Catching Fireflies

by Sherryl Woods

  “I doubt that, but she will help. Believe that, okay?”

  “Okay,” she said with slightly more confidence.

  He hoped she believed him. He hoped she understood that no matter how desperate she got, he—and Laura—intended to be right there as backup for her. She wasn’t going to be alone in this ever again. Not the way his little brother had been. He’d let one child down. He wouldn’t do it again.

  * * *

  Not unexpectedly, the meeting with the Litchfields got out of hand very quickly, Laura thought as she sat to the side and listened. Annabelle stared straight ahead in sullen silence as Betty explained to her parents in cut-and-dried detail exactly what the school’s bullying policy was.

  Mariah’s gaze narrowed at the recitation. “Why are you telling this to us?”

  “Because you need to know that this is serious business. Bullying isn’t taken lightly.”

  But before Betty could describe Annabelle’s recent behavior, Mariah whipped around and focused on Laura. “This is all because of you, isn’t it?” she said, fire in her eyes. “I heard all about the way you went after Annabelle at the fall festival. I have no idea why you have it in for my daughter, but you won’t get away with it. I’ll have you fired before the week’s out.”

  Don Litchfield turned on his wife. “Maybe we should hear the rest of this before you go off on some crusade, Mariah. What’s Annabelle supposedly done, Betty?”

  “Your daughter has an account on a social-networking site,” Betty began.

  Don looked perplexed. “Big deal. All the kids do.”

  Betty nodded. “But not all of them use those sites to start ugly rumors about their classmates and to post doctored photos of them posing with virtually no clothes on,” she stated, her words matter-of-fact and all the more chilling because of it.

  Don suddenly looked a lot less certain.

  “You’re saying that Annabelle has done that?” Mariah said with outraged disbelief. “You’re just as crazy as she is.” She nodded in Laura’s direction.

  Don frowned at her. “Can it, Mariah. I want to hear the rest of this. Betty wouldn’t be telling us this if she weren’t certain of her facts. Otherwise she’d be opening herself up to a lawsuit for slander.” He held Betty’s gaze. “Isn’t that right?”

  “That’s a hundred percent right,” Betty concurred. “The school system lawyers are all over this.”

  “Go on,” he said tightly.

  Something in his tone had Annabelle sitting up a little straighter. For the first time there was a hint of real fear in her eyes. Laura thought she was finally realizing that her game was over, that she’d been caught dead to rights.

  “Do you recognize this girl?” Betty asked, holding out the damning photos.

  Don’s face turned ashen. “It looks like Misty Dawson, at least I think that’s her. But it sure as heck isn’t her body. She’s a skinny little thing.”

  “They were posted online by Annabelle,” Betty told him.

  Don faced his daughter. “Annabelle, what do you know about this?”

  She shrugged.

  He gave her a stern look. “That’s not an answer. How did these pictures get posted on your page? Did you put them up there?”

  As he waited for a reply, he handed the pictures to his wife. “You want to try to defend this, Mariah?”

  Mariah glanced at the pictures and covered her mouth with her hand. She turned to her daughter, her expression slightly frantic as she saw all her plans for Annabelle starting to unravel.

  She must be seeing the end of yet another dream, Laura thought with more sympathy than she’d ever imagined having for the woman.

  “You would never post filthy pictures like this, would you, sweetheart?” Mariah asked Annabelle, her voice shaky.

  Annabelle looked at the floor, not acknowledging the question by so much as a blink.

  “Annabelle!” her father snapped, finally grabbing her attention. “Did you do it? And if you tell me you didn’t, I’d like to hear a really, really good explanation about how you think it could have happened.”

  Annabelle gave him a defiant look, folded her arms across her chest and returned her gaze to the floor, remaining stubbornly silent.

  Betty stepped in. “There’s more,” she said quietly. “These are a few of her posts about Misty. There are many, many more if you need further evidence that the bullying has been nasty. And you can see by the dates of the posts that it’s been ongoing.”

