“When boys called our names, we said ‘Don’t even say my name. Don’t even put it in your mouth.’ When they said, ‘You ugly anyway,’ we knew they were lying. When they hollered, ‘Conceited!’ we said, ‘No- convinced!’ We watched them dip-walk away, too young to know how to respond. The four of us together wasn’t something they understood. They understood girls alone, folding their arms across their breasts, praying for invisibility.”
