modern culture, her conversations were stilted and awkward, filled with out-of-touch religious platitudes.

n taunts in the hallways. Someone taped a p

an, Debra saw it as a spiritual attack. She stormed into the prin

voice echoing down the main hall. "This is a public school, not a den of g

eligious one. But Debra wouldn' t listen. Her outburst made things a thousand times worse. The story

in tears, throwing he

d at me. I was sitting at my desk, hi

look up. "How

ooks, acting like you' re better than everyone!" She was desperate, her pious act crumbling. "I have a history paper due,

I helped her with. I remembe

have my own work to do. You

w?" she

said, turning a page.

used to my empathy being a weakness she could exploit. Seeing the cold, unyielding wall I had