I flopped down on the grass and buried my face in my arms. Over and over in my mind, the orange-and-black slug flew toward Ms. Morgan. Over and over, I watched her slide down the steep bank beside the trail. What if she’d broken something? A leg. An arm. They were probably calling on their cell phones, getting an ambulance. She would go to the hospital. I loved her so much, and now, I knew for sure that I wanted her to be my mother. My mother. Not Claire’s. I had ruined everything. Now, she would be sure to choose Claire. Every time she thought about me, she would remember that slug. I could hear them coming back. I peeked through the blades of grass and saw that Dad was carrying Tyler, who was carrying the binoculars. He looked through them at Dad’s head. “There’s something black in your ear,” he yelled. “Quit that,” Dad said. But he was laughing. He sounded normal. Maybe everything wasn’t ruined, after all. Ms. Morgan walked next to Claire. They were holding hands while Claire told her a story about a trip she had taken.
