“That sentence makes no sense.”
“It does to you.”
He did not know about the video.
She did not tell him yet.
The private story might have died there if Kendall had not brought it into media class.
Two days later she leaned across an editing station and said, “You changed the way you say Eastborough.”
Imani looked up.
“What?”
“Yesterday you said it different.”
“How much time do you have?”
Kendall smiled.
“I’m just saying.”
Nia’s voice came back to Imani: Which one is real?
She stared at Kendall.
“Why did you record me at lunch?”
Kendall’s smile disappeared slightly.
“It was a joke.”
“You recorded me without telling me.”
“You were in the cafeteria.”
“That doesn’t answer me.”
“You weren’t having a private conversation.”
“You edited it against my school broadcast.”
“Because it was funny.”
“To who?”
Kendall looked around.
Several students pretended not to listen.
“You.”
Imani shook her head.
“I didn’t laugh.”
Kendall sighed.
“Oh my God.”
She leaned back.
“You seriously cannot take anything.”
Imani stayed quiet.
That annoyed Kendall more.
“I was showing code-switching.”
“You didn’t use that word.”
“What?”
“You asked which one was real.”
Kendall rolled her eyes.
“Same idea.”
“No.”
Imani turned back toward her computer.
“Delete anything else you recorded of me.”
Kendall laughed.
“I don’t have anything else.”
“Good.”
Cole noticed the tension but did not intervene because the conversation ended.
Imani believed it had.
The next week proved otherwise.
During media class, senior Avery Lane, a blonde student who often filmed Kendall’s segments, approached Imani’s desk and exaggerated her announcement voice.
“Good afternoon, Eastborough. Please remember Black Imani is available after twelve.”
A few students laughed.
Avery smiled.
Imani stared at her.
“What?”
Avery’s smile faded.
“I’m joking.”
“What’s Black Imani?”
“You know.”
“No.”
“The other voice.”
“Which voice?”
Avery became uncomfortable.
“Your normal one.”
Imani looked at Kendall across the room.
Kendall was smiling.
The smile disappeared when their eyes met.
Imani returned to Avery.
“So the voice I use with my friends is Black Imani, and the voice I use reading school announcements is what?”
Avery opened her mouth.
Nothing came out.
Imani waited.
“Exactly.”
She walked away.
That afternoon she told Cole.
Not dramatically.
She gave him the original private video, Avery’s comment, and the earlier “safe voice” conversation.
Cole watched the clip twice.
His expression hardened.
“Did Kendall record the lunch section?”
“Yes.”
“Did you know?”
“No.”
Cole nodded.
“Okay.”
Imani hated the word.
“What does okay mean?”
“It means I’m thinking.”
He closed the laptop.
“This is not about whether your voices sound different.”