Chapter 11 - CLARA GETS ANGRY
Ben crouched in front of her.
“Can I read it?”
“No.”
“All right.”
That surprised Clara.
She had expected him to insist.
“He says Ms. Harrow is gone because of me.”
Ben sat on the edge of the bench.
Emily hovered nearby.
“That’s not true,” he said.
“She is gone.”
“She’s under review because of choices she made.”
“That’s adult wording.”
Ben almost smiled.
“Yeah. It is.”
Clara crushed the note in her fist.
“I hate this.”
“I know.”
“No, you don’t.”
The words came out louder than she intended.
Emily took one step backward.
Clara’s cheeks flushed.
“You came in your uniform and everybody stared. Mom posted it. Ms. Harrow came to our house. People keep asking me about Scout. I just wanted my project on the wall.”
Ben did not answer immediately.
That made her angrier.
“Say something.”
“You’re right.”
Clara blinked.
“I made part of this bigger.”
“You said you were helping.”
“I was trying to.”
“Well, you didn’t.”
That one hurt.
Ben let it.
Emily stared at the ground.
Then Clara’s anger shifted toward her.
“And you recorded it.”
Emily looked up, startled.
“I forgot the tablet was on.”
“Now everybody knows.”
“I only sent it to my mom.”
“You still recorded me crying.”
Emily’s eyes filled.
“I’m sorry.”
Clara stood.
For one bad second, she wanted Emily to feel what she had felt in front of the class.
So she said the meanest thing she could find.
“At least my dad is real.”
Emily went white.
Her father had left the family two years earlier. Everyone in class knew it.
The second the words left Clara’s mouth, she wanted them back.
Emily turned and ran.
“Emily!”
She did not stop.
Clara covered her face with both hands.
Ben stayed seated.
“Dad.”
“Yeah.”
“I didn’t mean—”
“You meant to hurt her.”
Clara started crying.
He put an arm around her.
“That doesn’t make you terrible. But don’t turn it into an accident. You picked the thing that would hurt.”
She nodded against his shoulder.
“What do I do?”
“You apologize.”
“Now?”
“If she’ll hear it.”
Clara wiped her face with her sleeve.
They found Emily near the library doors.
Clara stopped six feet away.
“I’m sorry.”
Emily did not answer.
“I was mad at everything and I wanted you to feel bad too.”
Still nothing.
“What I said was messed up.”
Emily looked at her.
“Yes.”
Clara nodded.
“I know.”
Emily’s eyes narrowed.
“I’m not ready to be friends again.”
Clara’s mouth trembled.
“Okay.”
It was not the clean forgiveness adults liked to write into school newsletters.
It was real.
Then the library door opened.
Principal Danner stood there holding a printed sheet.
May you like
“Ben,” he said. “We found out who approved those student credibility files.”
