“Do you want us to come with you to check them out?”

She waves me off. “No, I already went to some last night and didn’t find anything.”

Charlotte wraps her arms around Annalisa reassuringly. “We’ll find something, Anna. You’ll get him back in your life.”

And if she does, she might get another man in her life as well. One that she’s completely better off without.

19

The next day at school is business as usual; or at least it is before Kaitlyn shows up. Annalisa is at my locker before school starts when Kaitlyn walks by.

“Oh my God, what happened?” I ask Kaitlyn, genuinely concerned.

She looks terrible. She has an angry black eye that’s tinged with purples and greens, there’s a small cut in her eyebrow and her lip, and her arm is in a sling.

Even though I don’t like the girl, I’ve been there, and I know it sucks. She looks from me to Annalisa, and back at me with narrowed eyes.

“Like you don’t know,” she answers coolly before walking down the hallway.

Okay, that was weirder than usual.

“What was that about?” I ask Annalisa, who just shrugs.

We barely make it ten steps down the hall before two school officers stop us, Principal Anderson between them. I’ve only met Kaitlyn’s mom once when I first transferred to King City High. She’s a petite woman with pale skin and has the same intense eyes as Kaitlyn.

“Ms. White. Come with us.”

Annalisa and I look at each other, confused.

“Why?” she asks, eying the two school officers.

Other kids start to notice and are pausing to whisper to each other. I hear mumbles of “Wacko Anna White” and clench my fists to remind myself not to make a scene.

“Just come along. Let’s not make this harder than it has to be, Annalisa.”

Annalisa’s eyebrows are drawn together when she looks back at me, but she steps toward Principal Anderson anyway, and they make their way down the hall.

I’m left standing there confused. Why would the principal need to talk to Anna? And why would she need two officers to do it? That fact doesn’t go unnoticed as Annalisa walks down the hall with her head held high. “Wacko Anna White” is being mumbled by almost every student she passes. With nothing else to do, I send a quick text in the group chat and go to first period before the bell.

I sit with Charlotte in class, Mason and Noah in the desk behind us, and none of us can figure out what happened. It isn’t until the end of class when we’re walking to our next class that we find out. I meet Aiden at my locker as usual to get my books for calculus when Annalisa comes up to us, fuming mad, the two officers still trailing her.

“They expelled me!” she yells, the anger and irritation rolling off of her in waves as she marches toward us.