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she didn’t even care. All she thinks about these days is being friends with Grace
.
    “I was so scared when you passed out, Abs, I thought maybe you’d had a heart attack or something,” Faith says. “You got all pale and then your eyes rolled back and BAM!”
    “I bet you’ll have a nasty bump on your head,” Grace says. “You should probably put frozen peas on it when you get home.”
    “Frozen peas?” Faith says.
    “Yeah. My mom has a bag of frozen peas that we never eat — she just uses it as an ice pack for whenever someone hurts themselves, because the peas form around whatever hurts.”
    “Great. So I’ll be known as a pea-brained, fainting loser. That’s all I need,” I say.
    Faith hugs me. “Come on, Abs. You are
not
a loser. You just fainted, okay? It’s not the end of the world. It could have happened to anyone.”
    “Yeah, but it didn’t happen to anyone. It happened to me.”
    “It doesn’t mean you still can’t be involved with the play,” Grace says. “You could still be on stage crew or do costumes or lighting.”
    “Right now, I don’t even want to think about the fricking play. I just want to go home.”
    Grace rolls her eyes and I want to punch her even more than I want to go home.
    “Well, lucky for you, Mom’s here,” Faith says, oblivious to my desire to inflict bodily harm on her buddy. “See you tomorrow, Gracie.”
    “Listen, Faith, don’t tell your mom I fainted, okay?” I tell her as her mom’s car pulls up to the curb.
    “Why not?”
    “Because I don’t want my parents to find out.”
    “But, Abby —”
    “Faith,
please
. PP?”
    After all, you were the one who got me into this mess in the first place
.
    The unspoken words hang between us, as I discreetly hold out my pinkie.
    Faith hesitates, meeting my gaze with worried eyes, before linking her pinkie with mine.

CHAPTER 4
OCTOBER 4, EVENING
    “How were the auditions?” Mom asks at dinner. I was hoping she’d forgotten. No such luck.
    “Fine,” I lie.
    “What’s Abby auditioning for? The Freak Show?” Lily asks.
    “Lily, that’s not nice,” Mom says. “Your sister was auditioning for the school play.”
    “
Abby
? Have pigs started flying or something?”
    “Shut up, Lily!” I snap at her. Times like this you can really understand why Cain killed Abel. I bet you anything Abel was a complete pain in the butt like Lily.
    “Girls, that’s enough. I’m sick and tired of your constant bickering.”
    She looks at her watch. “I wonder where your father is. He said he’d be home by six thirty.”
    “Like he’s
ever
home on time,” I say. “I thought it was supposed to be
better
to work for yourself than for a big company.”
    Mom sighs. She looks tired. “It is in some ways. But it’s more stressful in others, especially with the economy being what it is. Daddy’s having to work out a lot of people’s financial messes, and that takes time.”
    The phone rings.
    “I’ll get it!” Lily is out of her seat before Mom and I even think of moving — her reflexes highly developed from years of training. If there were a phone-answering medal in the Olympics, she would be a shoo-in for the Gold.
    “Oh, hi, Dr. Wilson!” Lily says. “You want to talk to Mom? Okay, I’ll get her for you.”
    I feel my stomach turn over. Why would Faith’s dad be calling to speak to Mom?
    “Hi, Rudy, how are you? … What?” Mom turns and looks at me, concerned. “Goodness, no, she didn’t say anything about it. Told me it went
fine
… Yes, that does seem to be their answer to everything, doesn’t it? … Well, is there anything I should do? Do I need to make an appointment with her doctor?”
    Doctor
? I feel a wave of fury. Faith must have spilled. I can’t believe she told.
    “Okay, Rudy, I’ll keep an eye on her. Thanks for calling. Give my love to Elaine. Bye.”
    Mom hangs up, sits back down at the table, and gives me a stern look.
    “Why didn’t you
tell
me you fainted at rehearsal?