23 Chapter XXII

Police Officer: What's going on with Lyssa?

Me: She's drinking her youth away.

Police Officer: And Sunny?

Me: Rotting.

***

That morning, Lyssa poured whiskey over her ice cubes as she replied to emails on her phone. The TV went on. She twirled her fingers around the edge of the glass and licked it. Then she worked until Hiram came home.

"Honey," he said, stepping through the door. "I'm exhausted. Let's hug while you make us some real good dinner."

"I'm exhausted too." Lyssa turned only to find his hand tucked under the couch pillow, body laying flat on the sofa.

"Wash your hands."

The two ate dinner. When they finished, Lyssa tried to jump out the second-floor window.

"Lyssa, this can't continue," said Hiram on the bed in the upstairs suite.

"I've had it," she said. 'I can't take it anymore." She lowered her voice, even though Sunny was two full doors away. "I've lost pride. I used to be proud as a woman." Hiram shook his head.

"You're still proud. You've still got control." Everything was fine. Lyssa took care of the meetings. The venues. He took care of placing ads. They had plans. They were going to make it as business people.

Lyssa poured the last of the whiskey into her class and added cubes. The phone rang. It had been ringing all day and night. Lyssa groaned into her palms.

"Lyssa."

"I'll get it," she said.

***

Mrs. Lennie and her little red eyes gave Sunny the chills. She was standing at the front of the classroom whispering to the neighboring teacher. The majority of the class was occupied by friendly conversations with tablemates. Few seized the opportunity to take a nap.

Sunny peeked at the teachers' warped faces, the seriousness of their expression arising a reasonable amount of suspicion. She looked up. They looked up, and not long after she was standing in the halls like a counterfeiter.

"What is this?" Mrs. Lennie threw two stabled together, MLA formatted essays into Sunny's chest. "You have a lot of explaining to do if you think I'm just going to sit here and let this happen."

"What?"

"I can understand if you copy math homework," she said. "But you can't go round copying essays word by word, thinkin' you'd be able to walk and sit in class unnoticed."

"What?

"Don't treat me like an idiot."

"I'm not! I have no idea what you're talking about. I think there's been a misunderstanding."

"Misunderstanding? There is no misunderstanding," she said, "I've been a teacher here all my life and I know a cheater when I see one. Do not challenge me on that one."

"I didn't copy anyone. These are my words. Mine." Mrs. Lennie crossed her arms and snatched the papers from her. "Oh, yeah? Then why did Selena came into my office this morning and tell me all about it."

"God damn. Don't listen to that bitch."

"Excuse me?"

"I didn't mean it like that."

"Selena has a name, and she was nice enough to tell me the truth. She said you're through a tough time at home. Your parents—"

"What has this got to do with my parents?"

"Your parents don't have time to help you with your homework, so YOU asked her."

"Dude. What? Selena's singling me out on a partnered crime."

"She only agreed to lend you her work because you're her bestie. She came crying and told me everything."

Anger was not a good look on Sunny. A ghostly cord arose from her bent spine and dangled down over her face. Her eyes showed that her brain was in a different mode, that she switched from cold indifference to a rising flame.

"She's lying! Y-y-you have to believe me." Mrs. Lennie responded right in her face with a wicked laugh.

"You turned Selena sideways," she said pointing at her forehead. "It was all you." The only thing Sunny could bring herself to do was stare long and deeply at the brown dirt stain on the lace of her air force ones. Nobody knew it at the time, but the simple idea of ending it all with a stab in Selena's gut was twirling around in her head. Like a buzzing wasp that never went away.

"Follow me, you're gonna have a nice chat with the principal." Sunny trailed along, breathing heavily behind her. A cheater, she was. She imagined Lyssa's face if she were to hear this about her daughter. Terrifying.

There was a backpack lying along the hallways, and Sunny thought about using it to trip Mrs. Lennie. When they reach the office, the teacher leads her into a room to join Selena, who had already 'confessed'. She had herself seated comfortably on the dark brown couch as if she had come in here to converse about how great the weather was. The middle-aged principal turned to look at Sunny.

"Sit," he said, throwing two staples stacks of lined paper in front of her. "Let's play a little game." He leaned onto the back of his chair. "It's called spot the difference." Sunny looked at the identical papers and had the furious feeling that she had been tricked. They put them in the same room, which made her angrier. Nothing seemed to destroy that girl's look of complacency. "So, Sunny, do you spot any?"

Sunny flicked the elastic on her wrist. The world was wrapping itself around her and the tedious stinging act was the only thing keeping her from drifting away in disbelief. The elastic snapped. Sunny shut her eyes. She was gathering clouds for a rainfall he would never witness.

"Yeah because surprise! There are no differences," said the Principal, circulating her. Betrayal. Sunny pinched her sleeve. It was the only thing keeping her from screaming.

"But these are my words. I didn't copy anybody," she murmured. But there was no evidence to just shove in his face.

"What's that?"

"I said, she's lying." Sunny bit her lip and rolled her hands into fists. She looked up at him for the first time. "I wrote the essay twice and gave the second copy to Selena." His eyes turned to the blonde girl.

"Let me explain," she said, flapping her curly eyelashes like pink butterfly wings. "I finished the assignment the day it was given out, and never thought much of it again until Sunny called me one night and practically begged for it! I was hesitant at first, I told her you to know, cheating isn't right. But the Asian needed the straight A's, so said threatened me, she called me all sorts of names that I don't dare repeat. I love Sunny, so of course, I sent it to her." She paused and reached into her pocket.

"Look, I even have the messages still." She stood up and walked near him, showing him every tiny detail of the fabricated evidence, like which punctuation mark she chose and why. Selena's rosy fairytales had such happy endings for her. Sunny couldn't believe the ends Selena was willing to go to turn the story around, to make her lies credible. Selena chatted until the principal made her quit.

"Okay, I think I understand. It's very brave of you, to tell the truth." He turned to Sunny.

"I know you are a liar just as I know you an Asian. You think you can just take it and use it without paying?" he said. "I see it in every line of your face. Not only did you cheat, but you also went and blamed it on your friend. I knew you were one of those dishonest Chinese." Selena placed her arm over her mouth and chuckled under her breath. Then pretended to cough it out.

"Well? You're not even going to apologize to Selena?"

The fear from Sunny's shivering mouth showed a scared child within, a girl who was taught to be honest, to be true to herself. "Well?" His voice was demanding, and because he was of such authority, Sunny collected herself and lied, "I'm sorry for copying your homework, Selena." The girl was starved of the fairness she craved and I could see the pain beneath it all. Her soul was rotting in this persona she'd carved to belong in this world of appearance. Yet nothing could be done.

Sunny walked out of the office with a detention slip in hand. Selena got up and swished her booty gracefully. On her way out she gave Sunny a look from above that read 'you lose, bitch'. That's when Sunny realized. They were fighting a war. And she was going to win.