Reconstructing Amelia

by Kimberly McCreight

Let us again pretend that life is a solid substance, shaped like a globe, which we turn about in our fingers. Let us pretend that we can make out a plain and logical story . . . —Virginia Woolf, The Waves

lawyers from Slone, Thayer; ten from Associated Mutual Bank—

salt-and-pepper hair

sleepovers,

She liked her job, and she was good at it, and that made her feel capable and secure.

her heart picking up speed

I love my mom, but she gets most of her ideas about how to be a mom from other moms.

eggplant

We always ended up in the same place, just for different reasons.

Sorry? Sorry your daughter is dead. Sorry your daughter jumped off the roof of her school when you were on your way to pick her up. Sorry you were late. Too bad you’ll be reliving that failure for the rest of your miserable life.

cellophane.

He wore me down.

Zadie, Bethany, Rachel, and Heather. Along with Dylan, the five of them looked like the ones who were in charge.

Charlie Kugler and Tempest Bain. They were sophomores, too, and looked as nervous as I felt.

The ordinary things of a living, breathing girl. Now, the precious artifacts of a dead one.

Because there are 176 definitions for the word loser on urbandictionary.com. Don’t Be a Statistic

getting her ticket punched again these days.

Sometimes it’s hard to tell how fast the current’s moving until you’re headed over a waterfall.”

whole-wheat toast.

salt and pepper shakers.

He can climb down from his ivory tower to pick her up for once.

“Make yourselves right at home.”