Dasani ticks through their faces, the girls from the projects who know where she lives. Here in the neighborhood, the homeless are the lowest caste, the outliers, the “shelter boogies.” Some girls may be kind enough to keep Dasani’s secret. Others will be distracted by the noise of this first day—the start of the sixth grade, the crisp uniforms, the fresh nails. She hopes to slip by them all unseen.
