“It won’t,” Katie said with feeling. “We won’t let it. But you have to speak tomorrow and show everyone how strong you are, that you’re not going to let this destroy your reputation.”
“I don’t feel strong,” Misty said miserably. “I know I didn’t entirely believe it would be over once Annabelle was caught and suspended, but everyone kept saying it would be. I let myself start to hope they were right. Now, this. How am I supposed to go through this again, especially when I don’t even know who’s behind it this time? All I want to do is crawl into bed and hide.”
“I’m telling you Kyle will figure out who did this, or the police will. The second I show these to Helen, you know she’s going to be all over it. And Chief Rollins will be, too. His sisters are in school with us. I know he’s terrified that the same awful thing could happen to Carrie or Mandy, so he takes it personally. I heard him tell Helen this wasn’t happening in his town, not on his watch.”
Misty almost managed a smile. “You almost make him sound like some sheriff in the Old West.”
Katie giggled. “I guess in a way that’s what it’s like around here. Chief Rollins considers every single crime like an attack on him. He’s fair, but he doesn’t even take misdemeanors lightly. I heard my mom, Dana Sue and Helen saying that they’d have been locked up for sure if he’d been in charge when they were teenagers. They got into mischief all the time.”
Misty actually chuckled at the image of the three women locked up. “Helen would have hated not being able to wear her stiletto heels in jail,” she said. “She has a shoe wardrobe that’s the envy of every woman in town. One pair probably costs as much as all my school clothes last fall.”
“Yeah, Helen does love her Jimmy Choo’s.”
Surprised that she’d been able to find anything at all to laugh about, Misty sighed. “As bad as this is, I’m glad you told me, and I’m even happier that you’re my friend.”
“Always,” Katie told her. “Now, I think I hear Kyle downstairs. Let me get him on this right now. I’ll call you back after he’s handled it and after I speak to Helen, okay? Or do you want to come over? Maybe hang out for a while?”
The thought of facing Kyle after he’d seen the pictures online was way too depressing. “Not tonight.”
“But I will see you at the rally tomorrow, right?” Katie said.
When Misty didn’t immediately answer, Katie prodded, “You have to be there, Misty. And you have to speak. You’ll regret it if you don’t. I’ll come to your house and go with you, okay?”
“Okay,” Misty agreed reluctantly.
With Katie’s warning about regrets still ringing in her ears, Misty hung up, then threw herself across her bed. Her friend was probably right. She would hate herself if she didn’t stand up for herself.
She just wasn’t sure she could face the humiliating prospect of having everyone staring at her, wondering if just maybe she really had posed for those sick pictures online. If even a single person believed she could do anything like that, she thought she might very well die of embarrassment.
19
Cal and Maddie had just finished cleaning up the kitchen and putting their two little ones down for the night when Kyle walked in, his expression dark. Maddie gave him a questioning look.
“Were we expecting you tonight?” Maddie asked, giving him a fierce hug. “Not that I’m not always happy to have you come home from college.”
“Katie called me,” he explained, looking from his mother to Cal, his expression puzzled. “She hasn’t talked to either of you about what’s going on? I thought for sure she would.”
Maddie frowned. “Not a word. What is it? Why would she call you, rather than telling us?”
“Something to do with Misty,” Cal guessed, his anger stirring. “And it’s online. She wants you to fix it.”
Kyle nodded. “She filled me in on what’s been happening and on tomorrow’s rally. Someone’s apparently not taking it well.”
“What does that mean?” Cal asked.
“They posted fake pictures of Misty online, worse than the previous ones, if Katie can be believed. It shook her up. She asked me to help her take them down. I got in the car and headed straight home.” He gave Cal a distraught look. “I can’t believe some pervert is doing this to a nice girl like Misty. Who would do such a thing?”
“We all thought the obvious suspect had been neutralized, so to speak,” Cal said. “Either she’s foolish enough to keep her vendetta going or someone’s acting at her behest.”
