Students aren’t milling about, making their way to homeroom. They’re just standing here, behind me now, trying to get a look at my locker.
At the picture taped to my locker.
My hand stills in midair, as I was reflexively reaching for my lock, and I take in the blown-up picture of naked women clinging to each other, a Lesbian Leverage watermark prodding my brain like an ice pick from the corner of the page.
The page—the picture, thepornography—that everyone can see… onmylocker.
“Clarity.”
“Clarity.”
A hand wraps around my arm. Someone’s holding me.
It’s Olivia and Hailey, trying to pull me away.
“Oh myGod,” Kaytee gasps, pushing to the inside of the circle.
“Where’s Hannah?” Hailey asks, her voice unable to cover the whispers around us.
“Wait, so is she, like, gay?”
“No. Well, yeah. But she’s alesbianbecause she’s a girl… right?”
“So, is she coming out?”
“It’s a weird way to come out.”
“It’s bold.”
“It’s cool.”
“It’s gross—”
“Shut up, Sean. You’ve probably jerked off to that video.”
“Clarity, it’s okay,” Olivia whispers, her voice in my ear, cutting through the murmurs and gossip.
“Where is Hannah?” Hailey hisses, her patience waning.
“We have to get her out of—”
I see her. I notice her hair first, down and wet because she probably washed it this morning. I don’t really see her though, because I’m trapped inside myself.
Hannah scrapes the picture off my locker, crumpling it—I realize—against an already crumpled paper that she’s holding in her other hand. She looks at everyone around us, disgusted, her brows pinched in an angry expression that I’ve never seen.
“What is this? Whodidthis?” she shouts.
More whispers. Everyone takes a collective step back, circling me, Hannah, Olivia, Hailey, and Kaytee.
“Is this funny to you?” she asks.
No one answers.
No one, including Vincent standing a few bodies back from the inner wall. Kristen isn’t with him.
“This fucking school,” Hannah mutters under her breath.
“Ms. Fitzpatrick,” Mrs. Abram gasps, choosing now to poke her head out of her room.