Violetta Craft's Arc

Chapter 33 of 65

Monday morning Violetta dropped Elowen with Saddie at the kitchen table and drove herself to school. She had not been on campus since the gym. She parked in the back lot and walked in with her bag against her hip. She kept her eyes on the tile. She made it to her locker before she heard her own name. Two girls stood near the water fountain. One said Lucy had been texting him for weeks. The other said Violetta had made him stay only because of the baby. A boy behind them laughed and said he had seen Jordie's car outside Lucy's house on Saturday. Violetta closed her locker slowly. Her hand shook on the latch. She thought of the studio key on the counter, of the boxes on the porch, of Jett's face when he told her what he saw. She turned the corner toward first period and walked straight into Jordie. He stepped back. She stepped back. His books hit the floor between them. He crouched to pick them up and said her name like a question. She did not answer. Two juniors slowed down to watch. A girl by the trophy case lifted her phone. Jordie stood and said he had been trying to reach her. He said Lucy was nothing. He said he would come by after school if she would just let him explain. His voice climbed. People stopped pretending not to listen. Violetta felt the hallway pull tight around her. Her throat locked. She could feel every phone, every set of eyes, every whispered version of her life. Then Jett came around the corner from the science wing. He saw her face and moved fast. He stepped between her and Jordie and put a hand flat on Jordie's chest. He said, quiet, "Walk away." Jordie looked at him and then at Violetta. He picked up the last of his books and went. Jett turned to her. He said, "First period. Go. I've got the hall." Violetta nodded once and made her legs move. She sat down in class before the bell and put her hands flat on the desk until they stopped shaking. At lunch she did not go to the cafeteria. She went out to her car and called her mother. She said she could not do the hallways every day, not this year. Lymber listened. Then she said the school had a work-from-home option for seniors with medical need. Elowen's discharge papers would qualify. Violetta could finish the semester at the desk under the window. She could sew in the mornings and study in the afternoons. Violetta said yes before her mother finished. She hung up, drove home, and filed the paperwork that night. The hallway was closed. The office was open. Eight months to the showcase, and she would not lose another one to a room full of people watching her.