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As the morning slipped by, I drifted in and out of consciousness, and my family must have disappeared from existence sometime then.
    At some point, the phone started ringing, but I felt too awful to answer. It continued to ring all afternoon long, until finally there was a knock on the front door and I was forced to get up. When the police officer told me what had happened to my family, my stomach reacted before I could process anything. I bent over, hands to my knees, and emptied onto the floor the small amount of hot chocolate I’d been able to sip that morning.
    I didn’t understand how Lucy could be gone. She had always gone a step beyond being an older sister. The night before, when I came down with the flu, she’d held my hair and rubbed soothing circles across my back as I cried into the toilet. And my mother—she had been the strongest woman I knew. At the time, it didn’t make sense that she was dead.
    But she was. They all were.
    Ever since that day—ninety-four days, to be exact—I’d been dreaming about them. My father was the famous CEO of Howard Investment Corporation, so their car accident played on the news in loops, a constant reminder that they were gone. I still couldn’t get the image out of my head of our car, which had been crunched up into a ball as if it were nothing more than aluminum foil. It was as if every detail was seared into my brain, like when you look away from the sun after staring too long and it starts multiplying across the sky in vivid colors.
    Minutes passed as my chest heaved up and down, until finally I was able to gain control of my breathing. I picked myself up and glanced at the clock—5:31 a.m.
    I wouldn’t be able to fall back asleep, so I went to my dresser. After finding my workout clothes, I pulled on a pair of athletic shorts, grabbed my running shoes, and unhooked my iPod from its charger. It was early and I was exhausted from my nightmare, but I needed a distraction.
    Normally I worked out on one of the treadmills in our family’s gym, but the Walters didn’t have a gym—or even a treadmill, for that matter. Running outside would have to do. The sun was creeping into the sky, and a cool breeze swept across my neck as I stepped out onto the rickety, wooden porch. The morning dew sparkled on the lawn as I sat down to tie my shoelaces before stretching.
    As I stretched, butterflies knotted up in my stomach. I couldn’t tell if they were left over from my nightmare or if I was nervous about my upcoming day. The prospect of going to a new school made me feel sick. I had only been in the Walter household for a day, and so far it was awful. I couldn’t imagine going to a public school with hundreds of boys—eleven plus Parker was bad enough.
    It was already nearing the end of the school year, and I was positive that I wouldn’t make a single friend. I found myself wishing it were already three in the afternoon, so I could shut myself in my room and curl up under the covers.
    Just as I was about to take off, the screen door screeched open as George stepped out. Will and Cole were right behind him, and they were all dressed in work clothes: jeans, old T-shirts that had faded from white to cream, boots, and hats to protect them from the sun.
    “Morning, Jackie,” George said and tipped his hat at me. Will waved and offered me a friendly smile.
    “Morning, Mr. Walter, Will,” I replied.
    “You’re up early,” Cole grumbled as he rubbed the sleep from his eyes.
    “I could say the same to you.”
    Cole scowled. “Chores,” was all he said.
    “The boys have some work on the ranch to get done before they head off for the day,” George told me. “If you’re going for a run, you might want to wait for Nathan. He’ll be out in a second.”
    “Okay, thanks,” I said as the three stepped off the porch.
    As I waited for Nathan, I watched them head in the direction of a barn that was barely visible in the early morning light. At one point in their walk, Will