Imani stared at the messages until the words blurred.
Imani: I called out an equation
Imani: if your dad wants to debate signs he can come to class
Rohan joined:
Rohan: Cole's dad donated a scoreboard once. He thinks that makes him faculty.
Rohan: for the record I told my parents what happened. My dad said "good" and my mom said "careful." Both can be true.
Lila:
Lila: enrichment offer is a classic soft exit. refuse the exile framing. take the math if you want the math.
Imani felt less alone and also more exposed. Friendship as group chat was a net with holes. Still, nets mattered.
Sunday evening Rhea sat Imani down with tea.
"Tell me what you're afraid of," Rhea said.
Imani wrapped her hands around the mug. "That they'll smile and move me anyway. That kids will think I asked for special treatment. That Mr. Ellery will be nice to my face and write something else in a file. That I'll start checking myself before I raise my hand. That checking myself becomes a habit and then a personality."
Rhea nodded. "Those are reasonable fears. Now tell me what you want."
"To stay in the class. To do hard problems that are honest. To not become the story of the girl who made a scene." She swallowed. "And I want—this sounds babyish—I want it to have been worth it."
"It was worth it because the equation was wrong as presented," Rhea said. "Worth is not the same as reward. Sometimes worth is just refusing to pretend."
Imani leaned into her mother's shoulder. Rhea's scrub top smelled of antiseptic and lotion. For a minute they did not strategize. They only sat. Outside, dusk turned the brick building across the street the color of old copper.
---
Monday brought the summary email Dean Wexler had promised, arriving at 4:11 p.m. with language sanded smooth:
— Acknowledgment that the Wednesday board item was an intentional stressor and, as written, lacked a real solution.
— Affirmation of Imani's mathematical reasoning.
— Statement that placement would remain stable through the marking period.