“I didn’t say anything about race.”
“You were about to.”
“No.”
Naya stepped closer.
“You said it because you know exactly what you’ve been doing.”
Brianna’s face reddened.
“Oh my God.”
“There she goes.”
Naya shook her head.
“You spent eight months calling me a diversity kid, a charity case, a quota winner, and whatever else you could say without getting suspended.”
“I never called you a quota winner.”
“You told everybody Jefferson was a quota scholarship.”
“Because it is.”
Ethan, watching from another table, stood immediately.
“That’s not even true.”
Brianna ignored him.
Naya tried to move past her.
“Get out of my way.”
Brianna stepped with her.
Naya moved the other direction.
Brianna blocked that too.
“You always run to administrators.”
“I’m trying to walk away from you right now.”
Megan stood.
“Brianna, stop.”
Brianna did not.
She stepped within inches of Naya’s face.
“You think everybody feels sorry for you because you know how to play the victim.”
Naya’s expression changed.
“No.”
“I think you’re mad because I got something you wanted.”
Brianna laughed.
“You really think I wanted your charity scholarship?”
Naya looked at her.
“That answer tells me everything.”
Several students reacted.
Brianna heard them.
Humiliation flashed across her face.
Then her hand moved.
The slap landed sharply against Naya’s cheek.
Naya’s head turned.
Her braids whipped across one shoulder.
The courtyard erupted.
Naya stared at Brianna for one stunned second.
Then she slapped her back.
Brianna immediately swung again.
The confrontation became a fight.
Naya ducked the next strike.
Brianna lunged.
Naya backed away between the picnic tables while students scattered.
Brianna threw another punch.
Naya blocked with one arm.
“Stop!”
Brianna kept coming.
She attempted a kick.
Naya moved outside it.