Unloved (The Undone, #2)

by Peyton Corinne

However, it means I’ve had nearly thirty minutes to chat and laugh with the kind, gentle woman on the screen. Still, I go quiet as Ro emerges. She’s in the doorway of her bathroom. Her striped pink pajama pants flood her ankles just clearing the length of her legs, while a massively oversized shirt with a bespectacled teddy bear reading a book and bright bold letters saying Beary Yourself in a Book covers her down to midthigh. Smiling bigger, I hold my finger up to the camera and prop the laptop in the corner of her half-made bed. “Is that my mom?” I take Ro’s hand and lead her over. “I ordered you some food to get delivered from The Chick,” I say, knowing full well they don’t deliver and that I used my scary senior privileges to get one of the team freshmen to make a trip for me. “Should be here soon. I’ll leave it outside your bedroom door with a knock.” She looks a little shell-shocked, but not unhappy as she turns toward the screen where her mother is still smiling like she’s won a free cruise.