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I cross my arms. “We’ve been in the Law Society for three years, but I guess the term bribery isn’t one you cared to remember.”
She snorts. “I know you accepted a hundred to take Sofia’s online test for her. And you get money from whoever’s case you win. All of a sudden you have morals?”
I’m not about to admit my morals waver when it comes to money, especially to someone who doesn’t know what it’s like to have little of it and be surrounded by a world of it. And I never took money before, not until my dad’s fall. I haven’t done so since.
“Those were lawful gifts given to me on dates that, one, occurred long after the cases were completed; two, can’t be proven to be at all related; and three, can be attached close enough to holidays.” I check my wrist and use my friendship bracelets as a pretend watch. “Two minutes.”
“I know we’re not friends like we used to be.” Chloe grabs my wrists. “But we’re not nothing. And Theo really hurt my feelings. He pretended to like me and dated me just to try to get close to my father.”
“Get close to your father?” I can’t help but ask, “Why would he need to do that? He’s thinking of getting into politics?”
It’s a well-known fact that Chloe’s father is the mayor, and I can’t think of a single thing anyone would gain from dating Chloe other than some kind of governmental internship.
“It’s a long, stupid story,” Chloe says, “that doesn’t matter.”
“What matters is Theo is the worst,” Rachel adds. “And your family is broke, so.”
“Watch your mouth,” I say, crinkling up the paper in my hand. “You’re the one coming to me for help. Why don’t you show some manners?”
“I’m just saying,” Rachel says, and Chloe pinches her arm until she yelps. “Okay, sorry, just take the case.”
The entitlement in her tone, the sheer disbelief that I could ever deny her when she’s flaunting her money in my face like a worm on a hook and I’m the fish, sends a heated flood of irritation through me.
It’s better now that I have a more well-known persona, a girl who keeps to herself for the most part but won’t back down if you wrong her. When I first started here, there were a lot more eyes on me, and most of them were focused on my off-brand shoes, my jewelry from flea markets, and my inability to ever do any after-school activity that required money.
It was very clear I didn’t fit in with these kids from families who ate out most of the week for dinner and spent winter breaks in the mountains or on tropical islands and never had to steal their neighbors’ Wi-Fi when their low-budget one went out.
It’s not that anyone outright bullied me, but the giggle-induced whispers and backhanded compliments did enough to burn my pride.
They lucked out being born into rich families, but placed side by side, what separates us? Nothing. If anything, I began way behind the starting line they were plopped in the middle of, and I’m in the same school, ranking highest in my class every semester.
I’d wager that puts me out of their league.
But people like Rachel, the way they sneer at me like I’m nothing because of my family’s bank account, gets under my skin like nothing else. She really thinks she can wave her money in my face and I’ll do a flip for her. Like I’m just a pet.
I hate the feeling, and I hate that sometimes it takes a moment for me to remember that’s not true.
“Add a zero and I’ll think about it,” I say. “Harvard is expensive, even outside a scholarship.”
Rachel scoffs. “Excuse me?”
“You want me to take the case and spend time sabotaging it.” I put a hand to my chest, playing up the dramatics. “And risk my opportunity to get into Harvard. Me, such a poor, down-on-her-luck Puerto Rican young woman in a white, male-dominated world. It’s so much to ask of a pathetic little charity case like me. I need so much help.”
“So dramatic.” She crosses her arms. “Three hundred.”
“A thousand.”
Rachel sucks her teeth. “Five hundred.”
“A thousand.”
“Don’t be unreasonable.”
“A thousand.” I check my fake watch again. “And sixty seconds.”
“Rachel,” Chloe whines.
“Fine,” Rachel snaps. “I want him off the basketball team.”
