Violetta Craft's Arc

Chapter 55 of 65

Wednesday morning the story was already loose. Violetta walked into first period and heads turned before she sat down. A boy in the back held up his phone. The blonde girl from the lounge had posted anyway — not a photo, just a caption. Violetta Craft, round two. Screenshots of Violetta's own words were pinned under it, cropped to make her sound like she was bragging. By second period three girls had stopped her at her locker. By third, a boy she didn't know asked if the baby was Jordie's or Greg's. She said Jordie's and kept walking. In the hall between classes a teacher pulled her aside to ask if she was okay. She said yes. She was not okay. She had planned to sew the hem of the pink floral dress she was finishing for Missy tonight, a graduation gift, two hours minimum. She had lost forty minutes to the hallway already. At lunch she sat in her car and called Jordie. "She posted," Violetta said. "They won't stop asking. I can't get five minutes." "Come home. Skip the rest." "I have a chem final Friday morning. I can't skip." She sat with the phone on her knee. The girl had taken the four days Violetta bought herself in the lounge and cut them in half. Denying the post would feed it. Fighting the girl would feed it more. The only thing the girl wanted was Violetta's attention. Violetta opened her phone and blocked her. Then she muted every group chat from her class. Then she wrote one post of her own, three lines, and put it on her own page. Yes, I'm pregnant. Yes, I'm graduating Friday. I'm not answering questions at school. Ask me after I walk. She locked the phone and went to chem. The questions did not stop, but she stopped answering. When a girl leaned across the aisle she pointed at her page on her own screen and turned back to the periodic table. By last bell she had read two chapters and finished the review sheet. She drove to her mother's house because it was closer than home. Lymber was at the table with Elowen on her hip and a stack of mail. "I saw," Lymber said. "Good post." "I lost half a day." "You kept the other half." Lymber shifted Elowen to the other arm. "Give me the dress. I'll do the hem. You study." Violetta went to the car and brought in the pink floral dress, still pinned. She handed it to her mother and sat down with her chem book. Elowen crawled under the table and pulled at her shoelace. Violetta let her. Two days to graduation. The girl had her post. Violetta had her hours back.