Nessa shooed Curtis away with her hand.

He leaned back, and another boy sitting next to him said, “She’s number one because she’s frickin’ perfect, dude. Look at her!”

“Will you guys go back to the toxic-waste bin you crawled out of?” Nessa snapped too loudly, causing a third of the auditorium to glance at them.

Even Principal Yu stopped speaking for half a second and looked their way before continuing.

Eve slumped lower in her chair.

“Sorry.” Nessa shrugged. “I don’t like people getting that close to my ears.” Then she mouthed, “Personal space” as she motioned around herself.

Curtis Milford had always seemed nice. Nice enough. Not that they ever spoke much, but they’d known each other since they were about eight. They’d played clarinet together in fifth grade band. He’d been on her sixth grade group report on Morocco. Why would he think that she wrote the list?

Eve tuned back in to Principal Yu’s speech.

“What went on today,” Principal Yu said with a sigh, “will not be tolerated.”

The kids generally loved Principal Yu. She was even nice to bullies who went to the Planning Zone, which really meant detention, giving them high fives and stuff as they went about their days. They may have technically had a school counselor, but Principal Yu played that role, too. That day, though, Principal Yu’s fingers clutched her papers so hard that Eve imagined her fingertips might turn white. She didn’t seem like someone you’d want to talk to about anything.

“All your parents have already been contacted, and they have all been invited to a community school meeting to be held here tomorrow evening. I highly encourage you to join them.” A few kids groaned at the mention of parents. But Principal Yu continued over their protestations. “For now, in terms of how we will deal with this as a community of learners at this institution, there will be antibullying sessions in every homeroom later in the week, as well as a presentation in each homeroom tomorrow on the effects of sexual harassment.”

At the word “sexual,” several kids laughed.

Eve couldn’t stop herself from looking around to see where Sophie Kane sat. She spotted several blond heads, but not Sophie’s.

“For the next couple of weeks, students will immediately be granted a hall pass to go see the school counselor at any time if they wish to do so. Additionally”—and Principal Yu raised her voice as the focus of the eighth graders waned—“and you better listen to this part, everybody: This will be the last chance for the writer or writers of this list to set things straight. You know the drill, folks. Come forward now, on your own, and the punishment will be relatively light. Wait for us to find you—and we will find you—and serious consequences are on the table. Harassment will not stand here at Ford. Please,” Principal Yu pleaded with them, “be kinder to one another.”

As the assembly ended and kids shot out of their seats to head home, Eve kept her head down and scurried past Curtis Milford and his friend. Curtis thought she wrote the list herself, that she was an attention seeker. His little buddy thought she was “frickin’ perfect.” Both felt gross.