Backlash

My phone buzzes.

I can’t BELIEVE it … Man, people are sick. I’m so sorry.

It’s not your fault.

Well … I’m REALLY sorry for that pic Bree posted on her FB page. I swear. I’m embarrassed we’re related right now.

Picture Bree posted? What picture?

I go to Facebook on my phone and look up Bree’s page. When I do, I want to throw up. Or throw the phone away, or, better yet, at someone, namely Bree Co

Bree posted a picture of my unconscious sister being wheeled toward the ambulance. As if that weren’t bad enough, it has seventy-seven likes and, although there are some expressions of concern and sympathy, some of the comments underneath are so awful, so cruel, that they make me hate Bree, hate Liam, hate everyone in the entire world.

Syd?

I switch off my phone. I don’t care if he’s sorry. I can’t text with him right now. I want to shut off the entire disgusting, mean, insane world.

And as I think that, I suddenly understand what might have made Lara do it.

It’s not easy being Lara’s sister. If she weren’t my sister, I probably wouldn’t be her friend. But she is my sister. And nobody, nobody, sister or no sister, deserves what I just saw on that page.

MY PICTURE of Lara has 104 likes and 15 shares by the time Mom gets home. That’s the most I’ve ever gotten on any picture or status update, ever. Wonder if I should Instagram it? #Call911

“Tell me everything,” Mom says, putting a bag of groceries on the kitchen counter.

“How could you stop and wheel a cart around the supermarket like nothing happened?” I ask her. “Aren’t you at all … you know, freaked out by this?”

Mom has her hand in the bag, starting to unload it, and she stops and gives me an exasperated look.

“I assume you want di

Which of course, I don’t, and Mom knows that when I blush and say nothing.

“Just tell me what happened,” she says.

“We heard sirens. Like, when I called you. The police car came first. Then the ambulance. All the neighbors were outside the Kelleys’ house watching. Then the medics wheeled Lara out on a stretcher, put her in the ambulance, and drove away with lights and sirens. She tried to … kill herself.”

“Yeah, and Bree took a picture of her and posted it on Facebook.”

My brother is standing in the doorway of the kitchen, narrow-eyed, cell phone in hand.

“You what?”

When I see my mom’s expression it’s like when you’re at the beach and you see that really huge wave coming toward you, and you don’t know if you should try to ride it or dive under, and if you hesitate too long, you get nailed by it. I wait a second too long to answer and Mom goes nuclear.

“Brea

It’s so unfair. Liam was the one who disobeyed Mom first, but I get the grief. And she makes out like I’m stupid, as usual.

“Liam wouldn’t listen! I told him you said to stay in, and he completely ignored me and walked straight out the door! He’s the one who went out first.”

“Is that true?” Mom turns to Liam, who’s still leaning against the doorjamb.

He glares back at her defiantly. “Yeah. They’re our friends, right? I thought they might need help. Isn’t that what friends are supposed to do?”

Mom’s lips purse, and I know he’s got her there. Sure, Lara and I have drifted apart, but at least on the surface my parents and the Kelleys are still friendly.

“Helping doesn’t mean taking pictures and posting them on Facebook,” Mom snaps.

“I wouldn’t do that,” Liam says, not hiding his disgust with me. He nods in my direction. “That’s Miss ‘I’ll Do Anything No Matter How Sick to Get Likes on Facebook.’ ”

Mom takes off her suit jacket, slowly and deliberately, and I feel acid in the back of my throat, because I know I’m about to be hit by another wave of her anger any moment.

“Liam, I need to speak to your sister privately,” she says.

Here it comes.

“Wait … before I go, I wanted to tell you … I texted Syd, and Lara’s awake,” Liam says.

I feel tears well up, but this time they’re ones of relief. “That’s … so great to hear,” I say. “Thanks for letting me know, Li.”

“Yes, it is,” Mom agrees, looking at me from the corner of her eye.

“Mrs. Kelley is talking to the police,” Liam adds, like it’s just some random factoid that’s he’s just happening to mention.

That is so NOT great news.

“What do you mean, the police?” I ask, trying to keep my voice steady.

Liam looks at me like I’m some kind of an idiot.

“The police always ask questions in the event of a suicide attempt, Bree,” Mom says, giving me a hush-up look.

“Syd says it’s because of some guy named Christian. Did you see what he wrote on her wall?”

The sound that comes from the back of my throat escapes despite my attempt to stifle it.

“Don’t tell me you’re friends with that guy, Bree,” Liam says. “What a jerk!”

“Christian who?” Mom asks. Her voice is calm, almost nonchalant. Like she’s never heard of anyone named Christian, ever.

“Christian DeWitt. He wrote all this sick stuff on Lara’s page, Mom,” Liam replies.

My eyes are trained on the point where the wooden table leg meets the floor. It’s where food and dust bu

If I keep my eyes focused on that spot, they can’t give anything away.

“I know this is very unsettling, Liam, but Lara has never been the most stable girl, has she?” Mom says. “Remember what a mess she was in middle school?”

Mom’s finished unloading the groceries, and she takes out the chopping board and a knife to start preparing di

“To be honest, I wasn’t that unhappy that she and Bree started drifting apart,” Mom continues. “I was worried it might get unhealthy for Bree to continue to hang around with her so much.”

Weird. She never told me that. In fact, if anything, I felt the opposite, because Mom has always been so obsessed with Mrs. Kelley. She started copying the way she dressed and the way she spoke. And she always laughed a little too loudly whenever Mr. Kelley told a joke. If Lara and I weren’t going to be BFFs anymore, it gave her less reason to be BFFs with Mr. and Mrs. Kelley.

“I don’t get it. How does that matter now?” Liam asks. I abandon my table-leg staring to look at him, because he’s taking this so seriously. “Are you saying just because Lara was kind of a head case in middle school it’s okay for all those kids to write that stuff on her wall?”