Speak

by Laurie Halse Anderson

Nicole is just not a bitch. It would be so much easier to hate her if she were.

She must be a great writer if the school board is afraid of her.

I almost tell them right then and there. Tears flood my eyes. They noticed I’ve been trying to draw. They noticed. I try to swallow the snowball in my throat. This isn’t going to be easy. I’m sure they suspect I was at the party. Maybe they even heard about me calling the cops. But I want to tell them everything as we sit there by our plastic Christmas tree while the Rudolph, the Red-Nosed Reindeer video plays.

Fuck. I remember this feeling

Naked women is art, naked guys a no-no, I bet. Probably because most painters are men.