  As Don read the pages, his eyes widening with dismay, Betty said, “While you’re looking those over, I’d like you to think about what you’d expect me to do if the tables were turned, if this were Annabelle who’d been tormented like this.”

  Don tried to hand the pages to Mariah, but she waved him off. “I’ve seen enough, and I don’t believe for a minute that Annabelle had anything to do with this,” she said with pure bravado. “Someone must have gotten hold of her password and posted those pictures and comments. Why on earth would she bother attacking Misty Dawson?”

  Betty glanced toward Laura, indicating she should answer.

  “We believe it’s because Annabelle found out that Greg Bennett has asked Misty out on several occasions. Rather than blaming Greg, she’s taken her anger out on Misty.”

  Mariah rolled her eyes in disbelief. “Please, Greg knows he’s lucky that a girl like Annabelle even looks at him. Why would he cheat on her?”

  “Because he can,” Laura said. “And so you know, Misty has rebuffed all of his advances, but that hasn’t stopped him. And that’s only infuriated Annabelle more.” She faced Annabelle, who’d finally looked up at the mention of Greg’s name. “Isn’t that right?”

  Annabelle’s cheeks had grown increasingly flushed as Laura spoke. She turned on her furiously. “Okay, yes, I hate Misty. She has no right to Greg. He’s my boyfriend.”

  “Misty’s never been interested in Greg. She’s never encouraged him,” Laura reminded her gently. “Greg’s the one who’s pursued her.”

  Though she looked vaguely rattled by Laura’s calm certainty, Annabelle wasn’t giving up the pretense of being the victim without a fight. “Well, she has to be sending out some kind of message for him to keep chasing her. She’s nothing but a little slut.”

  Even Mariah finally looked taken aback by the venom in her daughter’s voice. “Annabelle, that’s enough. You’re not helping the situation.”

  “I’ve heard enough,” Don said, his expression resigned. He faced Betty. “What’s next?”

  “I have no choice but to suspend her,” Betty said. “I think you can expect legal action from the Dawsons. If there’s so much as a hint of another incident, Annabelle will be expelled.”

  Laura thought Annabelle finally looked shaken, rather than defiant, but it was her mother’s reaction that startled Laura. Mariah looked genuinely stunned, as if she’d had no idea where this was leading.

  “But that will all go on her record,” she protested. “Don, we can’t allow Annabelle’s future to be destroyed by a childish prank.”

  “There is nothing childish about what Annabelle did,” he said. “She’s old enough to understand exactly what she was doing. Like Betty said, we need to think about how we’d feel if someone did this to Annabelle. We’d be out for blood.”

  “But she’s our daughter,” Mariah argued. “We have to be on her side.”

  “I’m always on her side,” he said. “But sometimes that means making sure she learns that actions have consequences.”

  “What if we just took her out of school?” Mariah pleaded. “We could get her into a private school. None of this would have to come out. Wouldn’t that be best for everyone?”

  “You’d send me away?” Annabelle said, her eyes wide.

  “Not far,” Mariah said. She rushed on, clearly warming to the idea. “There are excellent schools in Charleston or Columbia. I know it’s already late in the fall, but I’m sure we could pull a few strings, find a spot for you somewhere. Don’t th
ink of it as punishment, sweetheart. You’ll have so many more opportunities. You’ll make better friends, the sort of friends who’ll last a lifetime, friends from good families with great contacts.”

  “And where’s the money for this expensive private school to come from?” Don asked practically. “Out of her college fund? Then what?”

  “I’ll ask my parents,” Mariah said desperately. “When I’ve explained, they’ll want to help.”

  Don shook his head. “I’m against this, Mariah. Annabelle needs to stay right here and learn a lesson. You’ve gotten her off the hook every single time she’s done something wrong. That needs to stop.”

  “We’ll talk about this at home,” Mariah said, refusing to back down.

  “And in the meantime, Annabelle is suspended for two weeks,” Betty said. “I’ll see that she receives her assignments, so she can keep up with her schoolwork. At the end of the two weeks, we’ll see where we stand. If you decide you want to pursue a transfer, let me know.”

