Free Only Girls Allowed by Debra Moffitt Page A

that I couldn’t say anything to anyone about Bet sneaking into the Pink Locker Society offices. I mean, I could have asked her what she was doing in there. But then she might have asked me what
I
was doing in there. And that was a question I really didn’t want to answer. I knew that Bet hadn’t said anything to anyone so far about my being there, but I didn’t know if she was staying quiet out of respect for me or because she didn’t want to admit what
she
was up to.
    So since I couldn’t talk about Forrest or share my suspicions about Bet, I actually got caught up on my schoolwork. I even got an A on my English paper. That gave me something good to tell Mom. But before long, I started to focus less on school and more intently on the uncertain future of the Pink Locker Society. I had a long list of questions and complaints:
    Â 
Would Edith and Anna ever get back in touch to say the Web site was working again?
Was the PLS gone forever?
What are girls going to do without us?
We are like doctors, and they have closed the emergency room!
Who knows how many girls are waiting?!!!!!
    Â 
    I wrote all that down in a note to Kate and Piper that I dashed off during geometry class. I probably shouldn’t have been so energetic about those last exclamation points. The pencil tapped loudly against the hard plastic of the desktop:
Line-dot! Line-dot! Line-dot! Line-dot! Line-dot!
    As I finished that last exclamation point, Mr. Ford leaned down and said, “What are you working on, Jemma?”
    Great. I’m already annoyed at the whole world and Mr. Ford calls me out for writing notes in class. Worst of all, he took the note.
    With the note gone, I grabbed Kate and Piper after class and told them all my complaints about the Pink Locker Society. Turns out, they were getting pretty fed up, too. I don’t know if she was just trying to fit in, but Bet chimed in and said she felt “sick in my stomach” thinking about all those girls writing in and getting no response.
    â€œWhat if people think
we
wrote those nasty notes?” Kate asked.
    â€œThey probably do, since we’re completely shut down right now,” Piper said, then threw up her hands in frustration.
    In a quiet voice, Kate said she was so upset that she turned to her mom for advice.
    This made all of us turn at look at Kate, because no one had told her mom about the Pink Locker Society. Remember the rules? Tell no one.
    â€œMy mom was in the Pink Locker Society,” Kate said.
    Mrs. Parker?
    We exploded with questions for Kate.
    Â 
What was it like back then?
What did they do when there was no Web site?
Why were we picked?
Does she have any idea who would hack into the site?
Are we doing a good job?
Did she always keep it a secret?
Why did the Pink Locker Society shut down years ago?
And who decided it should reopen?
Can she help us get this junk off of the Web site?
    Â 
    Kate tried to answer them all. Her mother told her it had been a great honor and she loved serving as a Pink Locker Lady. Mrs. Parker confirmed that girls have always wanted to know pretty much the same stuff, Kate said. She also confirmed what Edith had said about how girls used to submit questions through secret boxes hidden around the school.
    â€œMom said they typed up the answers and published their own little newspaper,
The Pink Paper.
They left stacks of
Pink Papers
in the girls’ bathroom,” Kate said.
    â€œThat’s classy,” Piper said.
    â€œWell, it makes sense. Girls would find them there,” Kate said.
    This was all a great history lesson, but Kate’s mom had no answers to any of our here-and-now questions about the Pink Locker Society. I could see Piper growing distracted. She picked up her phone and starting checking messages.
    â€œMy mom doesn’t know why they decided to start it up again,” Kate said. “And she doesn’t know why they got shut down way back when.”
    â€œSweet!”