“No problem. Is that all?” he replies coldly.
Why is he acting like I’m his enemy again, after his so-called apology on Tuesday?
“About the posters… I w-wanted to ask.” I clear my throat. “That was from your party last year, wasn’t it? I’ve only worn that dress once,” I say.
He shrugs. “Maybe.”
“Do you know what happened that night? The picture was really… weird… I don’t remember a lot.”
Some people enter the hall, glaring at us and walking away quickly, like they don’t want to be too close.
“Nope,” he says brusquely.
The picture from that night makes me feel strange. I’ve never seen it before, and I have no memory of it. Those dolls… they remind me of those dolls from my dreams, the ones that look likeher.
Why would someone release this picture now, if they’ve had it for an entire year? What else happened that night?
“Are you done with your questions?” he asks.
I shake my head. “Has there been another blast? I might just be being paranoid, but—”
“They’re talking about you and the accident,” Jamie says smoothly.
I feel a punch to my stomach.
“What!?” I squeak out.
“Aces is hinting at it, at least…”
“What about you?” If Aces is talking about it, they can’tonlybe speaking about me.
“Why would they mention me, Chi?” Jamie says casually.
I can’t breathe. The pain in my stomach worsens.
“What?” I say a little louder. “I didn’t do anything!” Jamie was there. Jamie was driving the car; he was supposed to be watching the road, and he hit her—
“Didn’t you hit her? Leave the body? That’s called a hit-and-run, Chi… People go down for that.” Jamie’s voice burns my ears.
I see blood, I see her blond matted curls, I see her wide eyes, I see her limp body—I want to cry.
“You knocked her down, Jamie,youdid that! You drove away, you didn’t let us call an ambulance or the cops—”
“Sure about that, Chi?” he asks with a smile, giving me a look that crumples everything inside. It was a look I always thought meant mischief. But now… it feels like hate.
The candy store… Aces knowing so much… The way Jamie is speaking. Before it seemed impossible, seeing as he claimed to love Belle, but maybe he would jeopardize their relationship just to hurt me. Like I said, love and hate are twisted versions of each other. Maybe his secret hatred of me outweighed whatever he felt for Belle.
Jamie turns, stopping in his tracks when I stammer:
“I-it’s you, isn’t it?” There’s a slight tremor in my fingers as I tuck a piece of hair behind my ear. “You’re Aces. You set me up in the candy store; you’ve been spreading my secrets around school. You’re the only one who could have known all those things about me.You,for whatever reason, sabotaged your own relationship with Belle… But what did Devon ever do to you?”
Because Jamie is—was—my best friend. Sometimes best friends mess up, fall out. Sometimes we make each other so angry it turns into resentment, and from resentment, hate. The way he looks at me now, I can see it is definitely hate. For whatever reason, Jamie hates me… But Devon…
“Is it because we’re Black?”
There is nothing except Jamie and me. No hallway. No whispers. Just us.
“Calling me a racist?” he asks.
