why was meg murry afarid in the beginning of the story

I don't think that Meg is really that afraid. The novel begins on a “dark and stormy night” with Meg Murry sitting in her attic bedroom contemplating the events of the day. She is feeling sore because she was dropped to the lowest section in her grade, teased by other girls in her class, and drawn into a fight when another boy made disparaging remarks about her youngest brother. As she sits in the attic she can’t help but think about her missing Father and the “smugly vicious gossip” that surrounds his disappearance. She looks at herself in the mirror, takes in her glasses and braces on her teeth, and feels very alone on the stormy night of the hurricane.