And neither of them looked worried to see me home from war.

They looked annoyed — annoyed that whatever they had been hiding had just been exposed.

“She did this to herself, Austin,” my mother said, without a flicker of shame.

And then came the story: that Chloe had ruined her own hair with cheap chemicals, that she had become obsessed with losing weight, that she wasted money and wanted the whole town to pity her.

Brenda laughed and added her own cruelties on top.

Chloe said nothing.