Page 5 - My FlipBook

Chapter One

A grape ended Mari Manos’s student career at South Side
High School.
She worked her way through the hallway. As always, it
was crowded, and even with teachers yelling for students to
“Walk, please,” students pushed and ran. Mari breathed deeply
through her nose and fought her way to her locker. She was
one of the few students allowed to carry a backpack. One of
the advantages of having one leg, she guessed. She flipped
her bag off of her shoulder, hanging it on a makeshift hook
inside the locker before changing out her books. Her crutches
were propped against the row of lockers, and she balanced
without them.
She should have paid more attention to what was happen-
ing around her as she went through the motions to get to her
next class. She wasn’t thinking at all about being in school or
plans for the rest of junior year. School was school, not some-
thing she loved or loathed. It was just something she had to
get through before she could go back to camp in the summer.
Mari was zipping her backpack, hanging on its hook, when
she heard someone shout “FIGHT!” But this was a common
enough occurrence that Mari first finished putting her bag
on before looking up. Her crutches were still leaning against
the lockers at her side.

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