The next thing I remember was sitting in the nurse’s office. Which looked like every nurse’s office I’d ever seen except there were lots of pictures of border collies on the wall. Six. Six is a lot. Not too many, though. Let’s say that.

The nurse was a nice woman with a pile of white hair on her head, sitting next to me and smiling and holding a juice box.

“Not so great with blood?” she asked.

“Not amazing,” I said.

“I’m Nurse Denim,” she said, “but you can call me Sissy.”

“Hi, Sissy,” I said. My lips still tasted like blood, making me swoon a little. “I’m Anne. I’m not good with blood.”

“So you say.” Sissy smiled. “You’re Vice Principal Lucy’s girl.”

“That’s me.”

“I’m going to get you a cold compress for your lip, but it’s a pretty small split,” Sissy said. “You stay put. I think your mother will be coming to check on you.”

There was a clicking in the hallway followed by the rush of Lucy in her suit flying into the room. “Anne!”

“She’s fine,” Sissy called from the other room. “Just a little cut! The mouth heals very quickly!”

“Soccer injury.” My smile was mostly lip and mostly numb. “My first!”

Lucy frowned. “I heard, from Mr. Davidson, what happened. That a student complained.”

“Yeah.” I tapped my toes. “Well. I guess not everyone is a fan of Peter Pan.”

“It’s.” Lucy’s voice was steel. “It’s ridiculous. Peter Pan is a classic and the casting of the school play is his purview.”

“I think they think it’s like a gay agenda,” I tapped my toes some more. “I mean she said agenda. So I figure. Gay.”

“Well, that’s. . .” Lucy pulled the front of her suit down. “As if any of us has time for an agenda these days. I’ve spoken with Mr. Davidson. He said you did a very professional audition, and he’s very excited for your performance.”

“If I survive to opening day,” I noted.

I could feel Lucy’s eyes taking me in, like she was reading me. But also I could feel her keeping track of Sissy, who was now hovering in the doorway.

“Ice,” Sissy said, holding up the pack and a small cup. “And something for the swelling.”

“Thank you, Sissy,” Lucy said, taking the cup.

She waited for Sissy to leave the room before turning back to me and my lip.

“Oh, Anne.” Lucy handed me the cup. “Do I take you out of the school? Do I. . .Do I bring all the parents in? Do I. . .”

I wanted to ask her what she thought. If she thought I should just walk away. If she loved her job so much even though the people here clearly didn’t like her so much all the time either. I wanted to ask her what to do.