“I think we all need to calm down,” Diana said, her tone amazingly strong.
She sounded more like her old self than she had in months, Misty thought, regarding her with shock.
“Let’s sit down and talk this through,” her mom said in that same quietly determined tone.
Amazingly, her father sat right down on the sofa next to Misty. Her mother settled on her other side.
“Misty, we are both terribly sorry that we’ve been so caught up in our own drama that we completely missed that you were in trouble,” Diana said gently.
“Don’t apologize for Dad,” Misty said with a sniff.
Her father put his arm around her, and this time she didn’t pull away. She let herself lean into him, seeking strength just as she had when she’d run home hurt.
“I am sorry, kiddo,” he said. “But we know about everything now, and we are on your side a hundred percent. Whatever it takes, we’re going to settle this once and for all.”
“I just want it all to go away,” Misty told him. She tried once again to get some backing for what she thought the best solution to be. “Maybe we could pretend it never happened.”
Her dad only hugged her a little closer. “Believe me, I can understand why you’d want that, but you know it would be wrong to let Annabelle get away with this, right? It’s not just about you. She could do this to someone else. Bullies don’t always pick just one target. It’s essential that they learn a lesson and learn it fast.”
“But I’m the only one she thinks is after her boyfriend,” Misty persisted.
Her mom gave her a questioning look. “And are you?”
“No way,” Misty said indignantly.
“Then what makes you think there’s not another girl who might accidentally look at Greg the wrong way and get Annabelle all freaked out?” her mom asked. “Or that he’s not making a pass at half a dozen other girls right now that she might not know about yet? You’re her target today, but it could easily be someone else tomorrow. She has to be stopped. Honey, you do see that, don’t you?”
Misty heaved a resigned sigh. “I guess.”
“You know your mother’s right,” her dad said, regarding her mother with approval for the first time in months. “And on Monday morning we’ll be right there with you while the principal decides how to handle all this. And your mom says Helen Decatur-Whitney called earlier, and she’s handling all the legalities of getting this nonsense taken down from the internet. It could take a little longer than we’d like, but she assured your mom it will be done. Your teacher got her involved.”
“Ms. Reed’s been really great,” Misty said. “Even when I wouldn’t tell her what was going on, she let me know she was on my side. She believed in me from the beginning.”
“Then I guess we owe her,” her dad said.
He stood up then. Misty regarded him hopefully. “Couldn’t you stay here tonight?” she pleaded, knowing that now she was the one who was delusional. Staying wasn’t an option, even under these conditions.
He gave her a sad look. “It’s not a good idea, sweetie. But you can reach me on my cell anytime you need me.”
“You’re never coming back, are you?” she concluded. She glanced at her mother. “I know I’m the one who said that before, but I was still kinda hoping…”
Her dad swallowed hard. “Sorry, kiddo. I can’t do it. We’ll still spend lots and lots of time together. Your mom and I will work all of that out.”
Misty wanted to hate him for leaving, but how could she? Hadn’t she recognized for months now that the marriage was over? It was her mom who’d been living in the dream world. Her mom and maybe Jake, though he didn’t say much about it. She was sixteen. She shouldn’t act like a baby about it.
She stood up and hurled herself into his arms. “I love you, Daddy.”
“I love you more,” he whispered back.
When she looked into his face right before he turned and walked away, she saw that his cheeks were damp with tears.
Then she dared a glance at her mom and saw that, though her cheeks, too, were damp, she no longer looked devastated. She looked resigned and, despite that, stronger somehow. She reached for Misty’s hand.
“It’s going to be okay,” she assured Misty. “We’re all going to be okay.”
As desperately as she’d wanted to, though, Misty couldn’t entirely believe her.
Laura’s briefing to Betty Donovan when she reached her by phone on Sunday drew immediate outrage.
“You say there are seminude pictures of this child online, pictures that Annabelle somehow doctored to put Misty’s face on them?”