Chapter 27: Skye

I hear a knock on the door before Lanie pokes her head inside my room. "Please, tell me you're not still studying."

It's clear from the books and papers spread out on the bed that I'm knee-deep in homework.

My gaze stays locked on my computer screen as I finish typing the last sentence of a paragraph. "What gave it away?"

"Come on, girl!" she snaps with annoyance. "You can't study your life away. That's no fun."

"When did I ever say I was interested in fun?"

Fun. As if that's anywhere on my radar.

How can I focus on something so frivolous when Dad's treatments aren't knocking out the cancer? We keep waiting for him to turn a corner, but that has yet to happen. The chemo makes him sick, and he has a hard time keeping anything down. More importantly, the medicine hasn't lowered his numbers. I'm losing hope, and it feels like time is running out. Most days, I walk around with a sick knot at the bottom of my belly.

"Yeah, that's part of the problem. You've become a real stick-in