My Daughter’s Bullies Visited Her Hospital Room Every Day—Then One of Them Asked, “Do You Really Have No Idea What She Did?”

“You know that?”

“I’m sick, not stupid.”

Fair.

PART 16 — WHY SHE SEEMED SAFE

“Why did they come to you?”

Madeline looked toward the window.

“Because I had no friends.”

I felt something inside me crack.

“What?”

“If you tell someone popular something, maybe it spreads.”