“I’m suspended,” Sawyer said miserably.
“Effective immediately. But don’t think this as some kind of vacation. You will come in tomorrow morning before the first bell and report to detention while the board decides whether your punishment is sufficient.”
“I didn’t do anything,” Sawyer said, her voice a low, nearly inaudible rumble.
“If you choose not to report to detention tomorrow, you will immediately be expelled.”
“Expelled?” she gaped.
“This is very serious, Ms. Dodd. We don’t take bullying lightly at Hawthorne High. Do you understand?”
She nodded, her entire focus going to the note in her pocket. Its contents radiated through her, and she played through any scenario that would allow her a few private moments to read it.
“Can I use the restroom?”
Principal Chappie pressed his lips into a stern, straight line. “Is it an emergency?”
Sawyer pumped her head, pressing her fingertips to her lower abdomen. “Cramps.”
He seemed to consider a moment before picking up his phone once again. “Ellen, can you come here and take Ms. Dodd to the ladies room?”
“I can go to the bathroom alone, Principal Chappie.”
Ellen, a freshman who barely cleared Sawyer’s chin, was standing in Principal Chappie’s doorway a beat after he hung up the receiver. “I can take you right now.” Ellen’s cracked lips broke into a friendly smile, showing off a mouthful of silvery braces.
“Thanks,” Sawyer muttered, walking behind the tiny blond.
“So,” Ellen started when they had reached the relative sanctity of the deserted hallway. “Is it true you attacked Maggie Gaines?”
“No,” Sawyer said without looking at the girl.
Ellen frowned, and Sawyer saw the girl’s fingers go to the hem of her T-shirt, rolling the fabric nervously.
“I’m sorry,” Sawyer said, stopping to face Ellen. “I’m just in a really bad mood. It’s nothing against you.”
Ellen nodded, her cotton candy fluff of blond hair swirling around her freckled cheeks. “That’s okay. I’m sorry about the suspension.”
“You already know?”
Ellen’s freckles disappeared under a wash of pink. “I kind of figured. It’s a zero-tolerance policy here.”
“Anyway”—Sawyer pointed to the girl’s room door—“I’m just going to—”
“Oh, right.” Ellen nodded, smiled, and leaned against the adjacent wall. “I’ll just wait for you here.”
Sawyer jammed her hands in her pockets, her fingertips brushing the top of the note. Her stomach dropped, but she forced a small smile. “I promise not to make a run for it.”
Sawyer slipped into the first stall and locked the door behind her, digging the note from her pocket. She smoothed it against her thigh and felt the hairs on the back of her neck stand up. Every beat of her heart seemed to squeeze the last of the breath out of her lungs as she read.
Maggie—
You’re a slut! Don’t think Kevin didn’t tell me about you. As a matter of fact, he said you were the worst blow ever…although ALL the other guys on the football team might have a different view. We used to laugh about what a skanky bitch you were, pretending to be a sweet, innocent virgin. You aren’t fooling anyone; the entire school knows what a whore you are, what a ho…
It wasn’t the words on the note that caused Sawyer’s distress; it wasn’t even the fact that the note appeared on the same mint-green paper as hers had—it was the handwriting. It was identical to hers.
Sawyer bit down hard on her lower lip as she read the last line—signed,
Sawyer Dodd, an admirer.
Her breath came out in painful gasps now, and Sawyer flopped forward, clutching the note in one hand as she pressed her head between her knees. She squeezed her eyes shut and willed her breathing to slow down, her heart to slow down, when there was a frantic beating on the girl’s room door, followed by a crack of hallway light as the door opened.
“Sawyer? Is everything okay?”
Sawyer pushed herself up and used the heel of her hand to brush away the tears that had inexplicably started to fall. “Yeah,” she said, clearing her throat, “I’m good.” She kick-flushed the toilet for good measure and beelined to the bank of sinks, keeping her head bent so Ellen couldn’t see her flushed cheeks. She splashed her face with cold water and Ellen’s eyebrows went up, her lips curling into a sympathetic coo.
“Are you worried about what your parents are going to say?”
“Um, yeah, a little bit,” Sawyer said, meeting Ellen at the door. “But time to face the music, I guess, huh?”
Ellen fell into step next to Sawyer. “You know, if you need anything, you can call me. I know we don’t really know each other, but I can get your schoolwork for you or something.”
“That’s okay,” Sawyer said, “you don’t even know my classes.”