Catching Fireflies(58)

“But I will,” Misty pleaded. “It’s okay. I can take it, if it means my mom and dad never have to find out. You don’t get how bad things are for them right now.”

Laura really needed to understand exactly what was behind Misty’s obvious panic. “Let’s sit here on the porch for a minute. Why don’t you tell me why you think it would be okay to let Annabelle off the hook? What’s going on here that makes it so hard for you to go to your parents about this?”

“I told you,” Misty said. “My parents can’t deal with this. They’re gonna get a divorce pretty soon, and my mom’s freaking out about it. My dad’s not even around most of the time. This will give them one more thing to fight about.”

“They’re still your parents. They’ll want to help you,” Laura insisted, praying that was true. Surely they couldn’t be so self-absorbed that Misty’s problems would seem unimportant?

“But I don’t want them to help,” Misty repeated. “I can get through this. I’ll find a way.”

“So far, your way of coping has been to skip school,” Laura reminded her. “That’s no longer an option.”

“Then I’ll figure out something else,” the teen said with pure bravado. “Annabelle’s done her worst.”

“If you believe that, let me assure you I think you’re mistaken. Here’s what I know about bullies. If they think what they’re doing is no longer having the desired impact, then they go to another level. Just look at what happened this week. You bravely came back to class. You tried to show Annabelle she couldn’t hurt you anymore, and then she posted these pictures.”

“But maybe if Annabelle knows how much trouble she could have been in and that I let her off the hook, she’ll quit,” Misty suggested hopefully. “She could be grateful, you know.”

“Do you honestly believe that?” Laura asked.

Misty sat back, clearly unable to defend her position. “Probably not,” she admitted reluctantly. “But if she gets kicked out of school because of me, all her friends are going to hate me. They’ll all go after me online. They’ll corner me in the restroom or in the halls between classes just to torment me. I don’t know if I can face any more of that.”

“Or they’ll realize that nobody in Serenity is allowed to get away with what Annabelle’s been doing to you. You’ll have helped to send a very clear message to them about bullying.”

Misty shook her head. “I don’t think it’s going to work that way,” she said, sounding defeated.

“Trust me,” Laura said.

“I do, but…” Her voice trailed off.

“But you’re scared,” Laura filled in for her.

Misty nodded.

“I don’t blame you. But there are a lot of people already on your side, Misty. You have backup now. We’re going to put a stop to this. I promise.”

Though Misty still didn’t look entirely convinced, Laura once again asked to speak to her mother. “Let’s get this over with. No matter what else is going on in her life, I know how important you are to her. I think she’s going to surprise you.”

Misty heaved a huge sigh. “Whatever,” she said, but she did lead the way into the kitchen.

Diana Dawson blinked when she saw Laura with Misty. “Ms. Reed, what are you doing here? Is Misty in some kind of trouble in school?” she asked, her expression alarmed.

Laura tried to hide her shock at Diana’s disheveled appearance. She’d never seen her looking anything other than her best. Today she looked worn out. She was wearing wrinkled clothes, her expensively styled hair had been left uncombed, her face was devoid of makeup. It was little wonder Misty was worried sick about her.

“Misty’s not in trouble,” Laura reassured her as she sat across from her at the table. “But there is a problem at school. I thought you and your husband should hear about it from me before things get out of hand.”

“It’s Annabelle Litchfield, isn’t it?” Diana said, surprising Laura and even Misty apparently, given her faint gasp.

“Mom, do you already know something?” Misty asked worriedly. “What have you heard?”

“I know that those calls from Mariah weren’t about ‘nothing,’ the way you wanted me to believe,” Diana said. She appeared to brace herself as she met Laura’s gaze. “Tell me.”

Laura filled her in without divulging the full extent of Annabelle’s online lies and nastiness. Even so, Diana showed the first hint of real animation since Laura had arrived.