"...What do Du mean?" Mom asked. We'd told her about the rent. I had managed to get off the table, but I had to lean against the counter for support. My leg was so sore.

"Mom," Paige sagte slowly. "We're going to get evicted if we don't pay it."

"So just pay it," she said, oblivious to the seriousness of the situation.

"We can't," Paige said. "We have no money."

"What happened to all of it?" Mom asked, her eyes widening.

"We used it to pay the hospital bill last month. So Matt had offered to pay the rent, and he didn't. Now we're in trouble." Mom was quiet for a moment, then rolled her eyes and waved us off.

"Well, I'm sure you'll be able to get the money, Paige," she sagte cheerfully. My eyes widened. She did not just say that.

"I can't make that much money, Mom. We have a week before we get kicked out."

"Can't Du ask Matt for the money?" I asked, annoyed.

"Shelby," she sagte in a scolding voice. "That's rude. I don't want to bother him for money!"

"But Mom, we'll get kicked out if we don't!" I said. "Where are we going to go?" That seemed to make her realize how much trouble we were in.

"I... I don't know," she said. Then she shrugged. "I'm sure Matt would let us stay with him." She went and left. Probably to Matt's house. I rolled my eyes.

"She's hopeless," I said. Paige sighed.

"Bedtime," she said. We put Auburn down in her crib, then everyone got in bed. I slept on the side away from the Wand this time, so it'd be able to get in and out of bett easier.

"What if he doesn't want us?" Kirsten asked in the darkness. Paige and I turned our heads to her.

"Hm?" Paige asked.

"Matt," she said. "He doesn't like us. Why would he let us live with him?" She had a good point. I'd thought of it before, but I'd hoped it was just me. So the others knew it too...

"I think he will," Paige said. "He might not like us, but I'm sure he'll let us go if we have nowhere to stay."

***

"Um, hello," I said. I went back to the office building I had applied for. Being a secretary was a long shot, but it'd pay well if I got the job. "I was wondering if you'd looked over my application yet." Her smiled faded a little.

"Uh, yes... About that..." she said. "We looked Du up on the computer." My eyes widened. This town is pretty poor, and not so advanced in technology. A very little amount of companies have computers, so I hadn't been worried at all about lying about my age. "We know you're not twenty two. You're not getting the job."

"But... I really need this job," I said. I felt pathetic pleading, but I was desperate.

"I'm sorry, kid." I sighed and left, limping on my leg. Now what was I going to do? I clenched my hands into fists. I can never do anything right. I always screw things up. I could've potentially made us even Mehr poor yesterday, if Paige had had to pay the jail bail, and a hospital bill if she hadn't known how to fix my leg.

I limped home, which took longer thanks to that fucking guy yesterday. Paige was waiting for me, because she needed to go to work. She looked at me hopefully. I frowned and shook my head.

"I didn't get it," I sighed. She pouted, and patted my head.

"It's ok, Shelby."

"No it's not. I wanted to help, but I can't."

"It's ok," she sagte again. "We'll make this work... I gotta go. See ya later." I went inside after she left. Sage was playing with the silverware (she gets bored, and has quite an imagination), and Kirsten was feeding Auburn her bottle. They looked at me hopefully, just like Paige had.

"Nope," I sighed. They sagte nothing. Sage got up and went to our room.

"She's scared," Kirsten sagte quietly. I nodded and went to our room, where Sage was laying on the bed, with her face buried into the pillow. I sat down Weiter to her, and stroked her hair.

"What's wrong, Sage?" I sagte quietly.

"Ay hone when uh go," she mumbled against the pillow. I flipped her over on her back.

"Say again?"

"I don't want to go," she said, her face stained with tears.

"Neither do I, Sage," I sagte quietly. "None of us do. And we're trying everything we can so we don't have to. But we might," I said. "We might not have a choice." She sniffed.

"I don't like him," she said. "He scares me."

"There's nothing to be scared of," I told her. "He won't hurt you." She pouted. "Everything will be fine, Sage. I promise."

"Cross your heart?" I nodded. Then she leaned vorwärts-, nach vorn and hugged me. There was the slam of a door. I left Sage and went to the front door, first afraid that someone had broken in. I saw it was Paige.

"What's wrong," I breathed. She groaned, and shook her head, pacing for a while. My herz started racing. Oh no. "What's wrong?" I sagte again, louder this time.

"I got laid off," she said. My herz dropped into my stomach. That was it. We were moving into Matt's. No Frage about it. Sage whimpered, coming into the room.

"Guess we're going," Kirsten sighed.

***

Five days later, our week was up. We hadn't gotten the money. Now we were screwed.

"Alright, girls. Pack your stuff!" Mom sagte cheerfully. She was just glad to be moving in with Matt. Like she practically didn't live there already...

"Mommy, I don't wanna go," Sage whined, carrying a bundle of clothes in her arms.

"We have to," Mom said, unfeeling. This woman really pissed me off sometimes It seemed like she never even cared about us... which was most of the time.

"It's ok," I whispered to Sage, patting her back. I took the giant pile of clothes from her, and stuffed them into threw plastic grocery bags. These were our suitcases. I put the handles around my arm, and picked up Sage. Paige held Auburn, and some other things we were taking with us. We began walking to Matt's, leaving our house behind. I almost wanted to cry. This was the house I was born in; where I'd lived my whole life.

"Where are we going to sleep?" Kirsten asked me, low enough so Mom couldn't hear.

"Probably outside in dog houses," I rolled my eyes. Sage whimpered. "I'm kidding," I said. But I wouldn't put it past Matt.

Finally we got to Matt's. Mom knocked on the door, and let herself in at the same time.

"Matt!" she squealed. She ran over and hugged him. Fury burned within me.

"Hey, hun," he said. He looked at us, and raised an eyebrow. "Um... What's going on?" There was an awkward silence.

"What do Du mean?" I finally spat out. "We're moving in....?"

"What?" Matt asked, incredulous. "I never sagte that...?" We all looked to Mom, who had a sudden expression of fear. She sagte nothing.

"You didn't ask him?!" I said.