With an audience, Quin was mean to Yasaman and
bright. It’s on the floor, by the wall. She walks over. She
sweet as pie to Milla. With her audience gone—all
puts down her bag and squats.
except for Violet—Quin no longer treats Milla like a precious doll. “All this crap,” Quin goes on, “and except for our logo, none of it’s the slightest bit practical.” She laughs. “If you
Huh. It’s a tiny wooden turtle, painted orange and red. It’s cute. When Violet places it on her open palm, its head wobbles. She closes her fingers over it, and it grows still.
got stranded on a mountain? You’d totally die.” “I have a Tootsie Pop,” Milla says. Her eyes flit to Violet. “A Tootsie Pop,” Quin repeats. “Yay.” When Milla doesn’t respond, Quin snaps her fingers in front of Milla’s face. “I’ll see you at break,” Quin says to Milla, and it’s the spookiest thing how she honestly doesn’t acknowledge Violet at all. “That’s when we’ll start recruiting.” Milla bites her lower lip, then nods. She goes one way, and Quin goes the other. Now Violet’s all by herself. Lovely. She’ll be tardy on the first day and have to explain to her one-armed teacher why she couldn’t be bothered to be on time. She hitches her messenger bag higher on her shoulder, then pauses, spotting something small and 62
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