Chapter 3

"She can't afford it."

Aria's answer was flat certain.

"Need-based grants are for students who actually need them. If she can drop two thousand dollars on a pair of shoes and still come collect aid, that's fraud."

Lauren's eyes lit up.

"But whether any of what you're claiming is even true, whether Ruth really drank forty-one cups of coffee or wore two-thousand-dollar sneakers, is still up for debate."

"In the month I've known Ruth, she wouldn't even spend three dollars on a bottle of soda. Most days all she ate were plain bread rolls."

"If she's been acting through all of that, and kept it up for over a month, then I have to hand it to her. Her acting is unbelievable."

Aria standing up for me like that made me want to cry.

Ever since I got posted on the campus confessions page last night, my phone had been packed with hate messages.

People I barely knew were all lining up to have a go at me.

But I didn't even have time to feel bad about it.

I needed that grant money.

My dad hurt his leg. He was waiting on the money for surgery.

He's the only family I have left.

"So what does that prove?"

Lauren still wouldn't let it go.

"You still haven't explained how she could afford coffee."

A lot of the people watching were being won over by Aria.

They dropped their assumptions without meaning to and started really looking at me.

"I didn't notice before, but Ruth is so thin. She's five-six or so and skinny as a rail. One gust of wind and she'd fall over."

"Right, she looks pale and half-starved. That's clearly not some rich girl."

"Yeah, and her T-shirt looks washed out, and her pants are fraying at the hems. She obviously doesn't have many clothes."

Only Lauren kept hanging on.

"Don't let her throw you off. Aria can say all she wants, she still hasn't explained why Ruth can drink Starbucks and wear two-thousand-dollar shoes."

She turned on me, seething.

"Ruth, don't you owe us an explanation?"

I was reaching for the zipper on my backpack.

Ms. Joyner caught my hand.

"All right, that's enough for today."

"I believe Ruth is innocent. The rest of this, we'll handle through the office."

She waved the students off, telling them to go.

Most of them, swayed by Aria's word, actually believed it now, and they left without any argument.

But Lauren stood right where she was.

She clenched her fists and stared at Ms. Joyner, refusing to accept it.

"Ms. Joyner, why won't you let Ruth prove it? Are you trying to cover for her?"

"Or did she pay you off?"