they called it. Teachers, doctors, husbands, next-door neighbors … who they were didn’t matter, as long as they were male. Nor did their age.
Amanda was downright scandalous. In the ninth grade, she “accidentally” texted a not-so-fully-clothed photo of herself to most of the male students at Woods Cross High. Even to the ones with girlfriends. She’d said it was an accident, but none of the girlfriends had bought it. Amanda became the most loved and hated girl in a single day. For a long time, she had to watch her back. The lynch mob had since then dispersed; however, Amanda hadn’t made much headway with the female friendlies. She still only had a couple of friends.
Grace knew she’d brought it on herself, but she felt bad for her anyway. She understood how having a dad walk out on you could mess you up a little in the head. Others? Not so much. And to Grace, the dad excuse was the only one that explained Amanda’s behavior.
Amanda leaned toward her and lowered her voice. “Are you going to Brian’s party in a couple of weeks?”
“Didn’t know Brian was throwing a party,” Grace said, half interested.
“Huh, who woulda thunk I’d get the 411 on a party before you? You always know the details before I do,” Amanda said. “Apparently Brian’s brother is coming home for a week while their parents go on vacation, so they’re throwing a big par-tay. I heard some of his college friends are even going to make it.” Like she needs that, Grace thought, rolling her eyes mentally.
“Yeah, I’ll go if Em’s going. I’m sure Leah’s already going since it’s at Brian’s.”
“Like she’d miss it,” Amanda scoffed, fingering an obviously new piece of jewelry hanging from her wrist. Grace didn’t even want to know where that came from. “Besides, she already told me she was. How do you think I found out about it?” Girl, Grace thought, you really don’t want me to answer that.
The bell rang seconds later and the loud chatter of students quieted as soon as Miss Township entered the room.
“Welcome back,” Miss Township said in an attempt at teacher humor. They all had been there the day before. “I hope you all read the reading last night, chapters one and two of The Crucible.”
Miss Township glanced around the room, daring anyone to confess they hadn’t. Grace kept her eyes and hand down, which was a new one for her. She never forgot to do her homework. Ironically, Miss Township seemed ready for her own witch hunt.
The rest of the period went by without incident, and as soon as the bell rang, students were out of their seats making their way for the exit.
“Make sure you read chapter three tonight,” Miss Township said, raising her voice to be heard over the rumble of shuffling feet and excited voices.
Grace made a note of her American Lit homework on her iPhone and grabbed her Chemistry book from her locker. Five more classes and she could move on to something else that might be a little better at keeping her mind off last night.
Funny, lately her life moved from one emotional assault to another. What Quentin had said was a lie. Not just a simple lie, but an I-need-to-be-locked-in-a-padded-room crazy kind of lie. No matter, she already missed him. She didn’t know what that made her. Crazy herself, or an enabler? She looked down at her phone. A part of her tried to convince herself to text him, while the other part held her hand still. Classic telltale signs of being hung over with regret. Slamming her locker shut, she put her phone in her pocket and trotted to class.
She half expected Zeke to be sitting at her seat waiting for her, and was relieved to see he wasn’t when she got to Keyboarding. He wasn’t even sitting in his own seat. Putting her backpack under her desk, she logged in to the computer to start working on today’s lesson, plus yesterday’s since she didn’t get any of it done.
“Hey, beautiful,” a familiar voice said. “Miss me?”
Grace swiveled in her seat to find Zeke standing behind her chair—backpack slung over one shoulder, baseball cap on backward, wearing faded jeans and a sky-blue T-shirt. Zeke’s blond hair and blue shirt made the blue of his eyes appear to glow. He was cute, but compared to Quentin or Darius? As soon as she thought his name, the butterflies fluttered wildly in the center of her tummy. Wow! Surprised by how