I took it from her and then wedged it into the corner of my eye like I was filling up a hole in a sinking ship.

“We are just trying to figure out how to make things easier for you, Frances.” She shuffled through some more papers.

The tears distorted my vision and made her look like a big brown smudge. She said something else, but because my heart was pounding so loudly in my ears, I didn’t hear.

“We will come up with a solution that is good for everyone.”

I nodded, not sure what she was talking about. She stood up and motioned for me to follow. She walked a little slower this time so I didn’t have to skip. The hallways were covered in artwork, which I usually liked looking at, but this time I walked with my head down, counting the tiles on the ground. I counted seventy-three before we got back to the classroom. Mrs. Ficsh nodded at me when I walked in and again she and Mrs. Skoll whispered to each other.

Evelyn poked me in the arm. “What did she want?”

“To find out how I am doing.”

“Be careful around her. Last year she talked to Bobby McCarthy and the next day they took him away.”

I picked up my sharpened pencil and pressed the pad of my thumb into its tip. It left little dots where it pushed up against my skin. Mrs. Ficsh went to the board and filled it with numbers and I tried to focus but it made no sense.

None of it made any sense.

I felt like someone had forced me to swallow a bowling ball, which now sat at the bottom of my chest. Every time I took a breath, I could feel it pinning me down. I couldn’t get Evelyn’s words out of my head. They got louder and louder until they were all I could hear. I thought about Leah’s face when I came out of that bathroom stall. I thought about my mother and the last time I had seen her and about popcorn and pink bicycles.

Evelyn squeezed my hand on the drive home. “It will be okay. I won’t let anyone take you away.”

My fingers were starting to pinch under her grip, but I didn’t pull away. She was so determined that for a minute I believed her. Leah loved me. She wasn’t going to get rid of me. She wasn’t going to give me away. I took a deep breath and closed my eyes.

When I opened them, Evelyn’s mother had almost reached Leah’s house. The street was usually empty but this time there was a car parked in front. She pulled up beside a white Ford that I recognized instantly.

Because it belonged to my grandmother.