Page 147

They looked at each other and shook their heads.

“Ashley lies to people so much, he probably doesn’t know himself what’s true and what isn’t anymore,” Taylor said. “His father was in the army, not the marines, and he’s an influential attorney who always finds a way to cover up his son’s mistakes, especially speeding tickets.”

“Of course, Ashley promised the school and the coach to be a good boy and never do anything like that again,” Rae added.

“Believe that, and you’ll believe in the tooth fairy,” Taylor said, and they laughed.

“It doesn’t matter to me. I couldn’t care less who is on and off the basketball team. And I don’t care if he gets away with murder around here,” I said, and finished my sandwich.

“You should care. He got you into trouble and barely blinked,” Rae said, her face scrunched in anger. “And on top of it, just as we told you, he hasn’t stopped spreading nasty stories about you.”

“Maybe they’re true,” I said.

“I hope for your sake they’re not,” Rae fired back without hesitation.

“They’re even worse than the stories he spread about me,” Taylor added.

I stopped smirking.

“What stories?”

“He said you were a professional, that you made money in the streets of Atlanta, and that your mother was one too and made you work with her,” Taylor said. “He said that’s why you were brought here, to get away from all that, and that’s why he didn’t get into as much trouble. He even said the dean took the money from you that you made Ashley give you.”

“He said I took money from him to give him sex in the nurse’s office?”

“Exactly,” Rae replied. “Today he told everyone that your father was killed by your mother’s pimp because he sent you to live with your aunt and uncle and took business from him. The kids believe him because they think his father has some in with the district attorney,” she continued.

“It’s not true, is it?” Taylor asked, her eyes somewhat narrowing with suspicion.

“No, and nobody better say it in front of me,” I told her, “or it will be the last thing they say.”

They looked at each other and then back at me.

“What?” I asked, seeing the hesitation in their faces.

“That’s not the worst of it,” Taylor said. “He’s getting some of the boys to put money in a pot so they could buy sex from you. Someone’s going to offer you money to come to a party, but there will be no doubt as to the reason why.”

I bit down hard on my lower lip, trying to keep from showing my emotions. When you had no one in the world you could trust or believe in, you felt helpless, as helpless as an astronaut accidentally cut loose in space. Instead of coming to live in a better, safer community with a superior school, I felt like I had been forced to come to a den of poisonous snakes just waiting to pounce on someone like me.

“Thanks for warning me,” I told them.

“What are you going to do about it?” Rae asked.

“About what?”

“She means, what are you going to do when the boys approach you?”

“Tell them where to get off,” I said. The two of them just stared. “What else?”

“Taylor and I have a better idea,” Rae said.

“What?”

“Agree to go to the party,” Taylor said.

“What, are you crazy, girl?”

“Just listen,” Rae said, moving closer. “We think the party’s going to be at Ashley’s house this weekend. His parents are going somewhere. Besides offering you money for sex, they’ll have drugs. We know Ashley can get Ecstasy whenever he wants to. He’s done it many times before.”