"Sky, you're gonna be late for school," I whispered, trying to make him get out of bed about a week later.

"Jesus Christ, Lyric!" Sky yelled, and I flew back from him, narrowly avoiding his flailing arm as he flipped over in a tangle of sheets. He was sweating and he looked like he had a cold or something with his watery eyes and sniffly nose.

"What?" I demanded. "What's wrong?"

"Why did you wake me up?" he shouted, sitting up in his bed, looking small. As he raked his damp hair off his forehead, I could see his thin hands shaking.

"Because it's a Monday and usually one attends school on Mondays!"

"I'm not going," he growled. "Get the hell out of my room."

"What do you mean you're not going?" I shrilled. "Your marks are crap already! You can't afford to miss school!"

"What are you, my mother?" he cried, swinging his legs off the bed and shoving me towards the door.

Sky had rapidly lost a lot of weight in this past week. He probably matched me pound for pound, if he wasn't already lighter than me. So it didn't take a lot of exertion to push him away from me. "Don't touch me, Sky," I snapped.

"Get out of my room then."

"Why are you acting like this if you're getting better?" I cried.

"Are you blind?" he shouted. "I am not getting better!"

I felt a hand close around my arm and gently lead me out of Sky's bedroom. I was on the verge of tears, so I swung into the new person's arms.

"He's not going to school today, sweetie," Uncle Bill murmured.

I could feel his hand cradling the back of my head as I tried not to let Sky bring me to tears. "Sorry," I whispered.

"No, it's not your fault. He's been having a hard time sleeping lately," he told me, leading me away from Sky's room. "And he was up all night sick."

I nodded and scrubbed at my eyes. No tears. That was good. I picked up my backpack and told him, "Tell Summer I left, okay?"

I was in a bad mood all morning. I drifted through my classes, not caring about anything. Nina tried to get me to talk to her in math class, but she gave up, offended at my monosyllabic answers. Under any other conditions, I would feel bad for causing one of my best friends to feel insulted, but that day I really didn't care.

The moment I caught a glimpse of Alan sitting at our usual table, the only thing I could think of was that I needed to get to him. Pushing through the slow moving crowd, I panicked, thinking am I gonna break am I gonna break down until I finally made it to the table.

"Hey Lyric, wanna see my bruise?" he asked, but stopped short when he saw my face. "Lyric…"

I sank down on the bench next to him and he brought his arms around me. "I'm never going to get my brother back, Alan."

"What are you talking about?" he asked, his hands rubbing my arms reassuringly. "Did he relapse or something?"

"I don't know, he was just so…it's like he's gone…"

"Jeez, Lyric." Alan tightened his grip around me. "He's going through withdrawal. He's trying. But this is gonna be really hard for him."

"Is he always going to be this way?" I whispered. "It's like, he was the biggest ass-bastard when he was on something, but now that he's not, he's still an ass-bastard. Did we lose him?"

"I don't know what will happen with Sky. But he's always going to love you, Lyric."

Before I went up to bed, I was rummaging the fridge for leftovers from supper, of which Sky had decided to forgo that night.

Hearing someone come into the kitchen, I jumped and cried, "I'm not eating all this food! It's for--the mice!"

Sky raised an eyebrow at me, walking over to the medicine cabinet.

"Are you hungry?" I asked cautiously. "You didn't eat supper."

"No, I'm just getting some aspirin. Stomach cramps."
I winced. "Um, don't kill me, okay?"

"No promises."

"Well. You're not supposed to take aspirin," I muttered.

He paused, looking at the bottle of painkillers in his hand. Shaking his head, he set it back in the cabinet, all the fight leaving him.

"Um, but…Summer has Midol, if you want…"

"What's Midol?"

"It's for PMS."

He looked at me in disbelief. "Good God, Lyric."

"You're the one who said you had cramps!"

"Not those kind of cramps!"

"I was just trying to be of some assistance," I grumbled.

"I know, kiddo." He gave me a haunted smile. "But I don't need your assistance, okay? Don't get involved in my mess."

"I'm your sister. It's my job to stick my nose in places it doesn't belong."

"And you do it well. Go to bed." He gestured towards my plate of leftover stir-fry. "You're going to get fat."