Claudette entered Booker T. Washington High, still eager to learn anything she could, but struggled at first due to grief over her sister Delphine. She was confused by the social dynamics of the high school. Although all the students were Black, the social hierarchy seemed to mirror the racism in the outside world. The students with the lightest skin and those who could straighten their hair into styles trendy among white people were the most popular, while dark-skinned, curly-haired girls like Claudette were automatically at the bottom of the social ladder. Claudette notes that the most popular girls were of diverse race. Students would use racial slurs to refer to themselves and each other, and seemed ashamed that they were not white. This upset Claudette, especially in her grieving state.

Everything changed in the school a few months into Claudette’s freshman year, when Jeremiah Reeves, a fellow King Hill resident who was a few years older than her, was accused of breaking into several homes and sexually assaulting seven white women. He confessed to one of the assaults, likely under duress by white police officers. He was given the death sentence, although he would sit in prison until he turned 21 and could legally be executed.