The Fire and the Veil (Veronica Barry Book 2) by Sophia Martin Page A

self-esteem…”
    Alan shrugged. “It’s just another thing they do, writing on their hands. It impresses their peers. Look, I know she’s not an easy kid to deal with. Just send her to me if she gives you a hard time. But next time, fill out a referral, okay?”
    Veronica could tell that she was dismissed. Alan was busy, too. He was one of only two VPs for the school. He just had too much on his plate.
    “Okay, thanks,” she said to him, and turned on her heel.
    That exhausted the list of people she could think of to tell her fears about Lola. She didn’t know what else to do. Call Lola’s parents? And say what? She didn’t have anything specific to say, and she didn’t see the conversation going very well without it. The parent would no doubt interpret Veronica’s call as a complaint about Lola’s behavior in class, and Veronica didn’t want to get Lola into trouble at home. She wanted to find a way to help her.
    But how to do that? There was only fifteen minutes left for lunch. She had French III afterwards, and after that, she was finished for the day. Maybe she’d follow Lloyd’s advice, then, and look at Lola’s cumulative file. Maybe something in the file would help make Veronica’s case a little more solid. But she had to be careful not to spend too much time on that—she was meeting Khalilah at four, and after that, she had her doctor’s appointment.
    ~~~
    There were photos of Lola from kindergarten, second grade, third grade, fifth grade and sixth grade stapled to the outside of Lola’s very thick cumulative file. Veronica touched the edge of the kindergarten photo. Such bright eyes, full of intelligence and fun. Her hair was in two braids tucked behind her ears, and she wore a purple sweatshirt with bunnies on it. Things sure had changed. And yet, Veronica still recognized the hard Lola she knew in the cute, innocent face.
    Looking at the next photos, Veronica could see the change taking place. Not at first—second grade Lola looked happy and open. Third grade Lola was also still grinning, still looking like a normal kid. But fifth grade Lola wasn’t smiling, and the light was gone from her eyes. Sixth grade Lola looked chubby and hostile. There was no picture for fourth grade. Had she been absent for picture day?
    Veronica leafed through the file. Most of it was of no real use to her. Records of vaccinations. A copy of a letter home about a lost PE uniform. Transcripts: Lola had changed schools three times before fifth grade, and twice more during middle school. She had also attended two other high schools before Eleanor Roosevelt. Most of the transfers seemed related to family moves. They started in Stockton, then moved to Concord, in the Bay Area, then to Sacramento, then back to Stockton, then to Lodi, then Stockton, then back to Concord, then Sacramento. Nothing said why they moved. The transcripts also showed that Lola had above average grades until fourth grade. Then the As and Bs turned to Bs and Cs. In fifth, they became Cs and Ds. In middle school, she started to fail. By freshman year every grade was an F.
    The progression existed for many students, actually. Many of the cumulative files Veronica had seen showed the same thing: kids seemed to lose it in middle school, and sometimes it started a bit before, like with Lola. By the time they reached high school they had given up.
    Lola’s STAR scores were also in the file, revealing a similar pattern: average or above average in elementary school. By middle school they dipped. The most recent ones were “below basic” in every area except vocabulary, which stayed at “proficient.”
    Veronica kept flipping through. Letters from Lola’s mother and her doctor had instructions for the main office for Lola to take Ritalin. They started in third grade, and continued until she left the second time for Concord in freshman year. There were referral forms starting in fourth grade, written by Lola’s classroom teachers. “Defiance.”