Chapter 6

Jacqueline

“Oh my God!”

“Did you see that?”

“So embarrassing!”

Heat flooded my face.“No…”

Without my glasses…the room dissolved into a blur. I couldn’t make out anyone’s face.

I dropped to my knees, desperately feeling across the floor. “My glasses…”

I couldn’t see them.

“Jacqueline!”

Claire spun around at the sound of my fall.

The moment she saw me on the floor, her expression changed.

She hurried back and immediately knelt beside me. “Are you hurt?”

Before I could answer, another figure bent down and picked up my broken glasses.

Ethan.

He turned the cracked frame over in his hand. One of the lenses had shattered completely. “…I think these are beyond fixing.”

He held them out.

Claire took them from him before I could.

My heart sank. “They’re broken…” The words barely escaped my lips.

Claire looked from the broken glasses…to the exact spot where I’d fallen.

Then her eyes slowly lifted. They settled on Alma.

Alma simply adjusted her handbag and smiled at one of her friends, looking as innocent as ever.

Claire slowly rose to her feet. Her eyes never left Alma.

The classroom was still laughing, but the sound was fading.

“You did that on purpose.”

Alma looked over her shoulder lazily. “I’m sorry?”

“You heard me. You tripped Jacqueline.”

A few students exchanged glances.

Alma let out a short laugh. “Why would I do that?”

Claire took a step forward. “Because you’re jealous.”

The smile on Alma’s face vanished. “Jealous?” she repeated. “Of her?”

Claire pointed toward Jacqueline, who was still kneeling on the floor, feeling around blindly for the rest of the broken pieces of her glasses.

“You couldn’t stand seeing Ethan sitting beside her.”

Alma scoffed. “Oh please. If your little blind pet can’t walk properly, that’s hardly my fault.”

Claire’s jaw tightened. “Take that back.”

“I didn’t say anything that wasn’t true.”

“Take that back now”

Alma folded her arms. “And if I don’t?”

She glanced at the two girls beside her. “Look at this mouse thinking she can talk to me.”

They laughed.

Alma strolled forward, closing the distance between them. She casually twisted a strand of her hair around her finger.

When she reached Claire, she tapped one finger against Claire’s chest. “What would you do?”

Claire’s temper finally snapped.

Before anyone could react, she stormed forward and grabbed a fistful of Alma’s perfectly curled blonde hair.

The classroom exploded. “Whoa!”

“Oh my God!”

“Fight!”

Alma let out a sharp scream. “You psycho!”

Without hesitation, she grabbed a handful of Claire’s hair and yanked just as hard.

“Ow!”

The two girls stumbled into a nearby desk, knocking it sideways with a loud screech.

Books crashed onto the floor.

“Let go!”

“You let go first!”

“I’m going to kill you!”

Students shot out of their seats.

Some hurried backward to avoid getting caught between them.

Others pulled out their phones.

A boy climbed onto a chair. “Dude…”

Near the door, a thin boy with oversized glasses froze.

He looked at the fight. Then at the classroom door. Then back at the fight.

“Nope.” He quickly shoved his notebook into his backpack. “I’m getting Mrs. Bennett.”

Without waiting for a response, he slipped out of the classroom at a run.

Still on the floor, I could barely make out what was happening through my blurred vision.

I heard desks scraping. Girls screaming. Shoes moving across the floor.

“Claire…” I called weakly.

She couldn’t hear me.

Neither of them could.

They were too busy pulling each other’s hair with both hands, each trying to overpower the other.

“ENOUGH!” Mrs. Bennett’s voice thundered across the classroom.

The room fell silent.

She rushed between them and forced the two girls apart.

Claire’s breathing was ragged. Several strands of Alma’s blonde hair were still tangled between her fingers.

Alma looked no better. Her hair was a mess, her blazer was crooked, and her face was bright red with anger.

“What on earth is going on here?” Mrs. Bennett demanded.

Neither girl answered. They simply glared at each other.

Mrs. Bennett’s expression hardened. “I don’t care who started it.”

She pointed toward the door. “Both of you. Principal’s office. Now.”

Then she turned to me. “Miss Carter, come with us. You’re involved in this, and I want the nurse to examine your hands.”

I nodded quietly, still trying to blink through the blur without my glasses.

After we left the classroom, conversations immediately started behind us.

“Did Alma really trip her?”

“I think she did.”

“I don’t know.”

Mrs. Bennett stopped.

She turned back toward the classroom. “Actually, nobody move.”

The students fell silent.

Mrs. Bennett looked around the room. “I want to ask one question before we leave.”

She glanced at the students. “Did anyone here actually see Miss Wilson place her foot in Miss Carter’s path?”

Silence.

A few students looked at one another.

One girl lowered her eyes.

Another glanced briefly at Alma before looking away.

Alma stood with her arms crossed, completely composed now.

No one said anything.

Mrs. Bennett waited. “Anyone?”