to come with me to the bonfire. If I hadn't gone in the first place, he would still be alive right now. And that would haunt me for the rest of my life.

"But I didn't do it," I told her. "They had the wrong person. I have no idea how he died."

My mother didn't seem to register my words. Her facial expression never changed. "This car is for you. You have a suitcase of essentials in the trunk. When you're settled, you'll receive the rest."

"Settled? I don't understand. Are you sending me away?" Was she upset that I didn't protect him? Was she upset that Oliver was dead and not me?

My mother's voice was devoid of emotion. "You're going to Whitethorn Academy."

"A boarding school? I did nothing wrong."

"Whitethorn is far away from here, in a place where you can never hurt this family again." Her words were like a cold shower. Goosebumps slid down my arms and spine. But the sharpest blow was to my heart. It was like it shriveled and died in my chest.

Hurt tears streaked down my face. "Is this what Vincent wants? Is he making you do this?"

"I'm doing this for my family." My mother's words were laced with venom. "Which is something you are no longer a part of."

"You can't mean that, mom. I'm your daughter."

"Oliver was my son. And as of this moment, you are no daughter of mine," she spat, showing emotion for the first time. "This car will take you to Whitethorn. Finish your schooling there."

"And after?" I asked her, the tears still falling. A small part of me dared to hope that after I finished my last year of school, she'd want me back.

"Figure it out yourself. Don't come home. You are no longer welcome there."

"Mom, you can't be serious."

"Oliver is dead. And it's entirely your fault. I do not want to see your face again, Selene."

And with that, my mother stomped away from me without another word. She got into her van without so much as a glance back at the daughter she left on the sidewalk, with tears streaming down her face.

And in that moment, I knew that the woman who had once loved me so fiercely was gone. And my heart broke for the mother I'd lost.

~

Long after my mother's beater van had vanished from sight, the tears still fell freely. I could taste the salt on my tongue. A few passersby gave me odd looks and skirted around me, but no one said a word. Maybe my mother was right and Oliver's death was my fault.

A choked sob wracked through me. In twenty-four hours, I'd lost everything. Not that I'd had much to begin with.

After my father had died, my mother had married Vincent. And he'd consumed every second of her time and attention. Even when they'd been dating, just months after my father's accident, Vincent held every ounce of her attention. She would leave me home alone, disappearing for days at a time.

At first, she'd call me at night, but then that stopped too. It was like she became a different person in a matter of weeks.

And in those moments, it was as if I had lost both of my parents instead of one. The further apart my mother and I grew, the more lost I knew she was. I desperately wanted her to find herself again, but I knew she wouldn't.

I had wanted her to be happy and not let life slip away from her, but I felt more alone than ever. Sometimes I wondered what I'd done wrong to make her love me less than Vincent.

Because as much as I hated to think about it, she would always choose him over me. Which is what she'd done.

She had finally made her choice. And like I'd always predicted, her choice was not me. It would never have been me. I was nothing to her. All she'd ever wanted was Vincent.

I knew it every time she'd tell me she never really loved my father, but that she stayed because of me. She said that Vincent was her soulmate, the love of her life. I was nothing but a burden, someone that kept her from her soulmate, chained to someone she never loved.

I guess somewhere along the line, that resentment she felt for my father became resentment for me as well. After all, what mother would stand idly by as her husband abused her daughter?

For a while, it was easy to pretend that my mom didn't know about the bruises that laced my skin. But the older I got, the more I realized she knew and she just didn't care.

"Miss, are you okay?" The driver of the black car had gotten out, concern across his face. He pulled me out of my pitiful thoughts as he stepped toward me.

I sniffled hard, but the snot was running out of my nose, and tears blurred my vision. The man handed me a small pack of tissues.

I accepted them gratefully, with a smile that felt weak.

"I'll take it from here, Ernie," an unfamiliar woman's voice said. Emerging from the back seat of the car was a woman with auburn hair and slate-gray eyes.

She wore a gray pantsuit in the same shade. An unfamiliar logo rested on the left breast of her blazer.

Her heels clicked on the sidewalk as she made her way over to me, her smile friendly and open. "Hello, Selene."

I could do nothing but stare at her dumbly, still clutching the small package of tissues the driver had given me.

"I'm Inara Winters and I'm the headmistress of Whitethorn Academy. I'm here to take you to the school."

Shock coursed through me like a wildfire. I'd known my mother had seemed serious. But this? To have the headmistress of the school personally escort me there? Had she thought I'd run away?

"Selene?" Inara's calming voice pulled me out of my thoughts. "Are you okay?"

"Inara, she clearly doesn't want to go." The driver, Ernie, seemed hesitant. He probably didn't want to force an unwilling girl into his car.

"If you don't want to go, I can give you your luggage back." Ernie told me, ignoring Inara as she opened her mouth to say something to him.

But as tempting as his offer was, I hesitated. I could take my things and walk away from here. I didn't have to do what my mother said. As far as she was concerned, I was on my own.

But where would I go? My mother had forbidden me from returning to the only home I'd ever known. That left one place: the mysterious Whitethorn Academy.

This academy might be the only place that would want me. The only place that I had left in the world. And maybe a year there would help me make sense of what had happened last night at the bonfire.

"No," I finally said, though my words were shaky. "I'm going. There's nothing left for me here."

Inara looked pleased, but Ernie looked sad as he opened the back door for us. I slid into the seat after Inara. I said nothing as I gazed out the windows.

The police station was beyond the tinted glass. I wasn't sure what had happened at the bonfire last night, but it was sending my life completely off course. When I imagined leaving my mother's house, I always thought of college. And while the thought of never seeing Vincent again was appealing, the thought of never seeing my mother again left me with an aching hole in my heart.

And Oliver... my chest tightened with the memory of the photo. That image would forever haunt me. More tears slipped down my cheeks at the thought.