Rebel, Bully, Geek, Pariah by Erin Jade Lange

Author:Erin Jade Lange
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Bloomsbury Publishing
Published: 2016-03-13T16:00:00+00:00

20

“EVERYONE KNOWS,” ANDI said.

Boston pulled the phone from her hand, and she didn’t fight him.

My first reaction when I saw the screen was shock; I’m ashamed to say my second reaction was a rush of relief. Three photos blazed across the River City Police Department’s “alerts” page.

Just three.

I looked around at the faces next to me—they were older than the faces in the photos, since the pictures looked like they’d been pulled from our last yearbook, but unmistakably the same.

“How did they get these up so fast?” Boston asked.

“My car,” York groaned. “We left it there. They probably ran my plates or whatever the hell they do.”

“I’m sure you’re not the only one who left a car behind after that bust,” Andi said. “I guarantee they got our names and that God-awful photo”—she punched a finger at her picture—“from someone at the party.”

“But no one gave them my name,” I said.

The others exchanged quick glances, and Boston shifted from foot to foot.

“Well,” he said, “it’s just—you know . . . I don’t think a lot of people know your name.”

Oh. Right.

“I knew it,” Andi piped up, sounding proud of herself.

“I didn’t,” York admitted, and the apology in his voice stung.

I looked from York to Boston to Andi and saw the same misplaced pity in all of their eyes. It caused an angry flush to creep up my neck. So what if no one knew my name? I had made it that way. I was the architect of my own anonymity—hiding under my hats and keeping my head down, speaking the minimum in class and not at all in the hallways. I wanted invisibility. I chose it.

Didn’t I?

“I mean, I think I recognized you,” York rushed to add. “Kind of. The hats . . .”

I spun toward Boston. “You knew people called me—” I couldn’t bring myself to say it.

He shrugged. “I remembered from when we were kids, before we switched schools.”

Worms.

Hat Girl.

All this time, I hadn’t been invisible so much as unimportant. Noticed, but not worth knowing.

A strange lump rose into my throat then, and I forced myself to swallow it back down.

Really, I was lucky nobody knew me. It meant that instead of my face also being splashed across the police department’s website, there was just a box with a question mark holding my place. I should have been grateful.

“At least they’re not looking for you,” York said.

No one was looking for me—not even Mama. My hand went involuntarily to my pocket before I remembered we’d turned off our phones. Maybe she had called by now. Then a thought occurred to me.

I turned to Andi. “How come nobody’s called your phone besides your boyfriend? It’s been on this whole time. If the police know your name, they’ve probably been to your house. Shouldn’t someone have called you?”

Andi looked uncomfortable. “My dad . . . doesn’t have this number.”

“How can your dad not have—” I stopped, understanding. “It’s stolen.”

“I didn’t steal it,” Andi rushed to say. “It’s kind of a loaner.

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