I covered my face.
“Oh my God.”
Vanessa spun toward me.
“Don’t pretend you didn’t organize this!”
“I didn’t.”
Behind me, Emma stepped onto the porch.
She saw the crowd and went pale.
“Oh no.”
I looked at her.
“What happened yesterday at school?”
“People asked why I was late. I told them the car broke down and Mrs. Vanessa wouldn’t let me ride because my shoes were wet.”
A boy near the mailbox shouted,
“They weren’t even muddy!”
Sophie appeared at the edge of the group.
Her eyes were red.
One girl muttered,
“Her mom is horrible.”
Emma immediately turned toward her.
“Don’t.”
The girl blinked.
Another child said,
“But Sophie gets rides from your mom every day. That isn’t fair.”
Sophie stared down.
Emma crossed the lawn.
“She didn’t ask her mom to do that.”
Then she took Sophie’s hand.
