He lowered the microphone slightly.
“Can the camera zoom toward the back row?”
The projection screen lit up with her face.
She smiled at first.
She thought she was about to be part of something cute.
Then the principal said slowly,
“I know you.”
The room went quiet.
Carla laughed nervously.
“I’m sorry?”
He stepped closer.
“You’re Carla.”
She straightened.
“Yes. And I think this is inappropriate.”
He ignored her.
“I knew their mother,” he said.
He looked at me. Then at Noah.
“She volunteered here. Raised money here. And she talked constantly about the savings she left for her children. She wanted those kids protected.”
Carla’s face drained of color.
“This isn’t your business,” she snapped.
“It became my business,” the principal said calmly, “when I heard one of our students almost skipped prom because she was told there was no money for a dress.”
A ripple moved through the crowd.
He gestured toward me.
Continued on the next page
