Black Tuesday by Susan Colebank Page A

had happened recently, Jayne could just imagine the headlines if one of the local networks saw their trash. Jayne Thompkins Turns to Drugs to Forget Tragedy!
    If she had been another kind of girl—an average, wimpy girl—maybe she’d turn to drugs. But she was Jayne Lee Thompkins: straight-A, Harvard-bound Jayne Lee Thompkins.
    She didn’t do that kind of thing.

9
    THERE WERE CAMERAS in front of the school.
    There. Were. Cameras.
    Jayne started to scoot down in her seat. She wanted to slide down to the floor. But she didn’t. In fact, she straightened up. She had never hidden from anyone. Ever. Then again, she’d never done anything in her life that she had to hide from.
    â€œJayne!” One of the vultures with a mike had seen her. He started walking toward her like a man working out on a treadmill. One by one, the rest of the reporters realized where he was heading and followed. With that same quick, determined stride.
    Holy crap.
    â€œJesus.” That word coming from her dad was unexpected. He rarely swore. “Your mother and I were hoping they wouldn’t be here.”
    â€œOh my God.” Ellie pulled against Jayne’s seat, leaning over and looking out the front windshield. “There are so many freakin’ cameras! Does my hair look all right?”
    â€œWhy are they here?” Jayne felt her stomach clench, and she willed herself not to puke up the two bites of eggs that had gone down there.
    Her dad let out a long breath. “Probably because they couldn’t get near you at the house.”
    Since Jayne had gotten home, the news vans had been at the end of the driveway, off their property. The vultures knew they couldn’t push their legal boundaries when it came to the queen of all vultures.
    But they’d gone away after a couple of days. They’d gotten their shots of the house, the background for their news stories. So why were they here?
    â€œBut I’m old news.”
    â€œFor anyone else, you would be.” Her dad’s voice was calm. Soothing. Just like it always was. “But you’re a bright, pretty girl who got some bad luck thrown her way. And you need to keep in mind that you’re Gen Thompkins’s daughter. They probably want to get an on-air comment to take her down a notch or two.”
    He turned and grinned at her. “At least your mom dressed you up today, right?”
    Jayne knew he was trying to make her feel better. Instead, he was making her feel like a special-needs person. At least your mom dressed you up today .
    â€œDo you want me to drive to another entrance? Or maybe come back later?”
    â€œYeah, Jayne, let’s ditch.” Ellie was still pulling at her seat. Jayne was feeling dizzy from the movement.
    â€œNo, we’re not ditching.” The sooner this day got started, the sooner it would be over. “I’ll just keep my head up and my eyes forward.”
    That’s what her mother had taught her. “Guilty, shameful people look at the ground, Jayne. If you’re ever in trouble, act like the queen of England. Otherwise you’re going to be judged and executed by the public.”
    Her mom had told her this when she was seven and about to welcome the parents to parent-teacher night on behalf of the first grade.
    She opened the door, keeping a hand knotted around the strap of her book bag. “Come on, Ellie.”
    â€œWait.” Her dad had grabbed Jayne’s wrist.
    â€œYeah?”
    â€œI don’t know. I don’t know what to do. I know that’s an undadlike thing to say, but these people”—he nodded toward the reporters, who were about five seconds from the car—“are going to eat us alive.”
    If she was a lesser person, she would’ve turned tail and headed home.
    But she wasn’t that kind of person. Then again, it might’ve been easier if she was that type of person.
    â€œI just want to get this over with.”