The doctor waited.
“That’s why I’m here, isn’t it? My dad thinks I’ve gone over the edge and I—I want to hurt the baby.” She shoved the phone back at Dr. Johnson. “I didn’t do this. You know I wouldn’t do this, Dr. Johnson, you have to tell them.”
“Sawyer, a lot has happened in your life in a very short time. It’s understandable that you would feel some anger.”
“I’m not angry!”
“You were in a fight today at school.”
“I told you she jumped on me. I didn’t do anything! I had to push her off of me—that’s all. I didn’t mean for her to fall.”
“Did you mean to send her the note? Uh…” He pushed his glasses up onto his forehead and picked up his phone, reading from it. “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.”
Sawyer’s eyebrows rose, as did the heat at the back of her neck. Her hand immediately, almost subconsciously, went to her jeans pocket, where Maggie’s note was stashed.
“How do you know what the note said?”
Dr. Johnson looked surprised. “Your principal sent me a picture of it.”
Sawyer frowned. “May I see it?”
The doctor handed over his phone. “Is that not the note you sent to Maggie?”
Sawyer read over the note pictured on the screen. The text was the same, but the paper was slightly different. “Principal Chappie had this?”
“Yes. I suppose Maggie brought it to him. You know she was suspended as well. Now tell me—”
“Maggie was suspended too?”
“That’s what zero tolerance means, Sawyer. Both parties are immediately—”
“I didn’t write that note.”
Dr. Johnson smiled, lips pressed to together. “That’s beside the point. Maggie was still suspended as well.”
“No—I mean, that’s fine, whatever. But the note. I didn’t write that. I try my best—every day—to stay out of Maggie’s way. She’s the one who’s been harassing me. She spray-painted my locker.” Sawyer paused, considering. “It was the same color paint that was on Tara’s wall. And Maggie shredded my clothes, just like the layette. Maggie must have done this too!” Even as she said the words, they didn’t ring true. Sawyer wasn’t even sure that Maggie knew her stepmom was pregnant, let alone where she lived or what kind of schedule her family kept.
She felt the blood drain from her face.
“Someone is watching me, Dr. Johnson. Someone is trying to hurt me—and my family.”
Dr. Johnson pressed back in his chair, did his psychologist-approved hand steeple. “Sawyer, I can’t do anything to help you unless you’re honest with me.”
“I am being honest. I didn’t do any of this.”
Dr. Johnson blinked slowly. “If you can’t be honest with me, you need to at least be honest with yourself. How does the impending birth of your half-sibling make you feel?”
“I feel pissed,” Sawyer said, springing up, “but not at the baby. I’m pissed at whoever is making my life hell.” She snatched up her shoulder bag. “And I’m going to find out who’s doing it.” She turned on her heel and went for the door, slamming it hard behind her.
Dr. Johnson didn’t try to stop her.
ELEVEN
Sawyer was pacing on the sidewalk outside Dr. Johnson’s office when her father pulled up. “Can you just take me back to the school to get my car?” she asked him.
Andrew Dodd nodded silently and Sawyer slipped in beside him, her hands gripping the strap of her bag, her heart thumping. “Dad, I—”
Sawyer stopped dead when her father made no indication that he heard—or was willing to listen to—her. His icy silence, his eyes fixed on the street in front of them was answer enough, and Sawyer kept her mouth shut, her hand on the door handle the second Mr. Dodd’s wheels crunched over the gravel in the Hawthorne High parking lot.
“I didn’t do this,” Sawyer said before getting out of the car. “I promise, Dad. I’ll prove it to you.” She snapped the car door shut and Andrew revved the engine, sliding smoothly out of the parking lot without response.
Sawyer was walking to her car when she heard Chloe calling out to her.
“Hey, Sawyer! What happened to you?”
“Therapy.”
“They still think you’re loony tunes, huh?”
Sawyer licked her lips. “Sometimes I think I am too.”
“Join the club.” Chloe offered a small smile. “Anyway, want to hit the mall or grab a bite or something?”
Sawyer shook her head. “Didn’t you hear? I got suspended. I’m pretty sure that translates directly to ‘Sawyer Dodd will be homebound until she’s seventy-five.’”
“Damsel in distress.”
“Yeah. Come throw pebbles—or jelly beans—at my window. Or better yet, throw a prince on a white horse at it.”
Chloe grinned. “I’ll see what I can do. So, see you later?”
“God willing.”