After our parents died, I became everything my little sister had left. I gave up everything else to keep her safe. When kids at school ruined the one thing I had saved for weeks to buy her, I thought that was the worst part. I was wrong. What I saw after her principal called stopped me in my tracks.

My alarm rings at 5:30 every morning, and before I’m even fully awake, I check the fridge.

Not because I’m hungry that early, but because I need to figure out how to stretch what we have. What Robin gets for breakfast, what goes into her lunch, and what I save for dinner.

Robin is 12, and she doesn’t know I skip lunch most days. I’d like to keep it that way. Because I’m not just her older brother. I’m all she has.