didn’t do anything to my dad, and I’m done talking to all you people!” My voice elevates so loud I don’t notice until every eye is on me, including Mr. Morris’s. His mustache twitches.
Amy recoils. “Sorry, Piper. I was just going to say good job for sticking up for yourself. You know, to Sierra. She totally had it coming.”
My scowl deepens. “Oh, and you don’t?”
Instead of taking a breather to figure out where this comes from, I keep going.
“For years I’ve put up with nothing but crap from you. From all of you!” Every eye is on me. Might as well keep going. I huff like a madwoman. “I won’t do it anymore. You can all just piss off .”
I stand and nearly trip when Morris moves to the front of his desk. He analyzes me, then gives me a nod as if to say,
Good girl
.
“Sorry for interrupting class,” I mumble on my way out.
The hallway stretches before me, and I walk like I’m on stilts. I’ve
never
acted like this before. Sure, I’ve had all these thoughts for years. Years! But I’ve never once thought I’d ever say them out loud. And here I am chewing everyone out.
Ugh, and Todd. I have no clue what to do about him, or why he’s even my friend. Who knows what he even sees in me that’s cool enough to keep putting up with my drama for all this time.
A different version of myself has surfaced, and I’m not sure where she came from or if I like her. I need to talk to someone, but I don’t know who. My mom is out, obviously. Dad, too. There’s Joel, but he doesn’t care about my petty high school problems. Every time I try to talk to him he’s so closed off. So consumed with schoolwork and his depositions, or being “in charge.”
I stomp past the front office on my way to the bathroom, but our principal, Mr. Connor, steps out, catching me. His belly hangs out like a growth over the top of his pants.
“Miss Crenshaw? Mind stepping in here for a moment?”
Morris intercommed the office already. That’s just fantastic.
I sniff a slow breath through my nose. Might as well get this over with. I’m on a roll, sullying up my record. Let’s rack up detention while I’m at it.
Even though my outburst was at Amy, all I can think of is Sierra. Sierra. The girl who has made my life wretched since I moved here in third grade. The girl who used to blow snot rockets in my chocolate milk, who would invite me over to play just so she and her friends could make fun of my crooked teeth and huge glasses, the girl who would stare down at me from bathroom stalls and dare me to lick toilet seats during truth or dare—then force my head down when I wouldn’t do it. Not to mention she’s snagged Todd’s attention from me.
Sierra. Sierra Thompson. I hate her. HATE.
Her parents are ordinary, together,
alive
. Her house is normal. Her skin is beautiful. Just for once I’d like to trade with her, to let her know what it means to feel plain, to have pimples no amount of squeezing will get rid of. That she could have the mean comments in her direction, the teasing, the low self-esteem. Maybe that would shut her up.
After leading me into his office, Connor sits and taps a pencil against the desk. Tap. Tap. Tap.
I lift my head, waiting for him to say it. De-ten-tion.
He stops fiddling with the pencil long enough to say, “I just want to make sure you’re…coping…with things.”
Everything inside me sags. The news. That must be all anyone thinks about when they see me now. I take a deep breath though I feel like I’m about to snap. Sure, I wanted to talk to someone, but not the freaking principal. I shove a smile on my face. “I’m fine.”
“Nothing at all you’d like to discuss?”
Another slow breath. “Nope.”
“I want you to know I’m here if you need someone to talk to.”
Right. Because if I can’t tell my best friend, I can tell you.
I step out into the hall, but the school looks like a prison to me, like one giant mousetrap, the kind that people drop rats into just
Amy recoils. “Sorry, Piper. I was just going to say good job for sticking up for yourself. You know, to Sierra. She totally had it coming.”
My scowl deepens. “Oh, and you don’t?”
Instead of taking a breather to figure out where this comes from, I keep going.
“For years I’ve put up with nothing but crap from you. From all of you!” Every eye is on me. Might as well keep going. I huff like a madwoman. “I won’t do it anymore. You can all just piss off .”
I stand and nearly trip when Morris moves to the front of his desk. He analyzes me, then gives me a nod as if to say,
Good girl
.
“Sorry for interrupting class,” I mumble on my way out.
The hallway stretches before me, and I walk like I’m on stilts. I’ve
never
acted like this before. Sure, I’ve had all these thoughts for years. Years! But I’ve never once thought I’d ever say them out loud. And here I am chewing everyone out.
Ugh, and Todd. I have no clue what to do about him, or why he’s even my friend. Who knows what he even sees in me that’s cool enough to keep putting up with my drama for all this time.
A different version of myself has surfaced, and I’m not sure where she came from or if I like her. I need to talk to someone, but I don’t know who. My mom is out, obviously. Dad, too. There’s Joel, but he doesn’t care about my petty high school problems. Every time I try to talk to him he’s so closed off. So consumed with schoolwork and his depositions, or being “in charge.”
I stomp past the front office on my way to the bathroom, but our principal, Mr. Connor, steps out, catching me. His belly hangs out like a growth over the top of his pants.
“Miss Crenshaw? Mind stepping in here for a moment?”
Morris intercommed the office already. That’s just fantastic.
I sniff a slow breath through my nose. Might as well get this over with. I’m on a roll, sullying up my record. Let’s rack up detention while I’m at it.
Even though my outburst was at Amy, all I can think of is Sierra. Sierra. The girl who has made my life wretched since I moved here in third grade. The girl who used to blow snot rockets in my chocolate milk, who would invite me over to play just so she and her friends could make fun of my crooked teeth and huge glasses, the girl who would stare down at me from bathroom stalls and dare me to lick toilet seats during truth or dare—then force my head down when I wouldn’t do it. Not to mention she’s snagged Todd’s attention from me.
Sierra. Sierra Thompson. I hate her. HATE.
Her parents are ordinary, together,
alive
. Her house is normal. Her skin is beautiful. Just for once I’d like to trade with her, to let her know what it means to feel plain, to have pimples no amount of squeezing will get rid of. That she could have the mean comments in her direction, the teasing, the low self-esteem. Maybe that would shut her up.
After leading me into his office, Connor sits and taps a pencil against the desk. Tap. Tap. Tap.
I lift my head, waiting for him to say it. De-ten-tion.
He stops fiddling with the pencil long enough to say, “I just want to make sure you’re…coping…with things.”
Everything inside me sags. The news. That must be all anyone thinks about when they see me now. I take a deep breath though I feel like I’m about to snap. Sure, I wanted to talk to someone, but not the freaking principal. I shove a smile on my face. “I’m fine.”
“Nothing at all you’d like to discuss?”
Another slow breath. “Nope.”
“I want you to know I’m here if you need someone to talk to.”
Right. Because if I can’t tell my best friend, I can tell you.
I step out into the hall, but the school looks like a prison to me, like one giant mousetrap, the kind that people drop rats into just
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