“Iam!” I choke on a sob. “Why would I do that? I have a meet on Saturday. Please, the cross-country team needs me. I’m one of our best runners.”
“I don’t think you understand the severity of this situation.” PrincipalMatthews shakes his head. “You’re not only facing expulsion. You could go to jail for this. You’ll be tried as an adult. Do you understand that? What you did is assault. Assault with a deadly weapon.”
Jail?My chest grows unbearably tight.
What about all the terrible people who actually deserve jail?
People like my dad.
What am I going to do? Jim and Patricia will never adopt me now.
The principal’s eyes meet mine over the thin rims of his glasses like he’senjoyingthis. Having power over me. Frightening me. My hands ball into fists. Sitting before him, I feel like a child again, small and powerless.
“Jason assaulted me first,” I quietly plead.
Principal Matthews sighs heavily, leaning back in his plush office chair. “You kids in the foster system just can’t stay out of trouble, can you?”
My nails bite into my palms.
Fuck you,I want to shout, but I swallow the words. It’s not the first time I’ve heard something like that. He wouldn’t understand why I’m so angry. If I let myself start, I would scream until my throat was raw, until I had no voice left at all.
Principal Matthews changes tactics. “I’ve already called the police and your guardian. They should be arriving any moment now, so before they do, just tell me where—”
The door bangs open behind me, and I whirl around.
No. Not Jim and Patricia.
My social worker’s generous frame fills the doorway instead.
Of course. Since I haven’t been adopted, Jim and Patricia aren’t my legal guardians. Helga is. Shoulder-length gray hair frames her soft, wrinkled face and gentle eyes. She bustles into the principal’s office, wearing a bright dress and big smile, completely at odds with the grim mood.
“I came as soon as I could,” Helga says, plopping her briefcase on the desk like it belongs to her.
It’s been three weeks since I saw her. Whenever she visits, it’s exhausting. I have to save my best performances for her.I’m doing well, thank you for asking! Couldn’t be happier, actually.Now I’m glad she showed up, not Jim and Patricia. I don’t know how I’m going to explain this to them.
Helga clears her throat. “I’d like to speak with Edith. Alone.”
Principal Matthews nods reluctantly. “Very well. I should see if the police have arrived yet.”
We’re both silent until the door slams shut.
Helga lowers herself into the seat beside mine. She studies me with keen interest, no trace of fear or judgment. “I want to hear what happened from you.”
“I didn’tdoanything.” I jump up from my chair and pace back and forth, unable to sit still any longer. “Jason was an asshole—he kept trying to grab me—and I just… I got so angry… I slapped him, that’s all.”
Helga raises her brows. “That’s all?”
She sounds business as usual, as if this is another one of our monthly check-ins. I can just imagine all the things she’s cataloging about me in her head right now:Violent tendencies. Uncontrollable rage. Risk to others.
Worst of all:Like father, like daughter.
I shake my head. “I know, I know. It’s never acceptable to hit someone.” Still, how come no one cared when Jason kept grabbingmewithout my permission? Why isthatacceptable? I hesitate a moment before adding, “I wouldneveruse a knife. Never.”
A corner of Helga’s mouth lifts, deepening the creases of her face. “I know.”
That stops me in my tracks. “You do?”
Of all the people I expected to believe me, my social worker was not at the top of the list. She may have known me since I was seven yearsold, even longer than Jim and Patricia, but I still expected her to write me off like everyone else.
