As Fiske Cahill slowly loses his mind and Dan Cahill punishes the world through silence, Amy Cahill pretends everything is okay. She thinks no one would understand and she doesn't need to burden anyone with her own troubles and anyway, she's the Madrigal leader, she has to be strong even when no one else is—
God, she is just so full of her own self-pity.
She remembers the crushing, frustrating dismay she felt when her advisor told her she was about two years behind in schoolwork and would have to repeat a grade. She remembers her bitter disappointment in herself because she should have realized, the heroes don't die at the end of the story. No, when the villains and innocents get their rest, the heroes keep fighting.
A month after they win the Clue Hunt, Nellie Gomez is found throwing up over and over in the bathroom, crying because there is something wrong with her mouth. She can't cook anymore, she insists over and over, and Amy somehow ends up the one soothing her hair, telling her that it will be okay.
Lies, lies, lies, lies…