The door to the run-down row house on Seventeenth Street burst open. Rainie Burkette ran out and slammed the door hard behind her. Joss White had never seen her look so angry.
“Hey, girl!” Joss said in surprise. “Who messed with your Wheaties this morning?”
Rainie shook her head angrily. “Nobody important, that’s for sure,” she said.
Joss looked at her curiously. Joss and Rainie had always been friendly, but they had become close last summer when they both worked at FreeZees. Joss had quit the yogurt shop in August. Since then, they hadn’t spent as much time together.
She was shocked at the change in Rainie’s appearance. She had always been pretty and well dressed. But now she looked awful. Her hair was pulled back into a sloppy ponytail. Her skin was a mess. Strangest of all was the way she was dressed. It was already over seventy degrees, but she was wearing sweatpants, a long-sleeved T-shirt, and another tee over that one. By the time school was out that afternoon, the D.C. heat and humidity were going to be brutal.
“You okay?” Joss asked with concern. “You know it’s gonna be hot today, right?”
“Yeah, I’m fine,” Rainie said. “I just threw on whatever was clean.”
“But didn’t you wear sweats yesterday too?” Joss asked. “I wondered why you didn’t pass out in science lab. It was so hot in there!”
“I’m okay. Okay?” Rainie snapped. “Since when is it your job to keep track of what I wear every day?”
“Whoa! Hold up,” Joss said. “I was just asking.”
Rainie shook her head. “Sorry,” she said. “I’m just a little tired from work.”
They started walking down Seventeenth Street toward Capital Central High School, in the northeast quadrant of Washington, D.C.
“So you worked last night?” Joss asked.
“Yeah, you know how that goes,” Rainie lied. “Angie is once again short-handed, so …”
“I am so glad I’m out of FreeZees,” Joss said. “Angie is a good manager, but I would be absolutely flunking out if I had to work plus keep my grades up. You’re so lucky. I wish I was half as smart as you.”
Rainie had always been one of the smartest students Joss knew. While Joss struggled to maintain her grades, Rainie was always placed in accelerated and honors courses.
“Hey, Joss. Rainie. Wait up!” Joss and Rainie turned and saw Eva Morales hurrying toward them. Eva and Joss had been best friends since elementary school.
“What the—” Eva said, stopping suddenly when she reached the others. “Girl, have you checked the calendar?” she said to Rainie. “You’re dressed like winter!”
“Why is everyone so concerned about the way I’m dressed this morning?” Rainie asked angrily. “Just because I’m not showing half my butt like—”
Joss and Eva looked at each other. Both were wearing shorts. Joss’s were as short as the school would allow, showing off her long, slender legs. Eva’s came down to right above her knees. She often wore baggy clothes to cover up how overweight she was.
“Guess she means you,” Eva joked to Joss, trying to lighten the mood.
“I guess so,” Joss said coldly. Rainie’s words had hurt. Joss didn’t know what was going on, but something clearly was up.
The three girls walked on in an uncomfortable silence. From behind them, someone whistled. They stopped and waited as Lionel “Ferg” Ferguson, Carlos Garcia, and Durand Butler rounded the corner from L Street. Carlos threw his arm around Joss and kissed her. They’d been together for several years but had broken up for about a year when Carlos’s family had moved to Virginia when his father had been ill. Now that he was back, they were closer than ever.
Joss buried her face in his chest.
“Hey, what’s this?” he asked. “Everything okay?”
“Yeah, fine,” Joss said. She was still hurt by Rainie’s comment.
Ferg put his arm around Eva and gave her a quick kiss. They’d been going out for a year. Like Eva, Ferg was large. He was one of Cap Central High School’s star football players. The two of them took up the whole sidewalk.
“Hey, you want one too?” Durand Butler said. He put his arm around Rainie’s neck and kissed the top of her head.
She was so shocked she didn’t move. Just stared at him with her eyes wide.
“Didn’t want you to feel left out!” Durand said with a smile. Like the other guys, he was wearing shorts and a T-shirt. Just walking up the street had made him sweat.
He stood back and looked her up and down. “Girl, aren’t you dying from the heat?”
“Don’t ask!” Joss and Eva said in unison.
Rainie rolled her eyes. “Sorry, you guys,” she said. “I’m just a little touchy this morning, I guess.”
“You sick?” Durand said, putting his hand on Rainie’s forehead.
They all started walking to school. Joss and Carlos led the way, followed by Durand and Rainie, with Eva and Ferg in the rear.
“I don’t know if she’s sick, but I’m sure sick of her act,” Joss whispered to Carlos. “I’ve only been with her about five minutes, and she’s already snapped at me a million times.”
“A million, huh?” Carlos said with a smile. “And for once you’re not exaggerating, right?”
“Okay, maybe not a million, but at least three,” Joss whispered hotly. “Shhh. I want to hear what they’re talking about.”
“You are such a snoop!” Carlos said. He started laughing.
“Did you understand that math homework last night?” Rainie was asking Durand.
“I finally figured it out, but it was hard,” Durand said. “I was up late trying to finish.”
“That’s what you get for running so late!” Rainie said.
Durand looked surprised. “How did you know that?” he asked.
“You actually ran past me,” Rainie said. “On Mount Olivet Road. By the cemetery.”
“What?” Joss whispered to Carlos. “No wonder she’s tired! She ran after she worked a shift at FreeZees.”
“Why not?” Carlos said.
“Because it would have been eleven o’clock at night!” Joss said. “Who runs in D.C. that late? Is she out of her mind?”
“Maybe she—” Carlos started.
“Shhh. Let me listen,” Joss said.
Carlos rolled his eyes.
“Sorry, I never saw you,” Durand said. “I must have been in the zone. What were you doing over there?”
“Running. I ran past you on the other side of the street,” Rainie said.
Joss couldn’t stand it anymore. She turned around so abruptly that Durand nearly walked into her.
“Wait!” she said to Rainie. “You said you worked last night.”
Rainie looked guilty. “Uh, I don’t think so,” she said. “You must have misunderstood.”
Joss put a hand on her hip as she looked skeptically at Rainie. She knew she was right. “Whatever,” she said under her breath.
She turned back to Carlos. “Rainie’s lying,” Joss whispered to him. “Something’s up with her, but I don’t know what it is.”
“Why would she lie about working?” Carlos asked. “Why the big secret?”
“I don’t know,” Joss said. “But she looks terrible, don’t you think?”
“She’s probably just miserable about being so hot,” Carlos said. “Who dresses like that at this time of year?”
“I know, right?” Joss agreed. “Something’s just not right.”