12 years earlier
“Don’t touch me, bitch!”
Sarah Dawes gave chase, deaf to the screams and cheers of twenty-six bloodthirsty eighth graders. Andre Barks skidded while cornering the back row of desks, granting Sarah the needed edge. She horse-collared Andre just before he reached the door, toppling him forward. Sarah fell atop him, straddling the boy, and hammered his shoulder blades. One, two, then three licks thudded home. The fourth grazed his spine as Mr. Sperry, the math teacher, ha