“Sarah,” I plead quietly, not wanting to wake Paula and Craig.

“What are you going to do about the door alarm? There’s no way to leave without waking the entire neighborhood.”

Oh my God. I knew there was a security pad near the front door, but I’d never seen them activate it. “They do it at night,” Sarah explains. “They probably didn’t tell you because of this exact reason.”

“I have to get back to my life.”

She takes a second to think about it. “Not like this. You can’t disappear on Mom again. Did you think what that would do to her, for her to wake up to see that you’re gone? Don’t make her go through all of that again.”

“I’m coming back. I promise. I’ll be here for spring break and summer and holidays. Honestly, you’ll be so sick of me.”

Sarah shakes her head. “That’s not good enough. You owe it to Mom to tell her face-to-face.”

“But she won’t listen to me.”

Sarah sprawls out sits on the floor, blocking me from going downstairs. “Then make her. You need to sit her down and tell her. I’ll help you.”

“You will?”

“Of course.” Sadness takes over her delicate features. “I know how unhappy you are here. We all know. The only time you smile—a real smile—is when you’re talking to Neil or Marian. I don’t know what I would do if I were forced to live with someone else. So I get it. As long as you promise you’re not leaving for good. A real promise this time.” She holds out her pinkie.

“A real promise,” I say as I link my pinkie with hers. “And you should come visit Valley Falls.”

She grimaces. “You want me to freeze to death.”

“It’s not that bad in the summer.”

“Uh-huh,” she says as she gets up. “Let’s go downstairs and get ready for the talk. I find it’s best to bribe mom with food and coffee in the morning.”

“Okay, okay,” I relent.

Sarah’s right. I wanted to sneak out in the middle of the night because it would be easier for me. But I’d essentially be doing the same thing Dad did to her. It wouldn’t be fair. To either of us.

I pull out my phone and send a text.

“Who are you texting right now?”

“My ride.”

Sarah goes into her bedroom and brings back her phone.

“Who are you texting?” I ask.

She raises her eyebrows. “Backup.”

The kitchen smells of coffee and bacon. When in doubt, fry up some bacon.

Sarah and I have laid out breakfast on the kitchen counter for everybody. Sarah is eating a piece of bacon, but I can’t touch anything. I feel nauseous.

What if Paula says no?