can buy something healthy from the No side trips No talking to anyone Be right here at three thirty he said Don’t be late I rolled my eyes Yeah yeah yeah I know the drill Dad Trust me I won’t be late He reached down to the passenger seat and held up a tied grocery bag by its handles Don’t forget your lunch I stared at the plastic bag Isn’t the junker van bad enough Most kids if they didn’t buy their lunch in the cafeteria had cool lunch bags I just got a recycled bag from Walmart I waved it off I cafeteria I said Just give me five bucks He shook his head and said We don’t have the money to spare Take it Jennifer I glared at Dad I began to spin the silver dollar on the palm of my hand Then I’ll go without I said I’m not that hungry Jennifer you need to eat Dad said No arguments 6
I’ll be fine I said You’re going to need your strength today he said holding the bag in front of me I didn’t budge I don’t want anything to happen like last time Dad said Please take it You know you have to eat I hated that he treated me like a kid I gripped the coin and spun it again on the palm of my hand Fine I finally said grabbing the bag from his hand I’m sorry Jennifer but I’m looking out for you We have to be careful right now Please don’t do anything to bring attention to yourself I ignored him as I watched the coin spinning It kept turning and turning until it began to float up from my palm The silver dollar spun faster as it rose Higher and higher I started to breathe harder as I watched the coin floating in the air Dad snatched the silver dollar out of the air And definitely do not do that he said 7
Chapter Two As soon as I stepped into the school I shuffled to the nearest garbage can I could find and quietly placed my lunch in it No way was I going to be caught dead with the bag of sad Bad enough that Noah Benson and his friends had seen me arrive I glanced around the hallway to see if anyone had spotted me The coast was clear I walked 8
had to grab my books and get to class away from the garbage and lost myself in the turn around I ignored him and tried the swarm of teens in t he schoo l h allway I before Noah and his pals zeroed in on me I was sure they’d have a thing or two to say about my family’s vehicle I cut through the chatty students that filled the hall and finally reached my locker I looked left and right as I spun the dial on my combination lock No sign of Noah and his buddies Why wasn’t the lock opening I spun the dial again but the lock wouldn’t crack open One more try Sweat started to bead on my forehead I pulled on the lock again Still nothing This wasn’t my day Wrong locker a boy said behind me I recognized Noah’s voice but I wasn’t about to combination again 9
