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She thought for a moment.

"He's got no right butting himself into my business," she declared, but she avoided any argument with Roy that would lead to something worse between her and Mama.

I knew her girlfriends were teasing her about my refusal to cooperate and that was only making her angrier at me. One afternoon, Nicole and Alicia cornered me in the hallway between classes and bawled me out for spoiling Beni's fun.

"Just because you're a snob doesn't mean your sister's got to be one," Nicole charged.

Nicole was a tall, lean girl with a harsh mouth and big eyes. Because she was the star of the girls' basketball team, she acted as if she was someone special. When she got angry, she would put her face right up to the other person's, practically touching noses, and hers was so pointed, she looked like she could stab you with it. She had been in two bad hair pulling, scratching and kicking fights and had been suspended a half dozen times during the last few years. I knew when Beni became friendly with her that there was going to be trouble someday.

"You don't have to be a snob to detest going to Oh Henry's," I replied, trying to hide my fear. She looked like she was ready to slap me silly, but I didn't step back.

"Detest?" She batted her long eyelashes and smiled. "Detest? You hear that, Alicia? You hear her fancy words?"

"It's not really a fancy word, Nicole," I said, and started to walk around her.

She grabbed my arm and pulled, spinning me around. I dropped my books. Some of the boys hurrying by paused to watch, their faces full of smiles, anticipating another fight.

"Don't you go walking away from me, Rain Arnold. You ain't nothing special."

"I'm not going to be late for class," I said pulling away and picking up my books. As soon as I'd gathered up my books I headed down the corridor.

"You're just a frustrated bitch," she called after me. My heart was knocking like a tiny hammer in my chest. I could hear the boys laughing behind me. "Ruining it for your sister 'cause you're jealous."

All the remainder of that day and most of the next, I could feel the d

erision, the laughter behind my back, and see the sly smiles on the faces of the girls who hung around with Nicole and Alicia. Beni sat with them in the cafeteria and then started to give me the silent treatment in school too, only speaking to me when it was absolutely necessary. She finally broke her silence one afternoon after we arrived home.

"If you liked some boy, I wouldn't threaten to get you in trouble, Rain. Some sister," she muttered.

"That's what I'm trying to be, your sister. That whole crowd's no good, Beni. You're going to get yourself in big trouble hanging around with them."

"I am not. I've got a mind of my own," she said.

"You're just scared of growing up," she accused.

She sat on her bed watching me change into a pair of jeans and a sweatshirt. I turned, smiling.

"I'm scared of growing up? Who put that silly idea into your head?"

"Don't laugh at me, Rain. Maybe I don't get as good grades as you, but I'm not stupid. Nobody has to put ideas in my head."

"I never said you were stupid, Beni. People get influenced and sometimes, just because they're where bad things happen, they get blamed or they get in trouble or..."

"Stop preaching at me," she cried. "What are you, a schoolteacher?" She grimaced at me. "Don't you ever think about being with a boy? You're older than me and you never had a real boyfriend, Rain. Everyone says you think you're too good for anyone in our school. They call you Miss Prissy."

"That's not true. I just haven't found anyone I like enough or I believe likes me enough," I protested.

"So? Someone likes me. Why do you have to make it hard for me?"

"I'm not making it hard for you, Beni. I'm trying to protect you."

"That's all I ever hear from you and Roy." She kicked the table and folded her arms under her bosom, pouting.

"You can do better than Carlton Thomas," I said. Her eyes were full of fire.

"He likes me and I like him. And he respects me," she added.

"Sure," I said. "He respects you. Someone like Carlton Thomas doesn't know the meaning of the word."