“At the moment, that hardly matters,” Maddie said. “Can you do what Katie wants? Can you take them down?”
“Shouldn’t Helen see them first?” Cal asked.
“I think Katie was going to call Helen and print them out for her before I got here,” Kyle said. “Helen can probably get a court order under the circumstances, but I may be able to get them down faster.”
“As long as Helen’s okay with it, do it,” Maddie said at once. “Even if Katie’s already called her, I’ll get her over here.”
Kyle nodded and headed upstairs.
Cal looked at his wife. “This makes me sick to my stomach and I haven’t even seen the pictures.”
“What it makes me is livid,” Maddie said. “I keep picturing Katie being in the same situation, and I want to rip out the heart of whoever is tormenting Misty.” She regarded Cal with dismay. “Could Annabelle possibly be doing this? She’s already in a world of trouble.”
Cal shook his head. “I honestly don’t know. I know Mariah has raised Annabelle to feel entitled and a little above everyone else in Serenity, but I thought her father was trying to keep her grounded in reality, especially now with so much on the line.”
Maddie nodded. “I’d better make that call to Helen. Do you want to check on the kids, see if there’s anything you can do to help?”
“On my way,” he said, then paused to give his wife a kiss.
“What was that for?”
“Just to let you know how glad I am to be married to a woman who’s such an incredible mother of such terrific kids. Katie’s not only smart, she’s mature beyond her years. And she’s learned what it is to be a good friend from watching you, Helen and Dana Sue.”
“I know Bill’s their father,” Maddie said, “but you’ve had a lot of influence in the way all of them have turned out. Credit where credit’s due, okay?”
Cal winked at her. “Let’s see if we can keep getting it right with the little ones. We have a long way to go with them.”
Upstairs he found Kyle at work on Katie’s laptop while Katie paced around the room, chewing on one of her nails. She regarded Cal with alarm.
“You know?” she asked.
He nodded. “You could have told your mom and me, but I’m glad you called Kyle for help. The important thing is to deal with this, and you did all the right things.”
To his surprise, Katie threw her arms around him. “I’ve wanted to talk to you from the very beginning, but I couldn’t.”
“I know you made a promise to Misty. You did the best you could, and your mother and I are very proud of you for figuring out a way to help Misty and remain loyal at the same time.”
“I still felt kinda sneaky,” she admitted.
“But you knew it was too much for you and Misty to handle on your own. It takes real maturity to recognize that and act.”
She gave him a pleading look. “Don’t look at the pictures, okay? It’s awful enough that Kyle has to see them.”
Cal understood her embarrassment on her friend’s behalf. “You made printouts for Helen?”
“Uh-huh, and she’s coming over. As soon as she says it’s okay, Kyle will take them down. He thinks he can do it, right, Kyle?”
“I can do it,” he said grimly. He glanced up at Cal. “Now that I’ve seen the disgusting things, I’m even more anxious to get my hands on whoever posted them in the first place.”
“I think we all would like a chance to have a little come-to-Jesus ta
lk with that person,” Cal admitted. “Any idea who it might be?”
“I’m working on it,” Kyle said.
“Anything I can do?” Cal asked.
Kyle nodded toward his sister. “Get her to go downstairs. Having her standing over my shoulder makes me nervous. I don’t like her seeing this stuff.”
“I’ve already seen it,” Katie protested. “Besides, I’m not looking at the pictures. I’m trying to see what you’re doing so I can fix it myself next time.”
Kyle gave Cal a pointed look. “Please.”
Cal put a hand on Katie’s shoulder. “Come on. I think I heard Helen drive up. You can come downstairs and fill her in before she comes up to take a look for herself.”
Katie nodded at last. “Okay,” she grumbled, then scowled at her brother, “but I want step-by-step instructions.”
“Yes, mini-crusader,” Kyle said. “I’ll see what I can do.”
