Summary: She's stuck here in English class, writing made up stories about her summer.
A/N: Written for pockyslash's Tertiary Characters Ficathon.
Annie wonders if there's actually a rule that states teachers must ask students to write a "What I Did On My Summer Vacation" essay in the first week of school. Annie hates it, and wonders what her teacher will say if she writes about those horrifying days in the White House waiting to hear if Aunt Zoey was dead or alive. Or if she writes about how Grandma isn't talking to Grandpa anymore. Or how Mom practically grounded her for her own safety, even though she'd done nothing wrong.
Annie knows she'll never write that. Instead, she makes up a story about going horse-riding one weekend, and gets an A. The expression on Mrs. Doherty's face when she returns the assignment makes Annie wonder if she'd been hoping for a story about Aunt Zoey.
Annie has grown up in the limelight but there are times when she hates the attention. She doesn't see why the entire country needs to know every detail of her family's private life.
She wonders what Mom would say if she decided to hide out at Manchester too. She's always loved the farm.
She doesn't want to admit to herself that she's also worried about Aunt Zoey, or that she's afraid there's too much truth in the rumours that Grandma has left Grandpa.
But she's a smart girl, and she knows her family is in crisis. She sees the strain Mom is under and she just wants it all to stop.
And she's stuck here in English class, writing made up stories about her summer.
It was hell, she wants to say. And we lived it, and we're still living it, so won't you please leave us alone?
She calls Aunt Zoey on Saturday, and Aunt Zoey laughs as though she's the same Aunt Zoey as before, and says that she used to make up stories about her summer vacations too. Aunt Zoey invites her up to the farm and says she'll arrange it with Mom.
At the end of the phone call, Annie feels much better.
And then she calls Grandpa, because she knows how lonely he must be. He doesn't sound the same at all and Annie knows better than to mention Grandma. So she talks abut school and Gus and Mom and Dad, and she tells him she loves him.
At the end of the phone call, Annie is crying. Because Grandpa sounds different, and she knows stress is bad for the MS, and Grandma is in Manchester.
She curls up in bed and picks up the journal Aunt Ellie gave her for Christmas last year. She opens it and stares at the blank page for a long time. No one will ever see this, she thinks. This is just for me.
Annie doesn't know if writing anything down will help. All she knows is that what she feels is too much to keep inside and there's no one she can talk to.
So she picks up a pen and begins to write.