“It’s hard for you to have Ma as a teacher, but did you ever look around? Everyone else really, really likes her classes”

MY bed creaks as someone sits down. I squint in the darkness. Too. Early.

Much too early.

“Libby?” I croak.

She puts her hand on my head. “Hush, young one, this is a dream.”

I sit up so suddenly we almost smack heads. “What? Stop being a weirdo. Does Yoni know that you scare sleeping people?”

She makes a face that I can’t fully see.

I squint at the clock: 6:05.

Falling back against my pillows, I groan. “Libby! It’s the crack of dawn, what is going on?”

She squishes over next to me. “I’m heading off to Brooklyn to meet Yoni’s sisters for breakfast and shopping, but I just wanted to tell you first to give Ma a chance today. I know it’s hard for you to understand why she’s doing things this way, insisting you only speak about what happened in a school setting, but Nomes, Ma knows what she’s doing, okay? It’s hard for you to have Ma as a teacher, but did you ever look around? Everyone else really, really likes her classes. She’s probably one of the most liked teachers of 11th grade. And I know you’ve probably blocked this from your psyche, but I bet you have classmates and friends who open up to her and share personal things.”