I shrug.
My mom presses her fingers to her temples like she’s trying to slow down her thoughts. “Travis!!” she calls downstairs. “Come up here, please.”
Kayla drops her head on her desk. “Jasmine, seriously, can you just answer?” she pleads.
“I told her to leave me alone, Mom, that I was moving on and didn’t want her in my life. That’s why she told Deanna. She was trying to get back at me,” I sob.
Kayla hands my mom her phone. “This is what Amari sent to Deanna.”
My mom reads the message. Travis appears behind her and immediately looks concerned by the state of my puffy, tear-stained face.
“What’s happening, ladies?” he asks in his calm voice. But it isn’t calm enough to defuse this situation.
My mom shows him Kayla’s phone. “Oh no,” he says. “Who did this?”
“A girl Jasmine knew at… the place she was before,” Kayla says. “She lives nearby, in Plainfield.”
Travis looks confused but doesn’t ask anything further.
“Jesus Christ, this keeps getting better. So much for a fresh start, right?” my mom says. Travis whispers something to her and she turns to me. “You just couldn’t give yourself a real chance here, huh? How did she know you were in Tinsley? How did she find you?”
“I told her,” I say.
“Why did you tell her?”
“I don’t know, she asked!” I yell. “We were close. I told her where we were moving. It’s not that weird.”
“Friends don’t do this. Why did you continue talking to her?” My mom looks dismayed. “Oh, Jasmine. I don’t understand youat all. You have friends here, I thought you were happy about that.”
“I am! But Amari was my friend too, once. I was just trying to—I don’t know. She just kept asking to talk.”
“Why didn’t you tell someone?”
“Like who?” My mind flashes to that day, to the moment when I considered telling her everything. But there’s a reason I didn’t. “You are always ready to send me back and…” I trail off.
“I have been trying to keep you out andprotectyou, Jasmine,” my mom says, raising her voice.
“Ladies,” Travis interjects. “Please, let’s calm down.”
Easy for him to say. His whole life isn’t blowing up.
But it seems to work a little on my mom, who pauses and takes a deep breath. “Everyone knows,” she whispers. She seems to be talking to herself.
“Guess you can be ashamed of me out loud now,” I say.
“Oh my god, can you guys take this out of my room?” Kayla says.
“Kayla, that’s enough!” Travis snaps.
She drops her head on the desk again.
“I am warning you, Jasmine, watch it,” my mom says.
“I just mean, all you care about is appearances anyway.”
“Don’t you dare speak to me that way! Maybe appearances should matter more to you!” she yells.
Kayla lifts her head and looks at me.
