Knock, knock. We waited until Claire unlocked the door, a little impatiently. Clang! "Sorry, dropped them," she called sheepishly. We heard footsteps, and she finally let us in.

Claire's the youngest, the only one of us still in middle school. There are six of us going to Stoneybrook High (I'm not lying), and Mallory, the oldest, is at her first year in college.

"Where's Mom?" asked Byron. He's only a year older than me. He grabbed a can of Coke from the fridge, and plopped in front of the TV.

"Hey, no, I'm still in the middle of a game!" exclaimed Adam. He's seventeen and still very into video games. Yup, very mature.

"Suck it up, Adam," Byron snapped, flipping through the channels. "So, eighth grader, tell us, where's our favorite stay at home Mom?"

Claire looked up. She tends to get lost between all of us mature teenagers. "Oh, uh…she went to the market. She'll be back soon." She grabbed the phone and headed up the stairs. "I'm going to be on with Myriah for awhile…." she called down.

"Laguna Beach is on soon," reminded Margo, who thinks she's the coolest freshman on earth. MTV is her newest craze. She became obsessed with it over the summer.

I rolled my eyes and went upstairs too. When Mal was home, we shared a room. Since she's been gone (a couple of weeks), I've really made it my own. Mal's so conservative. Bands, guys, friends, and more guys…it definitely looks like a sixteen year old lives there instead of a forty year old.

I sat down and began my chem homework. And I didn't stop until I was through with French and geometry. Even though by then I still had plenty more, I headed downstairs to see what was for dinner. "Mom? What's for---?" the house was silent. Wow, how often does that happen?? I stopped in mid-sentence.

Claire was sitting at the table, head bent over her schoolbook. "Where's Mom?" I asked her.

"How should I know?" Claire exclaimed, frustrated. She kept on working. The phone rang, and we both jumped. "Hello?"

"Margo? It's Mom, I…."

"It's Vanessa."

"I'm sorry. I'll be home soon. I…um…ran some errands. Make yourselves some sandwiches—"

"Where's Dad?"

"---and I have to go. Bye."

Click. An eerie feeling swept over me. Was it just me, or was she avoiding my question?

"I hate sandwiches," Claire mumbled. Maybe Mom was talking loud and I didn't notice, so Claire heard. Maybe….

…this has happened before.

I sighed and went to the cabinet. After eating a peanut butter and jelly sandwich, I was about to go upstairs but Claire interrupted me. "Don't tell me Dad's working late again," she said. "I don't buy that story." Claire may be young, but she really does understand a lot.

I thought about that and went to sit back at my desk. It took awhile to finish my homework, and by then Mom's car was in the driveway. I decided to work on the poetry for school's newspaper, the Stoneybrook High Weekly Gazette. So, I grabbed a piece of paper out of the second drawer down, and tried to concentrate; think of a meaningful idea. I couldn't, because suddenly a horrible thought overwhelmed me…

Has Dad lost his job again? I thought back to the last time that had happened. We had no income, and eight kids to support for awhile. Mal's in college now. It's even worse, because we have to pay tuition on top of bills and other things. We won't make it. Maybe I should extend my weekend cashier job to everyday….

My thoughts were broken by a knock on the door. "Come in," I called.

Mom was there, looking much worn out. From running errands? "Vanessa, it's almost nine. Are you planning on taking a shower soon?"

"Yeah," I nodded, sitting up straight. "I forgot."

She sat down on Mallory's bed and patted me on the shoulder. "And how was your day, sweetie? Busy?"

"Yeah, we had a couple of quizzes. And we have a new project. I'm working on it with a new girl."

Mom smiled weakly. "Do you think others are adjusting well to public school? It seems like a difficult transition. Who's your friend?"

"Maria Kilbourne. She's a sophomore and she writes for the Gazette, too. She used to go to Stoneybrook Day School."

"Well, try to get to bed early," Mom urged. "If you want to get in there before Jordan and Margo, you'd better hurry, especially for Margo." She shuffled to her room and locked the door.

Now I was really curious. What kind of errands? Being a stay at home mom isn't that tiring, she isn't that way usually, anyway.

That night I had a dream I was driving a car around nowhere, and I couldn't control myself.

"Help! Somebody stop me, before it's too late!" I shouted dramatically.

I turned the steering wheel frantically. Suddenly it popped off and the window fogged up. Moving in all directions possible, I still couldn't see what was ahead of me.

Then, in a flash, I could only see one thing: my dad. With a loud "whoosh" the car stopped and I got out. I looked everywhere, but Dad was nowhere to be found.

"No!!!" I screamed. "No! Daddy! Come back……"

I looked at the clock. It was two in the morning. But I couldn't go back to sleep. Without thinking, I automatically headed for the window where you could see our driveway. I stalled for a second, not ready to look. But I did.

Dad's car wasn't there.