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us walked to the office in silence, and once we were inside, the interrogation began.
    â€œMaggie Mae, what happened?” Dr. Smith asked stonily.
    I shrugged. “I hit Danni.”
    â€œWhy?”
    I glared at her but she was staring at the floor. “Because she is a malicious witch who deserved it.”
    â€œAnd why do you feel she deserved it? You are the one dating her ex-boyfriend. I thought she would have swung the first punch.”
    Danni finally looked at me. Her eye, the one that hadn’t swelled shut, was full of hate.
    â€œDanni deliberately put red nail polish on my chair and I sat in it without knowing. She made it look like I’m having my period.”
    Dr. Smith winced. “Please stand up, Ms. Mortensen,” he said, though he looked less than thrilled.
    I stood.
    â€œTurn around,” he prodded, spinning his pointer finger in a circle. I turned and stared at the wall while he inspected my butt. Dr. Smith sighed heavily. “You may sit.”
    I turned and sat back down.
    â€œDanni, what do you have to say in your defense?” Dr. Smith asked.
    Danni looked at Dr. Smith with a wide eye and batted her eyelashes. “I would never do something like that to a fellow female. I don’t know what Maggie Mae sat in, but I didn’t have anything to do with it. She hit me for no reason.”
    â€œYou’re saying she hit you unprovoked?”
    Danni sniffled. “Yes.”
    My face started to burn and I clenched my fists. One swift punch and both her eyes would swell shut.
    Dr. Smith’s lips thinned. “Ms. Mortensen, we have a no-violence policy at this school. A first offense is punished with suspension. You are suspended for the remainder of today and tomorrow. And this will go down on your permanent record.”
    â€œDoes that mean she can’t go to prom?” Danni asked hopefully.
    â€œNo. The dance is on Saturday, not Friday. You are excused, Danni. Go to the nurse’s office. I’ll call your mother and have her come and get you.”
    Danni left without looking at me, and Dr. Smith sat back down.
    â€œMs. Mortensen, you need to leave the school premises immediately. I’ll have the attendance office call your guardian and explain what has happened.”
    Without a word I left the principal’s office and found Danni waiting for me in the hall. She held out an empty nail polish bottle and smirked. “He only wants to take you to prom because you’re a slut,” she hissed. “And it’s every guy’s dream to get laid at senior prom.”
    I bit my tongue and walked past her, hurrying through the empty hall. As I approached the front doors, my feet slowed. Bridger stood leaning casually against the wall beside the exit. When I saw him, a dam broke inside of me. Tears began streaming down my cheeks.
    â€œHey, you want a ride home from a friend?” he asked, putting a finger under my chin and tilting my face up to look at him.
    â€œYes, please. That would be great.”
    He wiped the tears from my cheeks with his thumbs, took my good hand in his, and pulled me toward the door. I glanced over my shoulder and caught Danni staring at us, eyes full of fire.

8
    I could feel the pull of the nearly full moon before the sun reached the middle of the sky. It made my skin crawl. I lay atop my covers, chewing on the tip of a pen, trying to write a stupid essay on symbolism in The Scarlet Letter .
    The phone rang. I heard the floor creak and the quiet echo of Mrs. Carpenter’s voice.
    â€œMaggie,” she called. “Phone.”
    I rolled my eyes, assuming it was Mr. Petersen calling again to lecture me on how important it was to graduate—he’d called the night before. I climbed from the bed and went to the living room. Mrs. Carpenter, white hair hidden beneath a red bandanna, handed me the ancient receiver and started to dust the gun case.
    â€œHello?”
    â€œHi. It’s Yana. You