Clara sat in the passenger seat of her mom’s beat-up car, her fingers drumming against her leg as they sat in the McDonald’s drive-thru. Iris was in the back, sniffling over something—probably some minor disagreement with Mollie. Mollie, of course, was sitting back with her arms crossed, exuding an aura of smug indifference. Their mom looked exhausted, rubbing her temples while scrolling through her phone, waiting for their turn at the window.

“Iris, stop crying,” she said flatly, glancing at her sister through the rearview mirror. “You got your fries. What’s the problem?”

“She’s just being a baby like always,” Mollie muttered.

“I am not!” Iris wailed, her voice cracking. “Mollie kicked me!”

Their mom sighed loudly, adjusting her grip on the steering wheel. “God, can you both not for five minutes?”

“She did kick me!” Iris insisted.

“She was taking up all the foot space! I barely touched her!” Mollie shot back, rolling her eyes.

Clara leaned her head against the cool window, exhaling sharply. “Can you two just not do this right now?”

“Oh, so now you’re gonna start?” Their mom’s voice was sharp, tired. “Jesus, Clara, you always have to make things worse.”

Clara’s nails dug into her palm. “I’m trying to make it stop.”

“Well, you’re not helping,” their mom snapped, pulling up to the pay window. As she handed over her card, she mumbled, “You never help. You just sit there and judge everyone.”

Clara’s chest tightened. That was so like her mom—act like Clara was the problem for pointing out the obvious.

She clenched her jaw and stared out the window, refusing to respond.

Mollie snorted. “Yeah, Clara. You should just do your usual thing where you sulk and act all high and mighty.”

Clara turned her head slightly, eyes narrowing. “And you should do your usual thing where you make everything worse on purpose and act like a smug piece of shit about it.”

Mollie gasped in fake offense. “Wow. You kiss your anime posters with that mouth?”