part four :)

When I get home, my mother's furious, angrier than I've ever seen her. “Clayre Michelle Trick. You, miss, are in so much trouble!” I'm baffled. “What did I do?” I'm so confused I can't even go on the defensive. “You were in a fight? At school? I
thought I raised you better, Clayre.” What in the world? A fight? “The principal called and said that a 'young man of trustworthy intelligence' reported that you had been throwing things in the halls, then pushed a new student down. Principal Witters said that young Mr. Forestt is to be completely trusted. I can't believe you, Clayre. What possessed you to act like that?”

Angry tears rush to my eyes. Stupid Elijah! I should have known that he'd lie! He totally blew this out of proportion! I don't get why he hates me so much. I'm such a freak.

Mom's still talking, and she's holding out her hand. Thank god. All she wants is my phone. I never use it, anyways. Tim's the only one who ever calls me, and even then not very often.

“No Clayre, your iPod.”

When I wake up, I'm laying in my bed. It's way too quiet and my head hurts and I can't remember going to bed, but it must be night and maybe I was just so tired last night that I forgot coming downstairs.

I sit up and reach for my glasses. It's only 4:30! What am I doing in bed? I stumble upstairs and blink in the light. “Clayre! How does your head feel?” Mom's worried face appears around the kitchen doorway. She walks toward me slowly and talks quietly, like you would to a little kid. “It hurts, Mom. What happened? Why was I in bed?” I sit down because suddenly my head's spinning. “You passed out, honey. You hit your head on the fridge and I couldn't catch you in time.” Oh. So I...fainted? “Why'd I faint?” I'm trying to remember what happened at school today. Did I get hurt in gym class or something?

Mom shrugs. “Maybe your blood sugar was low. You'd just gotten back from school. You woke up and you were fine, you responded and everything, so I took you downstairs and you fell asleep. I was just about to call the new doctor who moved into our doctor's office if you didn't wake up.”

So, my blood sugar was low, which made me...faint. Somehow, this explanation seemed a bit off to me. I'd never had blood sugar problems before. But Mom seems convinced, so maybe it's true. “I'm hungry, Mom.”