Stacey walked to her locker like a woman in a dream. It didn't even occur to her that while Mary Anne and Kristy had flocked to Claudia to support and protect her, Stacey's friends had simply let her go. She got her jacket and mechanically pulled it on. She didn't think to button it up but when she went into the cold she didn't feel it. Stacey walked the streets for hours. In the back of her head she knew she would have to eat soon or her diabetes would be a problem. She suddenly realized that her left hand had been wrapped around an apple in her jacket for hours. She slowly ate the apple and began to think. When she finished the apple Stacey lifted her head and was not amazed to find herself standing in front of Claudia's house. The sun had set and the last vestiges of twilight were slowly disappearing. Stacey's eyes automatically found Claudia's window. It was dark. She was probably with Kristy or Mary Anne or both. Stacey tried to find that part of her that cared. She tried to find the good part of her but she couldn't. The last of the best of her had slipped through her fingers when she saw Claudia's heart break.
Stacey turned away and let her feet start the long walk back to her house. Tomorrow would be another day with thing 1 and thing 2 and the Icebitch. Stacey didn't think she could take it. As always when Stacey was at her worst she thought of Dawn. Dawn would never have let it come to this. She always new what to do. Stacey remembered how much Dawn had always puzzled Claudia. How could she not want to eat chocolate? And Gummie Bears? Stacey's prayer came to her as she turned the corner to her own street and she took one last look at Claudia's house. "Dawn is the li . . ." Claudia had turned on her desk lamp. It wasn't easy to see but Stacey knew, "that will guide my way". In that moment Stacey knew that Dawn had given her back a piece of her better part, and with it, hope. Stacey raced back down Bradford Court, she knew the door would be unlocked, it seemed to fly open at her touch and the stairs carried her up to Claudia's room. Stacey stopped when she found herself standing across from Claudia. She was beautiful. And the sorrow and the horror of the day and of the last 2 years hit her and the nightmare of the lunchroom unfolded before her. The floor came up to meet her and the sobs tore at her chest.