“Because I didn’t think he’d do this,” I say. “He told me I should stay away from Miles so I figured Jesse would tell him, but I didn’t think he’d be this heartless.”

The room is silent. This is why I could never be an actress; I can’t stand people looking at me.

“Jesse?” Miles finally repeats. “Like, Jesse-who-lives-next-door-to-me Jesse?”

“Yeah,” I say. “He’s the one.”

Principal Decker furiously scribbles on her clipboard.

“Jesse Harris?” Mrs. Austin shakes her head. “He couldn’t have done this. He’s a good boy.”

“Simone wouldn’t lie,” Pops says. “If she says he threatened her, he did it.”

“But she didn’t tell anyone about it until now,” Mr. Austin points out. “Why not? Who’s to say she’s not lying about other things? Now, it’s Miles’s fault that he didn’t tell us about this situation—”

“Situation?” I repeat. My eyes dart toward Miles, but he won’t look at me.

“Come on, Miles,” his mother says, lowering her voice. She leans over toward him, like they’re the only two people here. “You know how hard we’ve worked to get to where we are. You know better than this.”

I’m not expecting Miles to jump up on the table and make a speech in my defense. I’m not expecting him to yell at his parents. But his silence takes me by surprise—the way he just sits there between his mom and dad, letting them say these horrible things. I swallow, but it feels like marbles are stuck in my throat.

“Better than what?” Dad barks. I jump. That’s probably the fourth time I’ve heard him yell in my life. “The medication and treatment for HIV have come so far, but the public opinion hasn’t moved at all. Do you know why? Because of blind ignorance. Because of people like you.”

“Dad, please just stop. I didn’t tell anyone, because I didn’t want this to happen,” I say. “I didn’t want people to know, and I didn’t want people to fight.”

“So you decided to lie?” Mrs. Austin turns her iron gaze on me. “You decided to put my son at risk?”

“This isn’t even about him,” I say. My voice is quieter than hers, but it cuts through the room. The principal lets me speak, even though this probably isn’t what she had in mind. “I care about Miles a lot, and I wouldn’t want to hurt him. That’s why I told him about my HIV. But this is about me. Me and Jesse.”

The silence in the room is suffocating. I glance over at Miles, just for a second. He gives me a small smile. I look away. His parents turn their gazes onto him, and it’s somehow more intense than when they were shouting.