Cassandra woke up feeling a heavy pressure in her lower back and a strange tightening in her stomach. It wasn’t an agonizing pain, but it felt like a silent warning that something was wrong.
She decided to stay in bed a little longer to see if the sensation would pass. It was barely nine o’clock when Edith burst into the bedroom without knocking.
“Are you going to get up now, or should I bring you breakfast in bed like a servant?” Edith asked.
Cassandra sat up slowly and leaned against the headboard. “I really don’t feel well this morning.”
“Of course you don’t,” Edith scoffed. “What a coincidence that you get sick the moment Wesley isn’t around to see it.”
Cassandra chose not to answer and walked to the bathroom to splash cold water on her face. When she came out, she went to the kitchen hoping to make some tea.
She found the kitchen in a state of total disarray. Her vitamins were missing from the counter, and her school portfolio was gone from the table.
“Are you looking for this trash?” Edith asked while standing in the dining room. She was holding Cassandra’s school folder with two fingers as if it were a dirty rag.