Page 112 of What did you do?

She had hurt them.

Someone was coming on a bike. They could help me.

“Please help me! My mom and sister are hurt! I-I think they are dead!” I cried before realizing the bike rider coming closer was Kyle Pierce. The mean kid from down the street.

“What? They didn’t want to be around you either? Left just like Daddy?” The boy snickered. He pulled his bike in front of me to block my path.

“Please! This is serious. Go get your mom. I’m running to the Wetzels. Please help me!” I cried.

“Please help me, please help me,” he mimicked.

“Stop it!” I screamed as I tried to walk around him.

Kyle was a year older than me and was always picking on me. Mom even drove me to school so I didn’t have to ride the bus with him.

“You’re such a nerd, you know that? That’s why no one hangs out with you. Because you’re an ugly nerd!” he shouted at me.

Who would drive me to school now?

Mom was gone. Forever. Who would stop Kyle from bullying me?

No one. Because I had no one.

I was all alone. Everything was up to me now…

The gardening shears slammed into Kyle’s stomach, making him fold over.

She had hurt them.

My father was to blame for this.Hedid this. Theybothdid this to them!

I hit him again with the shears, this time in the back. He yelled, but I couldn’t hear anything. It felt like I was underwater; everything was muffled and dull sounding.

A little bit of hope swelled inside of me as I continued to stab and stab.

I could make it alone. I didn’t need anybody.

I turned around and walked back the way I had come. Still holding the bloody garden shears, for the first time in hours, I felt like I might be okay.

My mind turned over and over and over until a plan hatched.

“If it’s worth having, it’s worth waiting for” came Mom’s voice from inside my head.

She was right.

Creak, bang!The screen door slammed behind me as I walked into the house. The quiet air of no one home dug into my chest.

Turning into the bathroom, I stared at my blood-splattered face and dress.

It was like I was looking at someone I didn’t recognize—someone new. She looked similar to me, but she had a different light in her eyes. She had the look of someone who was capable and smart. She could handle things alone.

I stared blankly at my new hollow eyes and raised the kitchen shears to my ears. It shocked me when I felt nothing as I worked. I cut the next side. Blood ran down the sides of my face, and I had to sit against the wall for a few minutes because my vision blackened.

When I woke up on the bathroom floor, I knew it wasn’t a dream and I was still all alone.

Mom and Adrianna never would have left me to lay on the floor like this.

There was so much blood everywhere, so I showered, making sure I used the rubber mat inside like Mom wanted.

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