Page 94 - The Mending Season

had said it to my face, smashed her forehead purposefully against mine, and Veronica had heard and defended me. Although the first story was the most popular, the most bizarre one was that Beth had sworn about Veronicas mother, Veronica had hit her, and then Beth had said the word. The day after it happened, the incident on the netball court sounded a lot more sensational than it actually had been.I saw KB walking down to class and I ran after her, des­ perate to leave the crowd behind.“KB!” I yelled as I caught up to her. She turned her head once and then looked straight ahead. She had seen me before I had seen her.“You shouldn’t associate with that crowd. Those girls are so ... township. I mean, who hits someone in a place like this,you know?”I nodded, more to myself than to her. “I know. I wasshocked.”“Seriously, its barbaric.” I didn’t know if I agreed, but Iwanted so much to dissociate myselffrom what had happened - and I wanted KB to think highly ofme.“I know, I know,”I said.I sighed and tightened my small ponytail, looking enviously at KB’s long one. She put her school bag on her other shoul­ der and handed me her lunch box to carry without looking in my direction. She spoke looking straight ahead and never turned to look at anything else. It was as if she was looking in the mirror, talking to herself. I admired her detachment from the rest of the world. If I could be so removed from what was going on around me, I mused, I would be so much better off. I could really enjoy that.I thought she would ask me what I had heard but she just brushed the tips ofher fingers against her temples as ifbrush­ ing back strands of hair and said, “Veronica was probably just looking for an excuse to hit someone. She’s got a bad reputa­94