The bus stop bench was cold metal.
Karly sat with her knees pulled together, her St. Jude uniform skirt threadbare at the hem.
A low purr vibrated through the asphalt.
A black Maybach glided down the street. It was an alien spaceship in this neighborhood of rusted pickups and broken dreams.
The rear window slid down.
Karly's breath hitched.
Bertrand Norton.
He was young. Twenty-two. His jawline was sharp enough to cut glass, his eyes hidden behind dark aviators. He looked bored. Detached.
In another life, he had looked at her with adoration. He had held her while she cried. He had been her husband.
Now, his head turned. His gaze swept over the bus stop.
It passed right over her.
He didn't see Karly Lowe. He saw a piece of scenery. A generic poor girl in a uniform.
The car accelerated, disappearing around the corner.
Karly dug her fingernails into her palms until crescents of blood appeared.
Not yet, she told herself. You are nothing to him yet.
She boarded the school bus. The smell of diesel and unwashed bodies grounded her.
When she arrived at St. Jude's, she went straight to the administration office.
"I need to check my enrollment status," she told the secretary, Mrs. Gable.
Mrs. Gable didn't look up from her typing. "Name?"
"Karly Lowe."
The typing stopped. Mrs. Gable peered over her glasses. "Lowe? Your withdrawal is being processed. Your guardian, Ardell Lowe, submitted the forms yesterday."
Karly's stomach dropped. Hakeem. He hadn't just threatened. He had acted.
"I didn't sign those," Karly said.
"It has your signature." Mrs. Gable pulled a file. She showed Karly the paper. It was a decent forgery. Hakeem had been practicing.
"It's a fake. I want to rescind it."
Mrs. Gable sighed. "It's already in the system, dear. To reinstate, you need a guardian's signature in person. And since your mother already signed off, that's unlikely. Or..." She glanced at a fee schedule. "You pay the administrative reinstatement penalty. Since you're on financial aid, a withdrawal triggers a penalty clause."
"How much?"
"Two thousand dollars."
Karly stared at the woman. She had maybe four dollars in her pocket.
She walked out of the office, her mind racing.
Her phone buzzed. A text from the neighbor.
Your dad fell again. Said it was because he couldn't see out of left eye at all now. Taking him to ER.
Karly stopped in the middle of the hallway. Students in cashmere sweaters flowed around her like a river around a stone.
Blindness. It was happening faster this time. That thud she heard… it wasn't just a stumble. Her fight with Ardell had triggered this.
She needed money. She needed a surgeon.
She thought of Dr. Vance.
Dr. Richard Vance. Chief of Neurosurgery at St. Jude Hospital. A brilliant, arrogant man. In her past life, his career ended in scandal in 2016. But in 2014, he was a god.
He was also the only one who could fix her father's optic nerve compression.
Karly checked her watch. First period was starting.
She turned around and walked toward the exit.
"Hey! Trash!"
Karly didn't stop.
Holli Talley stepped in front of her. Blonde, perfect, vicious. She held a steaming latte.
"Didn't you hear me?" Holli sneered. "Or are you deaf as well as poor?"
She tilted the cup. Brown liquid sloshed over the rim, splashing onto Karly's shoes.
"Oops." Holli smirked.
Karly looked at the stain. Then she looked at Holli.
She didn't cry. She didn't apologize.
She stepped forward, invading Holli's personal space.
"Get out of my way," Karly said.
Holli blinked. She wasn't used to resistance. "Excuse me?"
Karly shoved past her. Her shoulder checked Holli's, hard enough to make the girl stumble.
"You heard me," Karly threw over her shoulder.
She left Holli standing there, mouth open, as she marched out the double doors.
