Chapter 16 - Summer
Summer stripped Westbrook High of its drama.
Sophia worked twenty hours a week at a neighborhood bookstore.
Jason volunteered Tuesdays at Eastside and worked for his uncle’s landscaping company.
Ben took a transportation-planning internship through the city youth program and became unbearable about bus lanes.
Rachel called it “a niche crisis.”
Sophia turned seventeen.
For her birthday Rachel gave her a new backpack.
Not expensive.
Dark blue.
Strong zippers.
Sophia stared.
“I have one.”
“You have a repaired archaeological artifact.”
“It’s fine.”
Rachel smiled.
“You don’t have to keep it forever to prove a point.”
Sophia touched the old canvas bag.
She understood.
Sometimes resistance could become another prison.
“Can I keep both?”
“Yes.”
She used the new one for work.
The old one stayed in her room.
Not a shrine.
A bag.
Jason’s summer was harder.
Without basketball, his social calendar disappeared.
Some teammates remained friendly.
Others moved on.
At Eastside he began coaching pickup games.
Tasha watched him carefully.
One afternoon Malik mocked another boy for wearing discount shoes.
Jason stopped the game.
“Sit.”
Malik groaned.
“Come on.”
“No.”
“You used to do worse.”
“Yes.”
“So why do you get to tell me?”
Jason thought.
“I don’t because I’m better.”
Malik waited.
“I get to tell you because I’m supervising the gym.”
Tasha smiled from the doorway.
Jason continued.
“And because I know exactly how stupid it looks from the outside.”
Malik sat.
Afterward Jason spoke privately with the boy who had been targeted.
“You okay?”
The boy shrugged.
“That means no.”
Jason immediately heard Melissa in his own voice.
He almost laughed.
The boy said, “These shoes are from Walmart.”
“Okay.”
“They’re cheap.”
“Okay.”
“You supposed to say they’re cool.”
Jason thought.
“Do you like them?”
“Yeah.”
“Then they’re shoes.”
The boy looked disappointed by the lack of inspirational content.
Jason understood.
Maybe normalizing something was sometimes better than praising it.
At home Brian and Melissa remained together, though marriage counseling had become weekly.
Brian no longer led boosters.
He attended games as a parent.
He hated sitting without influence.
That was probably good for him.
One evening Jason asked:
“Do you regret all the money you spent on basketball?”
Brian looked shocked.
“No.”
“Even if I don’t get a scholarship?”
“I wanted to say no.”
Jason waited.
Brian smiled sadly.
“Ask me in a year.”
Fair.
Sophia spent summer avoiding the internet.
The bus video still existed.
Sometimes someone new discovered it.
A cousin in another state sent it without realizing Sophia was the girl.
She blocked the clip.
Did not spiral.
Progress.
In August the district installed new cameras across its fleet.
Ms. Harris sent Sophia a photo of Route 47’s updated system.
Both working. System checks itself every morning.
Sophia replied:
Ben is probably crying.
Ms. Harris sent a laughing emoji.
Then another message.
Jason has applied to return to Route 47 next semester. Administration asked whether any affected student objects. You do not have to respond.
Sophia stared.
Her stomach tightened.
Jason on the bus again.
Same aisle.
Same rows.
Same camera.
Rachel read her face.
“What?”
Sophia showed her.
“What do you want?”
“I don’t know.”
“Classic.”
“If I say no, he stays off.”
“Maybe.”
“If I say yes, does that mean I trust him?”
“No.”
“If I say no, does that mean I’m scared?”
“No.”
Sophia hated every answer being allowed.
She thought for two days.
Then wrote:
I don’t object if the school believes he has completed the requirements. I don’t want responsibility for the decision.
The administration replied:
Understood. The decision remains ours.
Jason was approved to return under strict conditions.
Assigned seat.
Immediate removal for harassment.
No special privileges.
When Melissa told him, he said:
“Did Sophia agree?”
“She said she didn’t object.”
“That’s not the same.”
“No.”
Jason nodded.
Good.
The first day of senior year approached.
May you like
And for the first time since February, Sophia found herself nervous about a school bus.
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