Catching Fireflies (23 page)

Les shook his head. “Or maybe she’ll think she’s being punished, even though she’s not the one who’s done anything wrong.”

“But if she’d feel safe again,” Diana argued.

Hamilton Reynolds reached over and gave her arm a consoling pat. “I know your first instinct is to protect her, but I think Les could be right. Sending her to another school might send the wrong message to everyone. That said, though, maybe it should be Misty’s decision. And maybe we shouldn’t ask her until we’ve dealt with Annabelle and see how that’s played out.”

“I’m inclined to agree,” Helen said. “And I honestly don’t think we’ll have to wait long. I think we can handle this by the end of the day today, tomorrow at the latest. Betty, I’ll call you the minute I know for sure that we have indisputable proof that these posts were made by Annabelle.”

“I want to be here when you confront that girl and her parents,” Les insisted.

“Not a good idea,” Hamilton Reynolds said.

“I’ll be here,” Helen told Les. “Your interests and Misty’s will be protected. You’ll have your chance to face the Litchfields when we take legal action.”

Diana nodded. “Helen’s right. There’s nothing to be gained by causing a scene just because we’d like to tear the child’s hair out.”

Les turned to her with a surprised look. “You, too?”

Diana nodded, a faint smile on her lips. “You have no idea.”

Laura saw him reach for Diana’s hand and give it a squeeze. Maybe there was no reconciliation in store for those two, but at least they’d found one important thing about which they could agree. From what she knew of disintegrating marriages, it was at least a start toward healing.

14

“W
ant to take a walk into town to get something to drink at Wharton’s?” J.C. asked Misty once they’d left the tense meeting behind.

She gave him a surprised look. “Wouldn’t that be, like, skipping school?”

He laughed. “Probably, but you’re with me and your principal and parents know it, so I think we can get away with it just this once.” He gave her a stern look. “But just this once.”

“Got it,” she said, then cast a sideways glance in his direction. “I never really left school when I skipped before, you know.”

“Really? What did you do?”

“Hung out in a stairwell after the bell rang and did my homework. It was only two classes,” she said with a shrug. “At least until those pictures got posted. Then I hid out in my room at home.”

“With your mother’s permission?”

She shook her head. “I was pretty careful, and she wasn’t really noticing a lot of stuff at home then, anyway. She’s better now. It’s the one good thing about all this. It kinda, like, woke her up or something.”

“You know what they say, most clouds have a silver lining,” he said.

She rolled her eyes. “That is so lame.”

“Probably, but it’s actually pretty true. Sometimes, though, you have to look really hard to find them.”

When they reached Wharton’s, Grace managed to hide whatever surprise she might have felt at their arrival. She was also wise enough not to ask a lot of questions about Misty not being at school. J.C. had no idea if it was a rare display of discretion or if she’d heard what was going on and knew it was best not discussed in front of Misty.

“What can I get for the two of you in the middle of the morning?” she asked cheerfully. “I can still rustle up some eggs or pancakes, if you want them. Or would you rather go hog wild and have ice cream? A burger? A milk shake?”

Misty’s eyes lit up, and she looked hopefully at J.C. “A chocolate milk shake would be really good.”

“Yes, it would,” he agreed readily, giving Grace a wink to indicate he was well aware that he was about to finally break his vow to steer clear of the highly caloric shakes. “Make that two, Grace.”

After the woman had gone, Misty gave him a curious look. “How come you’re being so nice to me? I kinda put you on the spot when I came to your office, but you don’t seem mad about it.”

“Because I’m not. I was glad you felt you could come to me, even if I wasn’t able to help you the way you wanted me to.”

“It’s because of me that you and Ms. Reed are dating, isn’t it?” she said, suddenly looking very pleased with herself. “That’s one of those silver lining things, I’ll bet.”

J.C. smiled. “As a matter of fact, it is.”

“Are you serious about her? Because she’s really cool. I wouldn’t want her to get hurt.”

“That seems to be the general consensus around town, that hurting Ms. Reed would be a really bad idea.”

She tilted her head, studying him. “So, do you think you’ll get married?”

J.C. knew he should be used to how precocious kids were these days, but it always surprised him when they failed to censor their curiosity. “I’m not sure that’s a subject I should be discussing with you,” he said, suddenly feeling incredibly awkward and old.

“Because I’m just a kid?”

“No, because it’s a topic that Ms. Reed and I should probably discuss before I talk about it with anyone else. And, before you get any ideas, that does not mean it’s something we’re discussing right away.”

“But you haven’t ruled it out or anything, have you?” she pressed determinedly. “Because, if you have, you should tell her. You know, so she won’t get her hopes up.”

J.C. chuckled at her persistence. At least she was smiling for a change, so he was grateful for that much.

“Why don’t we change the subject?” he suggested.

“And talk about what? Annabelle?”

“I was thinking more about how you’re feeling about school these days.”

“Scared,” she said without hesitation. “I know I’m supposed to feel good about all these people being on my side and stuff, but you don’t get what kids are like.”

“Actually I do, and not just because I’m a pediatrician, either.”

She regarded him skeptically. “All grown-ups claim they get it, but they don’t. Not really.”

“What if I told you that I have some firsthand experience with bullying?” he said. “Would you believe me then?”

“You were bullied? No way,” she said with unmistakable astonishment. “Why? Were you a geek or something?”

“It wasn’t me. It was my little brother. He had some problems, and the kids at school made his life pretty awful. They were mean right to his face whenever they got the chance.”

Her eyes widened at that. “But you stood up for him, right? I mean, that’s what brothers are supposed to do. Even my little brother, Jake, stood up for me. He got a black eye because of it,” she said, clearly proud of him.

“That
is
what brothers should do,” J.C. confirmed. “Not necessarily getting beat up, but taking a stance for someone who’s weaker.”

“I’m not weaker than Jake,” she said indignantly.

“True,” he said hurriedly. “But you were the one under attack from a bully.”

“What happened with your brother?” she asked, giving him her full attention and leaving untouched the milk shake that Grace had just served.

“It got worse once I wasn’t at the same school. We didn’t tell our folks, which I realize now we should have. If the teachers saw what was happening, they didn’t intervene the way Ms. Reed has.”

“He must have felt so alone,” Misty said sympathetically.

“He must have,” Jake said, then shook off the memory of the rest. He couldn’t bring up the tragic ending. He just wanted Misty to see that
she
wasn’t alone. “I told you this so you’ll understand just how important it is to me and Ms. Reed and your parents to make sure that you’re safe and can go back to being a happy, carefree student again. Whatever it takes, we’re going to fix it. Can you try to trust us to protect you? You’re not in this on your own anymore, Misty.”

She continued to look skeptical. “I want to believe you. But even with all of you, you can’t be everywhere. And stuff gets posted online, no matter what.”

“I think that will stop once the other kids see how serious this is and what could happen to them,” he said. “It goes beyond whatever punishment happens at school. There are legal consequences, as well.”

She shrugged again. “I guess.”

“And we will be around, Misty. That’s a promise,” he said with feeling, even though he knew it probably sounded empty to her right now. “Now let’s head back over to the school and see what decisions have been made while we were over here playing hooky.”

He paid for their milk shakes and they walked back to the high school.

Just outside Betty Donovan’s office, Misty grinned at him. “Playing hooky with you is a lot more fun than hiding in the stairwell.”

“Well, the next time you feel you have absolutely no other choice but to skip class, give me a call. Not that I normally condone skipping, you understand.”

She grinned. “Yeah, I get it.”

“And if you can’t reach me, go straight to Ms. Reed.”

Her grin spread. “Do you think she’d play hooky with me?”

“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?”