Hailey is Starr’s oldest friend at Williamson, the two having grown close when Hailey’s mother died of cancer around same time that Natasha was killed. Their friendship unravels over the course of the novel, however. First, Hailey unfollows Starr’s Tumblr account after the latter posts a picture of Emmett Till, a black teen murdered for whistling at a white woman in the 1950s. Hailey’s racism then becomes increasingly apparent throughout the story. She dismisses Khalil as a drug dealer and thug who the world is better off without, leading to a physical altercation with Starr. Though Hailey tries to make up with Starr, she fails to admit to or apologize for her racism. At the end of the novel, Starr decides to cut Hailey out of her life entirely.
Summary: Chapter 7
Khalil’s name appears for the first time in the news, but the report calls him a suspected drug dealer.
Meanwhile, Starr and her friends wait in the gym for class to start. Starr has forgiven Chris but doesn’t know how to handle Chris’s whiteness. She worries that by dating a white boy she is betraying her community.
Hailey gets angry over a group of girls flirting instead of playing competitively during a girls versus boys basketball game. She drags Maya and Starr onto the court. The boys agree to a game. Chris joins the game and guards Starr as an excuse to talk with her. When Chris scores, Hailey tells Starr to pretend the ball is fried chicken.
Shocked, Starr runs to the locker room. Hailey and Maya follow her, concerned. Starr demands to know why Hailey made a fried chicken joke. Hailey protests that it was fried chicken day at the cafeteria and is furious Starr would accuse her of racism. Hailey asks if Starr is upset about the drug dealer from her neighborhood. Maya asks if Starr knew Khalil. Starr realizes that by labeling Khalil a drug dealer, the media has cemented how the public perceives him. She worries that everyone at Williamson will see her as a thug if they know she was friends with Khalil. She denies knowing Khalil but instantly regrets it.
