I stare out the window, watching tree after tree go by as Owen drives me over to Claire's the next afternoon.  I promised Owen to play nice, as long as she does.  If she brings up things I don't want to talk about, I have a right to shut it down.

"Can I come home tomorrow?" I ask as we turn down the long road that leads to Claire's.  He looked at me and quirks an eyebrow.

"Why the rush?" He asks as we get bumped around by the rocky road.

"I hate it here," I tell him bluntly.

Owen inhales and rests his head in his hand against the car door.  "What is it with you two nowadays?

"I'm not a little kid," I tell him.  "I don't need her to try to be my mother."

I don't even remember having a mother.  She died before I turned two.  All my life I've been raised by other people.  It wasn't until Owen that I felt someone actually cared about me.

"You'll be fine," he tells me and I don't believe him.  I rest my head against the window, then regret it as it bonks around on the gravel.  We pull in just as Claire is walking over with some firewood.  Owen gets out and offers to help, but she rebuffs him.  She's so icy.

"I need to leave in the morning," I immediately tell her, pulling my backpack out of the back seat.

She furrows her eyebrows.  "Why?"

They both look at me, waiting for an answer, so I just shrug and start to examine my fingernails.  I've never been one for upkeeping them.  Claire looks back at Owen.

"Malcolm called about the new intern," she told him.  "He starts tomorrow."

"Great," he said, crossing his arms.  "We need all the extra help we can get."

"What intern?" I ask curiously.

"He's from Virginia Tech," Claire told me.

I tried not to act too interested, but I would make sure to go into work with Owen or Claire in the near future.  Someone semi-close to my age was going to be in my close vicinity.  This was quite exciting news for me.

"You're not going in with me tomorrow," Claire told me, reading my mind.  She looked at Owen.  "Have you seen her grades lately?"

Her Claireness was showing, micromanaging me about my grades. I should've known she'd be checking in.  They both looked at me, waiting for an explanation.

"I've been busy," I told them stupidly.

"Doing what?" Owen asked.  "All your extracurriculars?"

My excuse was bull and we all knew it.  I had nothing but time on my hands.  How was I supposed to find geometry and Spanish interesting when this was my backyard?  I got to work with real dinosaurs, which was way more useful for what I wanted to do with my life.

"You and me have a date tonight," Claire informed me.  "Geometry!"

I rolled my eyes and Owen gave me a sympathetic look.  That was no way for anyone to spend a Wednesday evening.  He gave me a quick kiss on the temple and then I was left with Claire. I looked at her, giving in to the fact I would be spending at least 12 hours with her.  As soon as I was able, I was out of there.

"You could grab some more firewood from out back," she told me as she walked towards the cabin.  It was October and the nights were starting to get cool.  With no central heating (or air conditioning for that matter), we relied on burning wood.

We both went about our chores mostly without speaking, which was fine with me.  At dinner, we barely spoke.

"Can I go into work with you tomorrow?" I asked, thinking about the new intern starting.

"I already told you no," she reminded me, picking up her fork.

"Why not?" I asked.

"You apparently have a lot of catching up to do on your school work," she told me.  "Two C's?  You're much more capable than that."

I guess since my mother was practically a genius, I'm expected to get straight A's.  Which, I can do, but I don't really feel like putting forth that much effort for something I don't care about.  As I said, living with Claire and Owen and working with dinosaurs was giving me way more education than stupid online school.

"Online school is so boring," I complained.

Claire sighed, having heard this before.  "Maisie, we've talked about this.  If you can't get your work done by yourself, we'll have to send you to Madison."

My fork clattered as I dropped it on my plate.  Even worse than being stuck here would be going to Madison, a boarding school about 100 miles away.  I'd been threatened with this before.

"I'm serious," she told me.  "All A's and B's."

I groaned and pushed my vegetables around.  I really had no excuse other than not wanting to do it.  Out here, I had all the time in the world.

After dinner had been cleared up, it was Claire, me, and a geometry book for about two hours.  At least it helped me get some of my assignments done and I did understand it better.  But when would I use it working with dinosaurs?  It was all so pointless.  Afterwards, Claire asked if I wanted to play a game of cards, which I of course didn't want to.  I retreated to my corner of the cabin and found a book.

I found it hard to concentrate, thinking about my two eggs.  I had checked on them before Owen brought me over, but I usually tried to check on them before bed.  They were hidden, but it was definitely possible for them to be snatched up by a predator with no mother watching out for them.  I couldn't keep my mind off them.  This is why I hated staying with Claire.

I waited for Claire to go to bed, then I snuck out the back, walking as quietly as I could.  I brought a flashlight and I made my way through the forest back to Owen's cabin.  It was only a five minute drive, so it should take me around 15 minutes.

Once I'd reached the nest, I knelt down and shone my light on the eggs.  They were both still there and felt warm enough.  I breathed a sigh of relief.  I thought of the tiny babies inside, wondering if they could sense their mother was gone.  There had to be some sort of way I could offer them something more.

Just as my mind started to wander, I heard the back door of Owen's cabin open.  I looked over saw him step out.  "Maisie?"  he called out.

I ducked down.  Shit.  How did he know I was here? I wasn't sure whether to answer or not.  Clearly, Claire had noticed I was gone and had called him.  I hadn't taken my cell phone with me.  Despite not especially liking Claire, I really didn't want them worried about me so I decided it was better to come clean.  I stepped around the trees and into the backyard.

"Hi, Owen," I said timidly. 

His eyes narrowed at me.  "Maisie, what are you doing here?" He asked, clearly irritated.  "You're supposed to be at Claire's."

I scratched at my head, trying to come up with a good excuse.  "I know," I told him.  "I just...got homesick?"

Owen gave me a look, clearly not believing me.  He pulled out his phone and called Claire, telling her that I was here.

"Come on," he motioned me over.  "I'll drive you back."

"Can't I just stay here?" I asked hopefully.

"Maisie, this has to stop," he told me simply.  "Come on."

I reluctantly followed him around to the Jeep and got in.  We rolled along silently, back to Claire's.  When we arrived, she was waiting on the porch in her pajamas, arms crossed.

"What are you thinking, Maisie?" She immediately lit into me as I walked back to my personal hell.  "It's dangerous around here at night.  And you didn't even take your phone."

"I'm sorry," I managed to growl out.

Claire and Owen looked at each other.  "Why don't you bring her in to work tomorrow so we can keep an eye on her," Owen suggested.

At least I'd be around other people and not stuck doing online school all day, even if I was going to be watched like a hawk.  Plus, the intern was starting tomorrow.  Perhaps my luck was changing.