“No,” Peggy said. “Nancy, what are you doing? You can’t—”
“Come out, or I’ll break the door down.”
There was no sound from inside the stall. Whatever Diane was doing, she was not unbolting the lavatory door. Nancy pushed Peggy away, stood back a little, and raised her foot. She was wearing high heels, but she knew it wouldn’t matter.
“One more chance,” Nancy said.
“You’re crazy,” Peggy said, but it was a whisper.
There was still no sound from the other side of the door. Nancy raised her foot even higher and shot it forward, as quickly and with as much force as she could. The tinny bolt that held the lavatory stall door shrieked. Nancy lifted her foot again and shot it forward again. This time the door gaped for a moment before it fell back into place. The third hit was all Nancy needed. The door strained against what was left of the bolt fastening. Then it popped open with a bang and shot forward, right into the side of Diane Asch’s face. Diane burst into tears.
Nancy reached into the stall, grabbed Diane by the arm, and yanked. Diane stumbled forward. Nancy yanked again and then began to push her toward the sinks.
“What’s the matter with you?” she demanded. “What do you think you’re doing?”
“They said,” Diane started. Then she shook her head. “They said—”
“Sticks and stones can break my bones but names can never hurt me.”
“They can if you hear them every day,” Diane said.
“They can if you hear them every hour. I’m not eating lunch in the cafeteria anymore. Not ever. You can’t make me. You can’t.”
“Nancy listen,” Peggy said. “Calm down. You’re—”
Nancy ran her hand through her hair again. If felt as if she had been doing it without a break since she left her office. Her scalp felt raw. Diane Asch slid to the floor next to the sink and started to cry. They were not attractive tears.
“God,” Nancy said. “Look at yourself. Get up and look in the mirror and really see yourself for once in your life.”
“They called me a fat ugly pig,” Diane said hysterically. “They said it over and over again. They all did—”
“They chanted it,” Peggy said. “That’s what I was trying to tell Harvey, but he wouldn’t listen. DeeDee and Sharon started it, but then everybody in the cafeteria took it up. Or nearly everybody—”
“It was everybody,” Diane said.
“So Diane here bolted,” Peggy said. “Nancy, for God’s sake.”
“For God’s sake what?” Nancy said. “Look at her. What do you think, it’s an accident? She is a fat ugly pig and she won’t do anything for herself. You can’t blame the rest of them for not liking it. How many people around here have tried to help her get herself fixed up, to wear a little makeup, to stop whining all the time—”
“I don’t want to wear makeup,” Diane screamed. “Why do I have to wear makeup? I didn’t do anything. I’m not the one who calls people names.”
“Nobody would call you names if you’d straighten yourself out,” Nancy said. “You like to be called names. If you didn’t, you’d have done something about yourself years ago. Get your face washed and get back to class. You’re holding everybody up.”
“Fuck you,” Diane said.
“That’ll get you a week in detention,” Nancy said.
“I won’t come.” Diane Asch turned her back to them and began to run the water in the sink. She was no longer sobbing, not even silently.
“If you don’t come,” Nancy said pleasantly, “I’ll suspend you. And if you try to break the suspension, I’ll have you up before the board of education’s disciplinary committee. And if you think they’re going to take your side over mine, you’d damned well better think again. You’re a mess. Get your act together.”
Peggy started to say something. Nancy didn’t wait to listen to her. She went out the lavatory door and found the hall still full of students, standing just close enough to hear what was going on with Diane. DeeDee and Sharon and Lynn were standing together in a little knot to one side, looking faintly anxious.
“Go,” Nancy said.
A few of the girls hesitated—why was it, Nancy wondered, that boys never hung around in situations like this?—but in the end they drifted off, some of them looking guilty. Nancy went back the way she had come. The tension in her body was gone. She had never been this clearheaded in all her life. Maybe what she needed was to tell the truth more often.