Read Spiral for Free Online Page B

“Stay home with
who
, Jack?”
    She remembered my name. Even says it like we’ve been friends for years. I’m a little shocked, but I don’t let on to her. I try to think about her question instead. There is the glaringly gray area of who her guardians are now.
    “Your grandparents?”
    Cherie rolls her eyes and takes a sip of water. “I can’t live with them; they’re in an assisted living community.”
    “Well, if your mom and dad had a will, then…”
    Waterworks again, and this time I can only blame myself. The conversation of wills, legalities, her life being in the hands of others; these were all things she had not yet thought of and normal kids shouldn’t know about. My dad’s exit from our family opened a whole world of things to me that only adults have to know. Cherie’s not there, yet. She’s not there yet, but she will be soon because her parents are dead.
    At sixteen. On Christmas Eve – even if she is Jewish.
    I hear wailing upstairs.
Britney
! I curse to myself and jump to my feet.
    “What’s that?” Cherie practically spits.
    My mother calls out, “Jack? Jack, is that your sister?”
    I look from Cherie to the stairs and start to inch my way toward them. “I, um, I have to get my little sister. I’m not there, and if she wakes up and I’m not there – you see, she sleeps with me, at night. Like, not in a weird way but, like, she climbs into bed with me – ” It is sounding worse the more I babble.
    “Go. Just… go,” Cherie insists, closing her eyes as if the sound of Britney’s crying is nails on a chalkboard to her ears.
    I race up the steps and burst through the door, probably scaring Britney even more. Her face is warped with anguish, but she still holds her arms out for me to pick her up.
    “I’m sorry, Brat,” I mumble into her hair, holding her close. “I’m here.” She still cries for a little in my arms, but the screaming has stopped.
    Now the whole house is awake. I hear Brenton race down the stairs, shouting, “Santa!” Claudia and Chloe are brushing their teeth in the bathroom next door.
    Oh, no,
I think.
Now they’ll start crying, too.
    I close my eyes. Part of me wants to return to Cherie and sit with her. I don’t know if the terrible twins will be nice, or if Brenton will pester her about her show.
    I look down at Britney, who twists a lock of her hair between her fingers and stares vacantly, listening to the sounds of the house. She’s my obligation right now. Cherie has plenty of people to worry about her tonight.
    Maybe Danika will finally see her text messages and come running,
I think, slinking to my door and closing it softly. Then I carry my little sister back to bed and lay down with her tucked inside of my arm. She nuzzles me and sucks her thumb, a habit Mom’s trying to break. I let her be for tonight. I’ve officially had my fill of teary-eyed females for one evening.

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    DIRTERAZZI.COM
    TRAGEDY STRIKES CHERIE BELLE: BOTH PARENTS KILLED IN CHRISTMAS CRASH
    It was a blue Christmas indeed for sixteen year old Cherie Belle as she lost not one but both parents in a terrible car accident this morning. Mark and Camille Goldman were braving some unexpected New York snow on their way back to the hotel from a relative’s home in the suburbs when the driver, Fernando Suez, lost control. After hitting an oncoming car head on, the limo spun and crashed into the highway’s guard rails with such force that the vehicle flipped over the sides and made an almost 18 foot drop to the ground below. All three passengers, Mark, Camille, and the driver were instantly killed.
    Fortunately, Cherie Belle was not in the car at the time, and she is currently staying with an uncle in Westchester County, New York. Unfortunately, she wakes up today an orphan, and the only list she will be on this Christmas is CPS – Child Protective Services.
    Dan Friedman, VP of Kidz Channel, gave this statement this morning when he heard the news:
    “The Kidz Channel community is