I sulked through the rest of Mr.
Morris's class, and continued on with my day. As the day
went on, opening the mysterious locker became easier.
Finally, the bell for the end of the day rang. I practically
jumped out of my seat and darted across the hall to my
locker. I scurried to grab all of my books from my locker so
I could get out to the bus loop. I boarded the bus. I sank
down into my seat, deeper and deeper. Natalie came through
the bus and sat down. She was panting. I wondered what was
wrong. Maybe she just couldn't find the bus, I
thought to myself. Boy, was I wrong. She continued to tell me
about how Alexandra was chasing her. I felt her sympathy, but
didn't engage in the conversation. When the bus came to a
halt, we almost skipped off, and speed-walked to our house.
My mother was sitting at the table with her head down. My
eight year-old sister, Riley, was sitting next to her. Her
face was flushed and her eyes were filled with pools of
tears. My mother's head was now perched on her hands. She
was shaking. Finally, she spoke. Her voice was hoarse and she
could barely manage to say anything. "Girls," she
said, "Riley has cancer."