Little Sister

The Pollywog

"Were the people we went trick-or-treating with the same people Billy tried to run over yesterday?" Bailey said, breaking the morning silence, I froze for a second, I didn't know if I could answer truthfully or not. If I should.

"Umm...yeah, they were." I finally pushed out, focusing back down on her overall straps.

"Why did you say they weren't your friends?"

"Because-good?" I asked to make sure her straps were comfy. She nodded. "Well, I don't really know them that much, I had only just talked to them yesterday." I sat Bailey on my bed and propped her foot on my knee so I could put her shoe on and tie it. "Plus, you know how Billy feels about us having friends."

"Yeah...but...was he really going to run them over?"

"If I hadn't taken the wheel...it was likely." I tapped her leg to signal for her other foot and started to put the other shoe on.

"But...why?"

"Huh?" I looked up at her questioningly.

"Why does Billy do these things? Why is he so mean? Why does he hurt you so much?"

"...I don't know." I finished her shoe and  put a new headband on her head then helped her off my bed to put her yellow cardigan on.

"I don't like it when Billy hurts you..."

"...I know, but don't worry about me, okay? I'll be fine." I helped put her backpack on and handed MadMax to her before heading out the door.

-

"I still don't get why they call him zombie boy. I mean, I get it. He got lost in the woods for a week or something. But why a zombie? Because everyone thought he was dead?" I asked Lucas as we walked in the halls together. On a good note, I made it to school early today, Bailey hadn't put up a fight.

"Yeah. I mean, we had a funeral for him and everything." Lucas said.

"After a week?"

"Well, see, some other kid drowned at the quarry. We thought it was Will because his body was super decomposed." That made me shake, bringing back a bad memory.

"What?" I hissed. "Okay, that's not funny."

"It's not a joke, all right? It's public knowledge. You can ask anybody. Except Will, because he's really sensitive about it. All right?"

"Okay..." I nodded.

-

     "The case of Phineas Gage is one of the great medical curiosities of all time. Phineas was a railroad worker in 1848 who had a nightmarish accident. A large iron rod was driven completely through his head. Phineas miraculously survived. He seemed fine. And physically yes he was. But his injury resulted in a complete change to his personality." After a little bit I stopped listening to the lesson, my head starting to fall towards my desk, every now and then I'd jerk back up but it was hard to even keep my eyes open. I was so tired, I had to keep Bailey occupied all night while Billy and Neil argued. Even after that her nightmares were keeping her awake.

     My eyes suddenly shot open and my head popped up when I heard a loud bang, but it was just Dustin making an entrance. "I'm so sorry Mr. Clarke. Really I'm so sorry, please continue with the class." He panted. "Don't mind me. Really, continue please." Dustin sat down at his desk finally catching his breath. "Although it wasn't a crowbar-" Mr. Clarke continued.

     I ignored the event and started to doze again, my head beginning to fall once more, but just before it could hit the surface of my desk something hit me. Literally. I jumped and looked down to see a paper ball sitting in front of me. I opened it and read. "Av room. Lunch." I looked up and met eyes with Dustin, him putting a thumbs up at me making sure I got the message, I finally replied back with my own. He smiled then finally turned in his seat pulling his attention to the front.