  “Could I go back to my last class now?” Annabelle asked. “You know, so I can at least say goodbye to my friends before I’m banished?”

  “I’m afraid not,” Betty said. “And you’re not allowed on school property until the suspension is lifted. That includes all school activities. You won’t be permitted to attend Friday night’s football game or to participate as a cheerleader.”

  The full implication of the punishment finally seemed to sink in. “But Greg counts on me being there,” she protested weakly.

  “I’m sure he’ll manage just fine without you this once,” Betty said, her gaze unyielding.

  “I guess I’m supposed to live on bread and water, too,” Annabelle remarked bitterly.

  “It might not be a bad idea,” her father muttered. “And I’m going to stand right there while you post a sincere apology to Misty on your page online. Once that’s done and had time to circulate, you’ll no longer have access to the internet. I believe we’d better take away your cell phone, too, so you won’t be texting anyone. Now let’s go.”

  Laura waited until the door had closed behind them before turning to Betty. “That actually went better than I’d anticipated,” she said. “Don Litchfield seems like a reasonable man, a really concerned parent who gets what a huge mistake his daughter made.”

  “Seems that way,” Betty agreed. “But I wouldn’t do any celebrating just yet. Something tells me Mariah’s just warming up.”

  “Do you think they’ll decide to have Annabelle transfer? That could be a real blessing for Misty.”

  “It could be, but I have my doubts. All those fancy schools Mariah is picturing have the same strict standards about bullying that we have. Once they get wind of why Annabelle’s parents are interested in a transfer this late in the fall, they’re not likely to welcome her with open arms.”

  “You don’t think if the parents’—or grandparents’—pockets are deep enough, they might look the other way?”

  “Possibly,” Betty said. “But the side of me that still believes in right and wrong hopes not.”

  * * *

  Paula had received a call from Laura Reed asking that their get-together be postponed until five-thirty. She gathered that things were, if not under control, at least on their way to being resolved.

  As Paula put aside her paintbrush, frustrated yet again with her inability to get the details on this latest work as delicate as they should be, Katie slipped through the back gate.

  “Grandma, it’s beautiful,” she said, awe in her voice as she came to stand beside Paula.

  Paula glanced at her. “You think so?”

  “It’s so real I can almost smell the scent,” Katie insisted. “It’s a stargazer lily, right? How do you do that? When I draw or paint, it never looks anything like the way I pictured it in my head.”

  “It takes years of practice to get it right,” Paula told her. “Are you interested in painting?”

  To her disappointment, Katie shook her head. “It’s too frustrating.”

  Paula smiled at her. “To do anything really, really well, you’ll face frustration from time to time. That’s why I’m often called a perfectionist. For instance, I could show you right now all the things I see that are wrong with this painting.”

  “No way,” Katie protested. “It makes me want to touch it to see if it’s a flower instead of a picture. See, it even has that waxy look on the petals and the tiny little spots and that blush of pink. There’s even a drop of dew. It’s just right.”

  “Then it’s yours,” Paula told her. “I’d love for you to have it. Just promise not to let anyone put it in a showing of my work years from now, so some critic can write that I’d clearly lost my touch.”

  “Grandma, stop saying that,” Katie said impatiently. “You haven’t lost your touch at all.”

  Paula smiled at the fierce defense. “Thanks, sweetheart. Now, what brings you by? And on a Monday, no less, when you know Liz hasn’t brought over any cookies.”

  “I wanted to thank you. There was a huge meeting at school today. I think Annabelle’s finally going to get what she deserves. I haven’t talked to Misty all day, and nobody saw Annabelle this afternoon, but I think that must mean she was kicked out. I know it’s because you went to Ms. Reed.” She threw her arms around Paula and hugged her tightly. “Thank you so much.”

  “I just did what needed to be done,” Paula said. “And you deserve a lot of the credit for coming to me. Thanks to you I was able to point Ms. Reed in the right direction to get this resolved.”

