Page 223 - My FlipBook

T R A I L O F C R U M B S

Then Greta backed away, pulling Alice with her. Her
heart swelled her whole body to twice its normal size,
hardened her core.
“Greta,” Rachel called out, her voice somewhere between
a yelp and a swallow. Greta looked back over her shoulder.
Rachel’s face glowed bright red. She looked small, for the
first time ever. All ninety pounds and five feet, two inches of
her. “I’m sorry.”

Greta nodded. “I’ll take that into consideration.”
“Greta”—Priya raised a finger for her to wait—“I’m on
the grad committee, and we’re planning a mock casino for
our grad party. All the money we raise is going to charities
that support victims of sexual assault. I thought you might
like to know.” She looked at Rachel and Sam before speaking
again. “I considered telling people that Dylan was responsible

for every case of herpes in this school, but then I remembered
how it felt to have lies spread about me.” Her eyes rested on
Rachel, whose face turned a deeper red. “I didn’t want to sink
to that level.”
“Thanks for that, Priya,” Greta said, smiling, and steered
Alice away.
This time Alice fell behind, jogging to catch up. “Okay,
I’m starting to understand.”
Greta looked straight ahead. She couldn’t stop now, not

to talk, dissect, explain. She had to move while her core held
firm.
“Where are we going now?” Alice asked.
“To the gym.”

213