Chapter Nine

Chapter Nine

I stood in front of Janet’s office, trying to hype myself up enough to knock on the door. You’re not in high school anymore, Lila. I’m sure it’ll be fine. There’s no way she still hates you. You’re both adults. Sort of.

Who was I kidding? This was a terrible idea. I was about to wander back the way I came when I heard someone step into the hall and a voice call, “Turning tail and running away again, Lila? That does seem to be your MO, doesn’t it?”

I closed my eyes and counted to ten before responding. “Hey, Janet. I see not much has changed, has it?”

I turned to face my high school bully. Wow, she really hadn’t changed. There were some laugh lines around her eyes (though I sincerely doubt they were caused by laughter), but the rest of her porcelain complexion remained as flawless as ever. I had to fight the urge to pick at the tiny pimples near my hairline.

She was still strawberry blonde and willowy, her breasts and bangs pushed up to impressive heights. Her left hand sported a ring with a rock so big it practically screamed “FAKE!”

She must’ve noticed me looking at it because she held it up and smirked. “You heard, right? Terrence and I are getting married. He’s mine,” she added unnecessarily.

“Yup. Congrats.”

She waited for more, but that’s all I had to say on that matter.

“That’s it? After you tried to steal him from me senior year, I figured you’d have more to say.”

Don’t take the bait, Lila, don’t take the bait. This woman is in charge of pretty much all patient information and she could easily get Bernadette fired. Don’t push her.

When I didn’t respond, she said, “You always had such a smart mouth. Why are you so quiet now?”

I fought the urge to roll my eyes. “Because that all happened, what, seven years ago? Maybe even eight? How are you not over it yet?”

She scoffed, so I added, “And if you recall, he came to me when he saw you for the bully you were. Besides, I remember you getting pretty cozy with Derek as well.”

Her hand flew to her chest and literally clutched at her pearls. “How dare you! Just because you got dumped by your fiancé doesn’t mean you have to lie about mine.”

As usual, good news traveled fast around Shady Palms.

“Forget it. I was a fool to think you’d help me.” I started to walk away, but knew I couldn’t leave it like that and turned back around. “Congratulations to you and Terrence. He’s a good guy and there aren’t many of them left. I hope you make each other happy. Truly.”

She stood there with her mouth hanging open as I walked away, trembling but proud.

I’d witnessed a tragedy, been interrogated by the police, reconciled with Bernadette, told off Amir, and confronted Janet all in one day. And it wasn’t even dinnertime yet.

I checked my watch and saw I had another couple of hours to kill before calling on Ninang June. There was only one thing I knew would get me out of this funk, so I hopped in the car and headed home.

It was time to bake.