“I need you to tell me what’s going on with those kids.”
Claire’s jaw tightened.
“I asked you to leave this alone.”
“Those kids hurt you for two years. Now they’re here every day, acting like they know you.”
“They do know me.”
“Then help me understand.”
“I don’t want to. It’s mine.”
“They do know me.”
I sat back.
“The people who made you miserable are suddenly the people you want around you most.”
Claire looked straight at me.
“You’re afraid you missed something, aren’t you?”
I didn’t answer.
“So you’re trying to catch up by asking everyone except me.”
Claire looked straight at me.
“I am scared,” I said. “More scared than I’ve ever been. But I’ll stop asking other people.”
It didn’t fix everything, but I finally admitted fear didn’t give me the right to push past her.
“I just don’t want them hurting you again.”
Claire pulled the blanket higher.
“Sometimes you use worry like it’s permission.”
“I am scared.”
I opened my mouth.
Nothing useful came out.
“Please stop asking people questions.”
I should’ve listened.
***
I made it until the next afternoon before fear won again.
I stopped one of the girls outside Claire’s room.
I should’ve listened.
“Why were you meeting Claire at lunch?”
The girl went pale.
“I shouldn’t say.”
That told me enough to make things worse.
Claire found out. She only said, “You asked me for trust, then did whatever you wanted.”
For two days, she barely spoke to me. I’d earned the silence.
“I shouldn’t say.”
***
Then Rocky followed me into the hallway.
“Can I talk to you, Penny?”
“If this is about Claire, talk to Claire.”
Rocky looked toward her door.
“I know what I did to her.”
“Can I talk to you, Penny?”
Then he asked it.
“Do you really have no idea what she did?”
I closed my notebook.
“What did she do?”
Rocky pulled out his phone.
“Watch this. One of the guys videoed it as a joke, but then I explained the truth… Just watch it.”
“What did she do?”
Rocky appeared on the video.
“My mom got sick. Claire found me crying in the library. She gave me half her lunch and stayed until I could breathe normally.”
My hand went to the chair. How much had I missed?
The video changed.
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