Getting Played Read Free

takes the letter and starts reading it. I wait. It takes her about five minutes to read four paragraphs. Her lips move the whole time. She finishes and hands it back to me and then shrugs. “It’s not here,” she says dismissively, and looks at the next student behind me. “What do you need?”
    â€œNo, wait. You said the same thing yesterday and the day before. Do you know if maybe it was already sent or faxed to Hazelhurst?”
    â€œNo, we don’t do that and I’d have a record of that anyway.”
    â€œBut I’m supposed to transfer to Hazelhurst Academy Monday morning.”
    â€œI’ll check the computer,” she says, obviously getting annoyed, but still she types in my name. The screen changes, so I guess my records come up. She shakes her head slowly. “There’s nothing here as far as your records are concerned regarding a transfer. There’s a transfer in from a month and a half ago. That’s it.”
    â€œNo, that’s wrong.”
    â€œHold on.” She turns around and yells out to other staffers. “Hey, anybody have transfer paperwork on Denise Lewis?”
    â€œNo, Kenisha Lewis, my name is Kenisha Lewis, ” I reiterate.
    â€œMake that Kenisha Lewis.” She waits a half second. Nobody responds, but it wasn’t like anybody was actually paying attention to what she said anyway.
    She shrugs. “Are you sure you’re supposed to transfer?”
    â€œYes. Like I said, I passed the readmission test. They said it would only take a few days. That was two weeks ago. The new grading period begins Monday. I talked to the assistant principal at the end of last week. He said he was going to contact Hazelhurst Academy and see what was going on. Do you know if he did that?”
    â€œNo. I don’t see anything about that, and he’s been out sick all week.”
    â€œCan you contact him and see what happened?”
    â€œNo,” she says flatly.
    â€œSo what do I do then?” I ask.
    She shrugs and looks at the student behind me and nods. “Next!”
    I guess I got my answer.

CHAPTER 2
    Down Another Rabbit Hole
    â€œThe ending in a fairy tale is almost the same thing as waking up from a nightmare. They both seem real at the time. But when you look closer you see the cracks in reality.”
    â€”Facebook.com
    NOW what?
    I’m standing here trying to figure out what just happened. Okay, I’m not stupid. I wasn’t born yesterday. I’m sixteen years old, smart, focused and can take care of myself—mostly. I live with my grandmother and sometimes with my dad. But all that is to say that I’m no fool. I have a good head on my shoulders. Okay, maybe I had some problems before, but all that’s over with now. See, back then, I trusted the wrong people and almost got myself jammed up. I messed up. I admit it. But I’m fine now. Well, not really. The thing is I’m not where I’m supposed to be. I was supposed to be out of Penn Hall five days ago.
    So being pissed is an understatement. I storm out of the administrative office and head down the hall to my locker.Seriously, this can’t be happening. Every time I try to get my life back together, something happens to get in my way. I know I did everything I was supposed to do. I studied, I passed the stupid test and I got the readmission letter. Something had to have happened after that. I gotta figure out what. My dad—I need to find him. He was supposed to write Hazelhurst Academy a check last week. As far as I can figure, that’s the only thing holding everything up. I need to make sure he did what he was supposed to do. I pull out my cell and send him a text message.
    I don’t really expect an answer. I called him three times this week and texted him like twice every day. He’s been MIA. Okay, I get it. I know my dad’s been distracted lately. It’s the whole new family thing that gets him all weirded