“Do you promise or are you just trying to pacify me?” Katie asked.
Kyle shook his head ruefully. “You probably don’t want an answer to that.”
“Jerk,” Katie muttered.
“Pest,” Kyle responded in kind.
“Enough,” Cal said, smiling at the familiar bickering.
For all of it he’d heard from these two over the years, he knew with every fiber that they had each other’s backs. Kyle coming home on a moment’s notice was proof enough of that.
* * *
Laura paced behind the stage that had been set up on the town green.
“She’ll be here,” J.C. said, knowing she was worried about Misty. She had been ever since Helen’s call the night before to report the latest bullying incident.
“Maybe she shouldn’t be,” Laura said. “I know I pressed her to do this and Diana backed me up, but that was before those pictures turned up online last night.”
“Your reasoning is just as valid now,” J.C. said. “I’m not saying it will be easy for Misty to face all these people, but if she does it, I think she’ll feel so much better about herself. Taking a stand for herself and against bullying will send a message to this town.”
“I know the town needs to hear the message,” Laura said. “I’m just not sure Misty’s the one who has to deliver it.”
“Who better?” J.C. countered. “And we’re all going to be right here on stage with her. She won’t be alone. Trust me, she’s going to feel empowered for having done this.”
Laura obviously remained unconvinced. “She’s only sixteen, J.C. She must be devastated to think even one person might believe she actually posed for those pictures.”
“She’s strong enough to do this,” he repeated. “And she’ll be even stronger once she does.”
He looked out over the crowd just then and spotted Misty and Katie circling around the fringes, heading toward the stage. The two girls were deep in conversation. Misty seemed to be lagging behind, but Katie kept urging her on.
“Here she comes now,” he told Laura. As he spoke, he noticed the whispers building as people spotted Misty. For the first time, he felt a faint stirring of dread. Maybe he was the one who was wrong. Maybe this had been a terrible idea. Everything that had happened had taken a toll on Misty. What if this turned ugly and became the last straw for her?
Frowning as the whispers spread, he turned to Laura. “Maybe you were right. Maybe she shouldn’t do this.”
Laura regarded him with surprise, clearly taken aback by his sudden change of heart.
“Listen to them,” he said, nodding toward the growing crowd. “Something’s stirring them up.”
But then Misty was beside them and he couldn’t say more. He forced a smile. “You doing okay?”
“Scared to death,” she said.
“It’s okay if you want to back out,” he said. “We have other speakers.”
She shook her head. “No,” she said firmly. “Everybody was right. I need to do this.” She glanced at Katie. “You’re going to stand right there with me, though, right?”
“I won’t budge from your side,” Katie promised.
“And we’re all going to be on the stage, too,” Laura reassured her.
Just then the microphone crackled to life. Sarah McDonald welcomed everyone to the live broadcast of the Serenity Rally Against Bullying. “You all already know why we’re here today. We intend to take a stand against something that eventually affects just about every child. Bullying can take many forms, from the toddler who snatches away shovels from the other kids in a sandbox or pushes another child off of a swing to something as offensive as what’s been happening recently to one of our high school students. We’re here to let everyone know that none of that is acceptable in our community, that we’re a town where people treat each other with respect and dignity.”
Her comments drew mostly cheers and applause, though J.C. noticed that a few people looked on silently.
Sarah continued, “Now I’d like to introduce a woman who taught many of you to always be on your best behavior, Frances Wingate.”
Frances looked frail but determined as she approached the podium. She looked out over the crowd. “I see a lot of people here today who spent time in my classroom over the years. I’m here today to talk about how ashamed I am of you.”
Her words drew a shocked gasp.
“Yes, you,” she continued, her tone stern. “These are your children who are engaging in these disrespectful, despicable acts against other children. I don’t know much about how the internet works, but I do understand that it can be a tool for cowards, a way to torment another human being. And that’s what’s happening right here in Serenity, with your blessing.”
