this morning.” She managed a smile that didn’t even look like a grimace. “Carmella found an ant the size of a buzzard.”
“Everything is bigger in Texas,” Carmella said from the second place in line.
Lauren came next and her whole body seemed to hum with pent-up energy. Her eyes were glazed over, and her hands shook when she held out her tray. “I want more,” she said with a wicked grin. Jayden gave her a double portion and kept an eye on her when she carried her tray to the table. Jayden took a deep breath and let it out slowly, hoping that everything went well once Lauren had eaten. Jayden had had students with low blood sugar who looked like Lauren, so maybe that was her problem.
“Are you all right?” Mary asked.
“Just fine,” Jayden answered. “Lauren seems to be stressed this morning.”
“She’s been belligerent all morning,” Elijah whispered as he came through the line. “She always stops right at the edge of being given a demerit for bullying the other girls, especially Tiffany.”
Jayden caught a movement out of her peripheral vision and turned in time to see Lauren push her chair back so hard that it fell backward, clanging on the floor. Everything went quiet, and all the girls seemed to freeze in their chairs. Then she picked up her tray and threw it at the wall, scattering food all over the floor and into the girls’ hair. Jayden dropped the serving spoon in her hand and started toward the table.
“I hate this miserable place,” Lauren jumped up and yelled at the top of her lungs. “I hate everyone here, and I hate Tiffany Jordan more than anyone else.” She took a few steps to the next table, drew back her fist, and knocked Tiffany out of her chair onto the floor.
Tiffany bounced up to her feet, hands clenched in fists, and glared at Lauren. “That was a big mistake.” In seconds there were legs and arms flailing about—and screams from both girls filling the dining hall.
Novalene, Diana, and Henry all jumped up, too, but Elijah had been closest to the table, so he beat everyone to the fight. Jayden got there in time to pull Tiffany away, as Elijah was trying to corral Lauren, but she was all flailing arms and kicking legs.
Lauren got free from him and drew back to hit Tiffany again, missed the mark, and landed a right hook on Jayden. Jayden instinctively let go of Tiffany to grab her aching eye, and Tiffany went right back at Lauren.
“I’m going to tear you into pieces and feed you to the hogs for hitting Jayden,” Tiffany yelled. The other seven girls stayed in their chairs, but they began to argue—some taking up for Lauren, others for Tiffany. Carmella and Ashlyn finally broke the rules. Carmella rushed over to Jayden and helped her get ahold of Tiffany again, and Ashlyn bowed up to Lauren.
Novalene and Diana waded into the melee.
“Get out of my way,” Lauren screamed. “I hate you as much as I do that bitch.”
Henry had the good sense to cross the room and hit the button to blow the siren. The noise made every one of them stop and stand at attention. Novalene grabbed Lauren by the arm and marched her toward the door. “We’re going to the cabin. You’ve racked up so many demerits that it’ll be a wonder if you get to stay here another day.”
“When I get to that miserable cabin, I’m going to get my razor out of my footlocker and slit my wrists, and if you try to stop me, I’ll cut you, too. I’d rather die and go to hell as spend another night here,” Lauren hissed.
“I’ll get her things and the van,” Elijah said. “You keep her on the porch until I get here. Jayden, will you help watch her?”
“Of course.” Jayden nodded.
“Put me in jail. My folks will get me out and send me off to a fancy center, and even that will be better than this place. I’ll be out before you losers finish serving your time in this slum.” Lauren broke free of Novalene’s grasp on her arm, ran around the end of the buffet line, and slapped Mary across the face. “And I hate your cooking, so add that to my demerits.”
All the color rushed from Henry’s face as he ran across the room and wrapped his arms around his wife. Jayden grabbed Lauren and held both her hands behind her back with one hand,