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THE REST OF THE MONTH WAS A BLUR.
there was no funeral; there was no body. amanda had survived the attempted suicide. presley didn't know why she had done it, but she had an idea. amanda wouldn't speak to anyone, and she didn't have to. soon after that day, jennifer and matthew walker had made the difficult decision to send their daughter to a secluded behavioral center, in hopes that she would heal.
the townspeople heard what had happened approximately 13 minutes after the police had shown up at the walker household. the story probably wasn't right, but nobody cared because everyone gossiped in derry.
max was gone more than usual nowadays. jennifer was worried; matthew was not. as far as he was concerned, max was just being a teenager. and he was. just one with an unhealthy habit for doing things that put his life at risk daily.
charlotte didn't know what had happened, obviously. nobody has the guts to tell a little girl what went down in that room that day.
presley was left feeling more alone than ever.
the walker family dynamic had changed. now they had to go to a family counselor, in hopes that that would help seal the hole that was burned into their hearts a long, long time ago. max wouldn't speak when they were at the counselor's office. in fact, he wouldn't talk about anything with anyone, which hurt presley a little bit. they'd stopped sharing secrets a couple years back, around the time pres had started hanging out with greta, but she'd always hoped that if something severe happened, she would still be the safe place max could go. she was only kidding herself, and she knew that now.
maybe in another time, and another place, presley would be happy that her family was being forced to spend so much time together. as of right now, though, she only considered it a pain.
•••
school was the absolute worst. her friends had dumped her awhile back, and now she was left with none. people didn't care that she was friendless, they just wanted to know what it was like to have a "slutty sister who was straight up crazy". some gave her sympathy, others gave her glares, like it was her fault she was getting so much unwanted attention.
she used to love being the one everyone was talking, wondering about. not anymore. not like this.
presley did as she always did, and let herself become exactly what they wanted her to be.
they told her who she was.
she was too dumb and naive to notice anything wrong with her sisters behavior.
