Chapter43:

Chapter 43  Sara's Point of View The morning sun pours through our windows, making bright spots on our living room floor. I'm sitting on the couch with my legs tucked under me, just like I used to do when I was small. Mom's next to me, and her coffee's getting cold on the table. We can't stop watching the TV. The news guy keeps talking about the fire at the prison, and then he says it - Eva Brown is dead. "She's really gone," I whisper. I'm playing with my shirt hem, twisting it around and around in my fingers. Mom smiles, and it's not a nice smile. It reminds me of how our cat looks when it catches something. "Finally," she says, sounding happy, "that pest is out of our lives." Something inside me feels warm and dark, like a shadow coming alive. I remember all the times people compared us. "Why can't you be more like Eva?" they'd say. "Eva would never do that." Eva with her perfect grades. Eva with her perfect smile. Eva, who everyone loved more than me. Eva, who made me feel small an