“Okay, Dad. Be right back,” he said, smiling sweetly. A minute later, he came back, dragging a chair behind him. After it was pushed up to the table, I sat down and George began grace. About halfway through his prayer, I felt movement on my leg. Reaching beneath the table, I grabbed something thin and smooth. When I pulled it up, I screamed and flung the yellow reptile away from me. The table burst into commotion. “Snake!” roared Benny as he jumped away from his seat. As he did so, he stepped on one of the dogs. The poor thing yelped and launched itself away from him. Alex, who pushed away from the table in shock, tripped over the wild dog and crashed into Isaac, who was sitting next to him. George was trying to calm Benny down but managed to slip in a puddle of milk that had somehow spilled onto the floor in all the frenzy. As he fell, George grabbed the tablecloth in an attempt to regain his balance, but instead he brought all of dishes down with him. When the bowl of spaghetti hit the ground, its contents flew in every direction and covered us all with tomato sauce. “Jordan!” George bellowed at his son. “You’re beyond grounded!” *** Dinner had been a disaster, and it was entirely my fault. After George and Katherine calmed down the mayhem, everyone was given a job to clean up the mess. That was, everyone except me. Katherine apologized profusely for her sons’ behavior, and sent me off to clean myself up even, though I pleaded to help. Turning off the hot water, I stepped out of the shower. It felt good to wash off the chlorine from the pool and the spaghetti from dinner, but no amount of shower time would ease the dread that was swirling around in my stomach. To add to my discomfort, a stab of irritation shot through me when I spotted my shirt on the floor, covered in sauce. Cole had been right—now it was completely ruined. I was already making a mess of living with the Walters, as I could tell from the way most of the boys threw me dirty looks when I left the kitchen. As I wrapped a towel around myself, I wished I’d worn flip-flops to the bathroom. The floor was a minefield littered with dirty boxers and used