environment when heâs like functionally illiterate.â
âLook at this part,â Alex pointed halfway down the letter. âHe asks why canât we have an Aryan Nations club since we have a GSA now. Holy shit.â
âThis letter makes him look really bad,â Monica said. âHe sounds like a Nazi.â
âHe is a Nazi,â Alex said. âMonica, you have to write a response and run this letter with it.â
âNow wait,â Mr. Albrecht said. âWe canât do that. Thatâs a conflict of interest.â
âWhat? How?â Alex said, his excitement draining.
âMonica is secretary of the Gay-Straight Alliance, and editor of this paper. She canât criticize someone for their opinion on the GSA if sheâs a member of the GSA.â
âThatâs bullshit,â Alex said.
âAlex.â
âMonica is secretary of every club in school,â Alex said. âSheâs not even gay.â
The girl shrugged. âHe is right. I just like being secretary.â
They ran the letter at the end of the month, but with no editorial response. They let the lacrosse playerâs letter speak for itself.
Â
The wheels of Alexâs skateboard clicked over slabs of concrete on the sidewalk under a heatless sun. Cars zoomed down the adjacent road. A black Chevy Tahoe roared by. The tires screeched, rubber burning into pavement. The hulking vehicle seized to a stop ahead of Alex.
Alex pulled his hoodie tight around his face and slowed his skateboard, unsure what to do. The Tahoeâs white reverse lights flashed, and the SUV screeched backward until it stopped next to Alex. Max Weston leaped out of the driverâs seat into the busy road and marched around the front of the SUV. He shoved Alex right off his skateboard. Cars drove around the Tahoe, honking.
âWhat the fuck are you doing!â Alex shouted, jumping up from the grass.
The lacrosse star picked up the skateboard and threw it at Alex. It hit him in the chest and knocked him off balance. Max shoved Alex as he wobbled. The gangly skater tumbled down an embankment into a heavily wooded ditch.
âThink youâre such a smart faggot?â Max marched down to Alex and kicked him with all his strength.
Alex rolled into a muddy patch and wheezed for air, clutching his stomach. The ditch blocked the view from the road.
Max grabbed the skaterâs hair and dragged him through the mud, then kicked again. âThey want to fucking expel me!â the athlete shouted at the curled-up boy.
Alex panted and held his muddy palms up toward Max. Wind roared through the trees. âYou wrote the email,â Alex coughed.
âThey say itâs fucking hate speech! Iâm gonna lose my lacrosse scholarship!â Max got on his knees, sinking into the mud. He slammed his fist into Alexâs face.
Alex cried out and tried to roll away.
Max straddled him, squeezing his knees against the skaterâs ribs. âTell them I didnât write it!â
âFuck you!â Alex groaned, twisting. Blood trickled from a nostril. His hands were pinned under Maxâs knees. His face burned and throbbed.
âFucking hell, man!â Max yelled, looking up at the dense swaying treetops, then down at Alexâs bloodied red face.
The lacrosse star had been crying. Two dried trails ran from his eyes to his thin lips. The two trails terrified Alex more than his fists.
âWhy do you have to be such a faggot?â Max grabbed Alexâs chest, bunching up the skaterâs muddy hoodie in his fists like he wanted to rip something out.
âGet off of me,â Alex breathed.
âWhy do you like dick?â
âGet the fuck off of me!â
âWhy are you a faggot!â Max yelled in his face like a machine on repeat.
âFuck you!â
âWhat? You like this, right?â The athlete grabbed the skaterâs knees, spread them and slammed his crotch