Kira tossed and turned that night, she couldn't sleep. The room felt like it was radioactive, and she felt like she was melting. She wanted Randy's cool hands around her, wanted his frozen lips on hers. Despite that it was August, that boy could never stay warm. But he was at home too, in his apartment in town.

Conveniently, he lived right by the Denny's where Kira worked sometimes. She would have gone to see him tonight, would have lied to her parents and said she had to work late, and then gone to his apartment to hang out until she had to return home.

Kira could hear her mom and Dennis in the bedroom next to hers, speaking in hushed tones with laughter, and she knew what they were up to. No matter who Mom married, she really liked her dope. Even when she was with Ben, she'd still smoke it as long as he wasn't around (which was pretty often). And then she found Dennis, who wasn't one to judge.

Although she didn't call him dad like the other girls, he was the closest thing to a real father she had. Ever since Mom and him started dating two years ago, Kira had been really open with him. He was a cool guy, he treated her like an adult and accepted everyone for who they were. When she got too drunk to get home at a party her junior year, it was Dennis she called to come pick her up. He had taken her to weddings as his photography assistant sometimes when Randy got sick, and even done a few father-daughter dances with her.

They were probably going to have sex, which is something they often did when they got high. The couple had yet to realize that this home had paper thin walls, and the eighteen year old girl living in the small bedroom next to theirs wasn't oblivious.

Kira rolled over with a groan, wishing once again that Randy was here to entertain her, when the whole house started to shake.

"Katie, Kristi!" She hopped out of bed, feeling dust from the quivering house fall on top of her as she yanked open her door, running for the loft. Her mom and Dennis weren't far behind her.

"Mommy!" Katie was the first down the stairs, Kristi behind her.

"Girls, go upstairs and get under the beds!" Dennis shouted. Kristi and Katie turned on their heels, running back up the stairs. The three girls climbed under Kristi's bed while Dennis and Julie got under Katie's.

The earthquake was gone as soon as it started.

"Is everyone alright?" Kira asked, pulling the two girls out from underneath the bed.

"It was Toby. He was angry 'cause I didn't play with him today, I played with Kira." Kristi said quietly, staring at the cupboard in the corner of the girls' bedroom.

"Toby?" Dennis said questioningly.

"That's her imaginary friend." Kira said. She crouched down next to Kristi, taking her gently by the shoulders. "You had nothing to do with this, okay? Neither did Toby. This was an earthquake, the kind they talk about in school, remember? Where the earth shakes? You didn't cause this."

Kristi nodded, but everyone knew she still felt as if she had done it.

"Look, let's all just go back to bed, it'll be clearer in the morning." Dennis said with a sigh.

"Kira," Katie went up to her sister. "Can you sleep up here tonight? Just in case."

"Sure I-"

"Toby won't like it." Kristi said simply, tucking herself into bed.

"Why won't Toby like it?" Kira asked, sitting down beside her baby sister.

"He doesn't like you. He says you have potential, but he doesn't like you yet. He doesn't think you're trustworthy."

"Kristi, shut up and go to bed!" Katie yelled. "It's okay, Kira, you can sleep in my bed."

Kira nodded, giving Kristi one last long look, before tucking herself in with Katie.

Kristi fell asleep staring at the cupboard in the corner of the bedroom, her hand outstretched towards it.