“So, Sarah,” Gilly’s voice hiccupped. “Anne actually wanted to talk to you. About the play?”

Anne wanted to talk to you?

Sarah squinted.

“How nice.” Sarah’s jacket zipped up to her chin in a way that to me looked uncomfortable. “What, so now that it looks like you’re not going to get your little play, you want to talk?”

I could hear Berry swallow.

“Ah, no.” My eyes flickered toward Gilly. “I just thought maybe we could talk? Since it seems like there’s a lot of conflict? Maybe we could deal with it. . .here?”

“Okay.” Sarah folded her arms. “So talk.”

“Okaaaay.” I pressed my arms down by my sides to try and look less defensive despite the flame of self- defensiveness coursing through my body. “I know it’s maybe weird to have someone new here? In Greenville? And maybe that’s part of what’s been going on?”

Tanner snorted.

I gritted my teeth. “I’m just thinking. We haven’t really had a chance to talk through the things we don’t get along about? So maybe we’re both going off impressions of each other instead of getting to know who we each actually are?”

“What does that mean?” Sarah took a slug of beer.

“Like, you don’t really know me,” I said.

“Oh my God!” Sarah howled. “Whatever. Have you ever thought that maybe you are the one who’s prejudiced against us? Like, it is possible to be prejudiced against white people, by the way.”

Yikes. HUGE YIKES.

The flame blossomed into a roaring inferno.

“I don’t think that’s exactly what we’re talking about here? Look, I just thought”—I could hear the conviction funneling out of my voice—“we could talk instead of bringing our parents into this.”

“By ‘parents’ you mean your mom the so-called vice principal. Who only got her job because she’s gay,” Tanner added.

Gilly shifted on her crutches. “You don’t know that.”

Sarah snapped around to face Gilly. “Oh my God, Gilly. Shut the fuck up.”

Gilly’s face seemed to crumble.

Sarah turned back to face me, holding up a finger in my face. “I am so sick of all this, like, bullshit around like how I’m supposed to treat you. As if, like, everyone isn’t going out of their way to make you feel special when really you’re just a weirdo who dresses weird? Who sings gay songs and so you get the part in the play even though you clearly suck? Like you somehow deserve to be treated special because you’re adopted from like China or whatever.”

“FUCK YOU!” Berry stepped forward.

I grabbed her arm just as she was about to lunge.

Tanner chuckled, taking a swig of his beer. “Oh right, now Berry has something to say. No one gives a fuck what you have to say, Bluebe rry.”