Karyn splashed some water on her face, composed herself, and walked back down to Zoe's room, where she could hear the girls had turned their music back on. She opened the door and said, "Hey guys? I think I do want to go see the show with you on Saturday."
"Great," Zoe said. She frowned. "Are you all right? You look like you've been crying."
"Just got something in my eye," Karyn lied.
Mallory looked at her. "We'd better get back to..." she paused, "that project," she said. Her sister looked at her suspiciously for a moment, but let it go.
Mallory ushered Karyn back to her room and locked the door again. "That's not the Zoe I remember," Karyn said. "She was nice...sort of."
"Well, maybe Jon wasn't a very good big brother," Mallory said, immensely defensive of her kid sister.
Karyn looked at her. "They fought a lot," she admitted. "Zoe fights with her mom, even curses her out, sneaks out of the house...sometimes Jon wonders if she does drugs." She paused. "That's not Zoe."
"It is Zoe. The Zoe you remember isn't Zoe," Mallory said.
"I guess."
"Let's try comparing notes. Your school versus my school," Mallory said. "I'll name something, you tell me what you remember it being like, and vice-versa."
"What's Sarah McMillan like?" Karyn asked, thinking of the biggest bitch in the school. Was she different?
