I WAS THE ONLY CHILD NOT PICKED UP

Dear Delyara, I am twelve years old. School ended at four. Everyone is gone now except the guard and me. He keeps pretending to sweep near the gate so I won’t feel alone. My mother said she would come. At first I thought traffic was bad. Then I thought her phone had died. Then I thought maybe she forgot because she works too much. Now it is dark. The guard gave me half of his sandwich. I told him I wasn’t hungry because I didn’t want him to know I had not eaten since breakfast. My parents fought last night. My father said he was leaving. My mother said, “Take her with you, then.” I was standing behind the bedroom door when she said it. Neither of them knows I heard. Every time headlights turn toward the school, I stand up. Then the car passes. I keep wondering which one of them decided the other one was supposed to collect me. Maybe they are both waiting for someone else to want me first.