She gazed out over the crowd. “Oh, I hear some of you saying you didn’t put up those posts or that your children would never do such a thing, but do you know for a fact that they didn’t? Do you monitor what they do online? I’ll wager you don’t. Far too few parents do. And unless you happen to be one of those few who does, then you’re responsible. You!” she said sternly, looking from face to face in the increasingly silent crowd. “You let this happen. You can fix it.”
Once more, she seemed to be looking every individual in the audience straight in the eye as she added fiercely, “And I expect you to do it.”
With that, she turned and walked back to her seat and sat down heavily. It took a moment, and then thunderous applause broke out.
J.C. leaned over to whisper in her ear. “You’ve given me a tough act to follow.”
She gave him a shaky smile. “Oh, I think you’ve got what it takes.”
Laura gave his hand a squeeze. “I know you do.”
J.C. approached the podium with trepidation. He began by talking about the kind of incidents he and Bill saw in their practice, the evidence of the toll bullying took on even the youngest children.
“We all act as if it’s no big deal at that age, that kids need to toughen up. I was told that just this week by a parent. Well, here’s the way I see it.”
He drew in a deep breath, cast a quick glance at Laura, then said, his voice wavering despite his best attempt to control it, “Bullying cost my little brother his life.”
Blinking back tears, he continued, “Stevie was a great kid. He was slower than other kids. He struggled in school, though it took years to figure out exactly why. His classmates were calling him a dummy by first grade. They never chose him for their teams at recess. He wanted so badly to be liked, to be normal, just like everyone else. He had a smile that could light up the world, but, day by day, year by year, that smile faded and the light in his eyes died.”
He let that sink in, then said, “When I realized what was happening, I did everything I could to protect him. I had more bloody noses and black eyes than any kid in school. My parents and teachers thought I was a troublemaker because I never told what was going on. Neither did Stevie. For a while things even got better.”
He paused. “And then I went to high school, leaving my kid brother on his own back in middle school, s
truggling to fit in, being beaten down emotionally a little more each day.” He heard the collective indrawn breath of the crowd and let the silence go on before adding, “Until he couldn’t take it anymore. Stevie hanged himself after school one day. He was thirteen years old.” J.C.’s voice broke. “Thirteen. Look around you at the children you know who are just barely starting adolescence. Try to imagine the amount of pain a child that age must have been in to take his own life.”
Like Frances, he tried to look every single person in the crowd directly in the eyes. “Thirteen,” he said again at last. “The kids in Serenity deserve more from us.”
Even through his own tears, he saw tissues come out of purses as he spoke. As he walked back to his seat, Laura was on her feet, enveloping him in a hug. Misty joined her.
“I knew,” Misty whispered, tears streaming down her face. “You didn’t say all that, but I knew the story didn’t have a happy ending.”
“No, it didn’t,” J.C. said, then gave her a hug. “But this one will. No matter what I have to do to see to it, Misty, this one will.”
* * *
Laura was devastated by J.C.’s revelation. No wonder he’d taken what was happening to Misty so seriously. He’d lived the horror of bullying and seen just how tragically it could end.
What she couldn’t understand was why he hadn’t told her sooner. Just when she thought they were close, when she’d convinced herself they had a real shot at the future, she realized he was holding yet another part of himself back.
This wasn’t the time for thinking about any of that, though. Bill Townsend was speaking now, adding a voice for even the youngest children who were victimized on playgrounds or in classrooms. He’d be followed by Helen and Chief Rollins. Then it would be Laura and Betty’s turn to explain how the school intended to handle not just this incident, but any further bullying incidents.
Each of them kept their remarks short and to the point. As Misty’s turn to wrap up the event came closer, Laura kept a careful eye on her. She seemed to have drawn some kind of strength from listening to J.C. There was a determined set to her jaw and a spark in her eyes that had been missing when she’d first arrived at the town green.
Catching Fireflies Page 25
