Hidden Pictures

Mallory recalls her history with painkillers, which began with a small sacral fracture. It is a common runner’s injury and wouldn’t affect her offer to Penn State. Doctors prescribed Oxycontin for her, which took the pain away for a while. Mallory’s mother was single, often in poor health, and she smoked constantly. However, she always encouraged the girls to stay close and rely on one another: “That was our big refrain growing up: showing up for each other” (249).

She told Mallory to take Beth and her friend, Chenguang, to Storybook Land while she worked mandatory overtime. Mallory was missing an important running meet and was checking her phone for updates during traffic. She crashed into another car and woke up days later in a New Jersey hospital with three cracked ribs. A mountain bike mounted on an SUV had fallen off, hit the road, and caused everyone to swerve, but Mallory hadn’t noticed because she was checking her phone. Beth and Chenguang died in the crash. Afterward, no one wanted Mallory to blame herself. She eventually left the hospital with more Oxycontin, but it was no longer as effective. Getting off the drug was too hard.