After Jackie’s mom picked her up, I locked the back door and rode home. My legs still ached from my walk from school and my shoes were still wet. To make it worse, the temperature had dropped into the twenties.

Once I was home I didn’t even think about being seen; I went straight for the clubhouse. The light was still off inside and the things I had brought from Grace’s locker were still untouched by the door. I was suddenly worried.

“Grace?”

Nothing.

“Grace, you okay?” I found the flashlight and pointed it toward the corner. She was in the sleeping bag, which was pulled up to her neck. She yawned and rubbed her eyes. “Yeah,” she said, her voice weak and gravelly. “What time is it?”

“It’s almost eleven.”

“I slept until noon?”

“Noon? It’s night.”

She sat bolt upright. “I slept all day?”

“Yeah.” She didn’t look right to me. “What’s wrong?”

“I don’t feel well. I threw up.”

Now I understood the smell. I turned on the light. She raised her hand to shield her eyes. “Are you sick?”

“A little.”

“What do you have?”

“It’s nothing. I’ll be fine.”

“Well, you’ve got to be better by Wednesday for your birthday.”

Her lips rose in a surprised smile. “You remembered.”

“Of course. It’s an important day.”

Her smile spread wider, and again she was looking at me in a way a girl never had. My face felt hot. “I got the things from your locker. I just put everything there.”

She crawled over and pulled everything out until she found the red pouch. She untied it, then pulled out a large wad of bills. Not just ones, there were tens and even twenties.

I stared at it in wonder. “What did you do, rob a bank?”

“It’s my stepfather’s gambling money.”

“You stole it?”

She put the money back in the pouch. “It’s not really stealing.”

“How is it not stealing?”

“Look, it’s his responsibility to take care of me, right?”

“Yeah.”

“So I’m using this to take care of me, right?” She had a point. She retied the pouch and put it in the sleeping bag. “I’m not a thief,” she said angrily, though it sounded more like she was trying to convince herself.

“I’m sorry.”

“It’s okay. Thanks for getting my stuff. I hope it wasn’t too much trouble.”

I thought of telling her about my walk home in the snow and my frozen feet but for some reason I just said, “No trouble.” I handed her the sack of food. “And I brought this from work. You don’t have to eat it if you’re not hungry.”