  For an instant Katie looked alarmed. “You didn’t tell her that it was me who told you, did you?”

  “I promised you I wouldn’t,” Paula reassured her. “But you must know that she probably guessed. You don’t need to worry about it, though. I was very impressed with her. She knows the situation requires discretion. And I’m meeting with her shortly so she can tell me how things turned out.” She glanced at her watch. “In fact, I’d better get this paint off my hands and head over to The Corner Spa right now. I don’t want to keep her waiting.”

  Once again, lines of worry creased Katie’s forehead. “Mom doesn’t know about all this, does she? And about what I did?”

  “Not from me,” Paula verified. “But remember that your mom is married to Cal. I’m sure he’s put it all together by now.” She tweaked her nose. “And I think you should remember that you could have gone to your mother about this. Not that I wasn’t very happy to have you trust me enough to speak to me, but you should understand that you can always trust your mom, too.”

  “I know,” Katie said earnestly. “It was just that I’d promised Misty I’d keep quiet and not tell Mom or Cal, so I needed to find a way to get help without breaking that promise.”

  “Understood,” Paula said. “Do you want a ride over to the spa with me?”

  “No. I have my bike. I’ll head on home. I want to call Misty and see what happened. I’ll get my painting later, if that’s okay.”

  “It’s fine. Maybe I’ll fiddle with it a little more till it’s better.”

  Katie grinned at her. “Remember what you used to tell me when I was a little kid and wanted to be prettier? You said it was impossible to improve on perfection.”

  Paula laughed. “You were exactly the way God intended. This picture…” She shook her head. “Not so much.”

  “Well, I think it’s perfect,” Katie said staunchly. “Gotta run, Grandma.”

  “Okay, then. Be careful riding home.”

  “Always,” Katie said, darting out the back gate.

  “And wear your helmet,” Paula shouted after her.

  “Got it,” Katie said, her voice fading as she evidently rode off down the street.

  Paula smiled as she went inside. Oh, to have even half that much energy again.

  15

  Laura wanted nothing more than to head directly home, crawl beneath the covers and sleep for a week to make up for too many restless nights since this situation had come t
o a head and too much tension today. Instead, she had her promised get-together with Paula Vreeland ahead of her.

  News had apparently already leaked out about what had happened at school today, because Maddie Maddox caught her when she arrived at The Corner Spa and pulled her aside.

  “I can’t believe what I’m hearing,” she told Laura. “Is Misty going to be okay?”

  “I suppose that depends on what happens next,” Laura replied.

  “Annabelle’s been suspended, though?”

  “For two weeks,” she confirmed.

  Maddie shook her head. “What was that girl thinking?”

  “She wasn’t thinking, obviously,” Laura said. “She was acting out of spite and anger with absolutely no thought to the consequences, either to Misty or to herself.”

  “How’d Mariah take it?” Maddie asked. “Will she turn on you and Betty?”

  “She threatened me early on,” Laura admitted with a shrug. “But after all the facts were out there, I think she forgot all about me. Her whole focus is on saving her daughter.”

  “At least I’ve figured out why you and my mother were huddled on the patio here the other day. How on earth did she get involved?”

  Laura squirmed at the question. Maddie recognized her discomfort at once. “Never mind. I shouldn’t have asked. Are you meeting her here again?”

  Laura nodded. “I promised to fill her in.”

  Maddie looked up just then and smiled. “And here she is now. Hey, Mom.”

  “Maddie, you are not still trying to sell Laura a membership, are you?”

  “Actually I’m thinking I should give her a six-month trial membership to thank her for dealing with this mess at school. I may not know all the details, but I do know it’s turning out okay because she got involved.”

  “I certainly second that idea,” Paula said.

  Maddie grinned at Laura. “What do you say? Six months on the house?”

  “Are you sure?” Laura asked, dying to accept but hesitant. “I was only doing my job.”

  “Nonsense,” Paula said. “You went above and beyond and you know it. Don’t be modest. It’s highly overrated.”