“No,” I lied. “I don’t really know anyone here, remember?”
He paused.
“I got jumped,” he said. “Walking home from school.”
“I’m so sorry,” I said again. I sounded like an i***t, repeating the same stupid phrase, but I didn’t want to say anything that would give too much away.
“Yeah, my dad’s pretty pissed,” he continued. “They got my viola.”
“That sucks,” I said. “Will he get you a new one?”
Jonah shook his head slowly. “He said no. He can’t afford it. And that I should have been more careful with it.”
Concern crossed my face. “But I thought you said that was your ticket out?”
He shrugged.
“What will you do?” I asked.
“I don’t know.”
“Maybe the cops will find it,” I said. I remembered, of course, that it was broken, but I thought that by saying this, it would help prove to him t
