Poison Ink by Christopher Golden

they managed to beat the bell into the room. T.Q. seemed unusually talkative, impatient to learn if she had made the basketball team—the list would be posted by noon—and Sammi found some of her anxiety going away. Things were going to be all right now.
    Between periods she saw Letty and Katsuko in the hall, but when she stopped to talk they were distant and made a lame excuse about needing to get to trigonometry early to talk to the teacher. Left standing by herself in the corridor, Sammi took a deep breath and brushed it off. It wasn’t as though she could have just flashed her tattoo there in the hallway, drawing all kinds of attention.
    After third period, she threw herself into the tide of people moving down the central stairwell to the cafeteria in the basement. A couple of Las Reinas nodded in greeting, going up the steps against the flow. Her all-time favorite teacher, Mr. Geary, who taught history and had always encouraged her music, stood by the main doors directing traffic and making sure nobody decided to use the prelunch chaos to make a break for it and blow off the rest of the day.
    The cafeteria was at the back of the school, its own wing, with three sets of metal doors propped wide open. The smell of today’s mystery meat made her stomach growl, and she remembered that she’d skipped breakfast. Her front right pocket bulged with the presence of her phone, and she hoped she’d have a few minutes before the girls showed up at lunch so she could text Adam. She needed a little reinforcement at the moment from someone outside her circle.
    Letty stood between two sets of cafeteria doors, waiting for her. They spotted each other at the same time, and a happy smile blossomed on Letty’s face.
    “Hey, chica.”
    Sammi went up to her, nervous and wondering if Letty would notice. “Hey. I guess you talked to T.Q.”
    “I did,” Letty said, falling into step with her. She bumped Sammi in the shoulder as they went down the five steps into the cafeteria. “I’d kiss you, but I’m not up for a scandal this week.”
    “Nothing wrong with a little scandal,” Sammi said. “Besides, if the boys think I swing both ways, you know how much they love that.”
    “Yep. The boys love lesbians. And they never seem to understand why that does nothing for us. What’s so hard to fathom about gay girls? Not really interested in entertaining guys.”
    They got into the lunch line and picked up trays, already craning their necks to see what the glass cases revealed. They would choose the least repulsive meal, just to have sustenance.
    “That’s why we hang around with you,” Sammi teased. “Gorgeous lesbian man-bait. You draw them in and the rest of us can snare them.”
    Letty’s eyes flashed. “Glad to know I’m useful for something.”
    Sammi rolled her eyes.
    The lunch ladies said hello, familiar by now with most of the upperclassmen, and Sammi chose a chicken parmigiana sandwich. Letty went with steamed vegetables and rice, rarely trusting the meat from the cafeteria.
    “That’s it,” she said as they filled water glasses, “I’ve got my life’s work ahead of me. I’m goin’ to culinary school and come back here and teach these ladies how to cook. Or I’m gonna have a show on a cooking channel and have every school in the country sign up and force the lunch ladies of America to watch it every day.”
    Sammi nodded her approval. “It’s a commendable mission.”
    By the time they walked back to the table, Caryn and T.Q. were in line. Katsuko had somehow gotten there early and already had a table waiting for them in the far corner where they always sat, in whatever combination shared a lunch period. Their schedules were such that Monday and Tuesday were the only days they were all together during lunch this semester, and those days were always cause for celebration.
    Letty sat down beside Katsuko. Sammi slid her tray onto the table across from them.
    Katsuko gave her a sly smile. “I hear you bit the