"Do you have the homework, Mercedes,' one of her classmates nudged her. Mercedes frowned, rolled her eyes and turned around to face the brown-skinned girl.

"Why don't you ever have your homework done?"

"I get busy, girl. Come on,' she said, rolling her eyes right back. Mercedes passed the sheet over her shoulder, hoping the teacher wouldn't see— making sure the teacher didn't see. When the girl behind her was done, she passed the note back over Mercedes's shoulder.

"Sit with us at lunch today."

In the cafeteria, Mercedes felt one student then another push and shove past her as she found her way to her friends. She sat at the end of the table with someone she had hardly seen before, but the girl who had invited her to the table was beside her, picking at the vegetable medley. Of course, Mercedes usually sat at that table anyway, so the invite should have been patronizing, but she was flattered to be remembered and invited.

"This food sucks,' Marcella said, pushing it away from her. "I wish you had a car, so we could leave school and go get lunch."

Mercedes shrugged. "We could always walk."

"Bitch, it's cold…' Marcella looked around the table. "You think Jerry would drive us to McDonalds?"

Mercedes shrugged. "He might… are we going to be back in time for third period?"

Before Mercedes got an answer, the girl was standing up and going to talk to another boy at another table, whispering in his ear as she bent over. The boy laughed, then Marcella looked back at Mercedes and pointed, giving a facetious wave before turning back to Jerry. Jerry locked eyes with Mercedes and held it before sighing, tapping the boy's shoulder next to him and standing. The trio headed over to Mercedes, and Jerry, tall, dark and handsome said: "Let's go, Merc."

Mercedes stood up, picking her tray up before Jerry pushed it back onto the table with a laugh. "You can leave that shit."

They shuffled out of the cafeteria, Mercedes looking over her shoulder for teachers, and she briefly caught Sebastian's eye as he walked into the cafeteria, trailing later than most of the students with second lunch. He began to smile and then furrowed his eyebrows in confusion when he saw the group of people she was with exiting the room, and though he looked like he was about to say something, he said nothing and continued past her.

They all stuffed into his coupe, Mercedes and Marcella in the back dictating what radio station to turn on. Mercedes was enthralled but anxious about getting back to school and class on time. School was important, but she wasn't sure what Sebastian would think about her leaving school entirely, especially with two other boys… or would he even ask? Had he really noticed her leaving or not? And if she was late, she'd have to lie and get a tardy pass, and then she'd have to explain everything to him… or lie… she was flustered.

"Mercedes, Jerry asked you where you want to eat."

She shrugged. She didn't have that much money on her. "It doesn't matter."

They were all soon in the McDonalds lobby, sharing a large fry spilled onto the center of the table. Each had a burger and a cup of soda, eating happily with greasy, ketchup-stained fingers.

"Thanks for taking us here,' Mercedes said to the boys. "That food did… not look good."

"That shit is disgusting,' Jerry said, laughing and wiping his hands out with a napkin. "So, where have you been Mercedes? I feel like we never see you anymore."

"You see me every day,' she rolled her eyes.

"Nah…' the other boy, Michael, said, prompting all four to burst into laughter.

"Nah, you be with them white kids."

"I…,' she hesitated, unsure of what he could mean. Her cheeks grew red. She wasn't sure why she suddenly felt embarrassed, as if she wasn't allowed to hang out with people who weren't black or why she had to explain why she had friends who weren't black or who they could have even seen her with to make that kind of remark. "What are you talking about?"

"I saw you with that one cat. Sebastian."

"Oh, shit,' Marcella choked, grabbing Mercedes's shoulder. "Say 'swear'."

"What would I be swearing to?" She took a long, nervous sip of her drink. "I know him. So do y'all. Everyone knows him." She wondered if they could see the blood rushing to her face.

"I don't know,' Jerry groaned, holding his hands up in surrender as to tease the girl.

"He rich as hell, do your thing,' Michael said with a grin, grabbing some fries and putting them into his mouth as an amorphous blob.

"Girl, please do not pop out with that white boy. I'm serious."

Mercedes rolled her eyes. "What would be the problem with that?"

The table collectively halted their breathing, the sound of orders being taken the only thing moving between them. Jerry looked at Michael, then Michael looked at Marcella, and Marcella would have looked at Mercedes had Mercedes dared to lift her eyes away from her cheeseburger.

"You're joking," Jerry started.

Mercedes chewed the skin of the inside of her cheek. She was trying to play it cool, but she couldn't, not with them all looking at her and her underbelly suddenly exposed.

"Obviously,' she muttered, raising her head and flipping her freshly straightened hair over her shoulder. She pursed her lips and gave a fake laugh. "Ain't nobody thinking about that boy. We have a class together,' Mercedes said with a smirk. "And I don't need his money, Michael,' matter-of-factly it rolled off her tongue, and the tension was temporarily broken.

Jerry laughed, cracked his knuckles over the table and began to stand. "I always liked you, Mercedes. You just do your own thing… very cool,' he said, nonchalantly. They were all back in the car before too long, heading back to school and in time for their next class. As they pulled in, Marcella started making plans for the group and even included Mercedes.

"Just come chill with us after school, we can go back to my spot. Jerry'll give you a ride back home."

Mercedes winced. "I have God Squad today. We're making flyers for a donation rally afterschool… it's good for the community and college applications and stuff."

The car was silent for a moment before Michael shrugged.

"We need to be more like you,' he said sarcastically, turning around to face the girl, his head on the passenger seat headrest. Mercedes gave an authentic smile, feeling accepted. Of course, she usually had to posture around them, her so-called friends, but they hadn't reacted as badly to all of her off-kilter moments that day… and the one they had reacted to, she felt like she had played it off well. She felt confident, strong, funny and wanted, and it didn't feel like a damage to contribute those feelings to Sebastian. Who had she been before him?

But it all gave her pause. The same thing that gave her the courage to bail out on school and make raunchy jokes while sitting in the back of a boy's car was the same thing she had to be quiet about— ashamed. She half-heartedly wanted to keep riding, keep driving past the school and past Lima and past Sebastian and all the other people and things that stood in the way, but he wasn't standing in the way at all, was he? Wasn't he the way, and weren't they clearing a path together?

"Speaking of which,' one of the voices in the car broke through her deep train of thought. "Let me get the homework. Pretty please."