Sebastian Chavez, our class president, had just come back from the restroom and walked straight into the scene.
Loretta flinched. The pen slipped from her fingers and clattered to the floor.
Her eyes turned red in an instant, those wide doe eyes brimming with tears as she looked to Henry:
"Wahhh... someone caught me..."
Henry stormed in immediately, pulling Loretta behind him and glaring at Sebastian:
"What are you yelling for? Can you handle the consequences if you scare Loretta?!"
Sebastian went white with anger:
"She... she swapped everyone's test pens! This is the SATs!"
"So what if she did?"
Henry said it like it was the most reasonable thing in the world. He even picked up the pink pen from the floor and waved it in Sebastian's face:
"Loretta wanted to surprise everyone and share her good luck! Do you even know what team spirit means?"
I lifted my head slowly, and my gaze locked with Loretta's.
She peeked out from behind Henry, sniffling and hiccupping:
"Baby... Baby just thought black was too depressing. Pink brings good luck for everyone... Monica, you understand me best, right? You don't think Baby did anything wrong, do you?"
She aimed the question squarely at me.
In an instant, every pair of eyes in the room turned my way. The few remaining classmates, Henry, Sebastian. All of them, staring.
The suffocating weight of my previous life pressed down on me again, the same crushing force that had driven me to that rooftop.
My fingers tightened around the spare black pen hidden in my uniform pocket.
Meeting their stares, I picked up my own pencil case from the desk and unzipped it. Sure enough, a brand-new pink pen sat inside.
I pulled it out and faced Loretta, forcing a smile uglier than tears.
"Why would I mind? I love your surprise."
I even made a show of sliding the pink pen into the most visible slot of my pencil case, right in front of her, to kill whatever suspicion they had left.
Loretta's tears dried up instantly, replaced by a smug grin. She shot Sebastian a triumphant look.
Henry gave my shoulder an approving pat, satisfaction dripping from every word.
"See? Monica knows how to be a team player."
Sebastian stared at me, lips parting, then pressing shut. He swallowed whatever he'd been about to say.
He knew. In a class held hostage by the cult of Loretta, anyone who crossed her became a target.
The storm passed. Henry took Loretta by the arm and led her away.