I gripped the phone so hard my knuckles ached. The pressure in my chest kept building with nowhere to go.
"It's one pen refill, Mom. I really just forgot."
"Forgot!" Her voice climbed even higher, high enough that I had to pull the phone away from my ear.
"You can forget everything except how to spend my money! Do you have any idea how much you blow on pen refills alone in a month? How many times have I told you? Used refills get saved. They get logged. They get shown to me. Is your memory that bad, or are you doing this on purpose?"
"Fine. You want to throw things away? Then you can forget about dinner money next week. Consider it your reimbursement to me."
The line went dead. Nothing left but the flat, mechanical hum of the dial tone.
I sat there. Didn't move.
Outside, the dorm building lights were still on. The girl next door was laughing into her phone. Her voice drifted through the wall, faint but clear enough to make out.
Mom, stop worrying. I'm fine. Everything's great.
I looked down at the post Lily had just made on social media.
"I'd sell everything I own to give my kids the best."