“I guess. Look, I really need to get to class. But I’ll see you at lunch?”
She nods enthusiastically. “Absolutely!”
Jamie isn’t with me in my next class, so I sit by myself. At the end, I look at my notes, feeling extremely proud of myself. I won’t even have to listen to the recording I took. My stomach growls, and I grab my bag, glad and nervous that I’ll be eating in the cafeteria.
I hear giggles following me and then a loud laugh.
I’m not sure if it’s about me, so I hurry along. But then somethingsharp hits me on the side of my shoulder. It stings and I stop, looking down to see a quarter.
“I paid up!” a guy calls.
Something else gets thrown at me, but it doesn’t hurt. A twenty-dollar bill lands beside my shoes.
“I don’t carry coins,” another says as four boys gather around me. “So does that mean I can rent you for the whole week?”
My heart stops beating, and I try to walk past them, but they block me.
One takes out a hundred-dollar bill, shaking it in front of my eyes before rolling it and tucking it between my hijab and cheek. “This’ll feed you for a month, right?”
Bile rises in my throat. I don’t understand what’s going on.
“Okay, move on,” a girl says behind them. Audrey stands with her arms folded against her chest. Her hair is gathered into a tiny ponytail, and I finally see it’s dark brown. “Joke’s over.”
“It’s not my fault, Audrey,” one of the guys says. “She’s the one advertising it.”
I feel their eyes on my back. My hands scramble, touching a paper stuck to me. I rip it off, and my blood freezes when I read what’s written.
FOR 25¢ I’LL GIVE YOU A GOOD TIME
“Did you do this, Wyatt?” Audrey snaps.
Wyatt’s face is pink with laughter. “No, I didn’t, but it’s brilliant.”
I yank out the hundred-dollar bill and throw it at him. I wish it were a brick so it would crush his organs. All I feel is anger.
“Whoa!” Wyatt says, raising his hands. “Calm down.”
I’m shaking. “Screw you.”
Audrey takes my elbow and steers me away from them. Once we’re out of sight, she turns toward me. “Are you okay?”
I wrap my arms around myself, unable to look back.
“It’s getting worse, isn’t it?” When I don’t answer, she rubs her nose. “I’m sorry it’s happening, but I was thinking maybe the principal doesn’t know about this. You should tell him.”
“It’s not going to help,” I finally reply. “He won’t do anything, because we don’t know who did it.”
“Butyouknow,” Audrey insists, her cheeks ruddy and freckles disappearing. I’ve gotten used to the gray for so long that seeing most of the colors is jarring.
“Why do you care?” I ask.
She chews on her tongue and pushes her glasses up her nose. “I couldn’t sleep after what happened to you. What I saw. I felt disgusted with myself, okay? The least I can do right now is go with you to the principal.”
I study her. “You think something will come out of it?”
She nods. “This is still Braxton. This shouldn’t be happening here.”
Maybe she’s right. It did happen in front of everyone, unlike what happened with Adrian. Maybe Audrey as a witness will help. “Sure.”
