Page 58 of One Sweet Lie

“Of course, I knew. It’s hard not to notice when—” I stopped talking.

She tossed off her apron, unknowingly giving me a view of her breasts, sentencing me to a long night of cold showers.

“Go pick up my niece, Miss Hawthorne.” I logged out of the security system. “Thank you.”

TWENTY-FOUR

HARLOW

Olivia stood up the moment I stepped into the headmaster’s office.

Crying, she ran over and hugged me.

Something is definitely wrong with her.

“Finally.” An older woman pointed at a folder. “Please sign off on these papers before taking her away. As a lenient leader, I’ve decided to suspend her for only twenty-one days.”

“Whoa, wait a minute. What exactly did she do?”

“She beat up one of her classmates without provocation,” she said. “The victim suffered a black eye and is in a lot of pain. Miss Olivia is lucky the parents don’t want to pursue criminal charges.”

I stooped down to Olivia’s level, whispering, “Is that true?”

“She deserved it.” Tears trickled down her cheeks. “I’mnotsorry.”

“See? That’s exactly the type of attitude we don’t need at our establishment,” the headmaster said. “I told Mr. Dawson that her unstable parenting situation made her a risky admission here, but this is the last straw.”

“Why did you hurt her, Olivia?” I kept my voice to a whisper.

“She’s so mean to me,” she said. “She makes fun of me for not having a mom, and when I told her that Idohave a mom and she's an actress in L.A., she said the only 'actress' was me. She called me a delusional bitch."

“Is this the girl you write about in your poems? Sydney Lane with the Wall Street parents?”

She nodded.

“What about the Katie Lothrop girl?” I asked. “Is she still being mean to you?”

“Yes. Every day.”

“Okay.” I stood at the headmaster’s level. “Where is the so-called victim, ma’am?”

"Sydney Lane is still recovering from pain. She's inside the meeting parlor with her parents.”

“Is that the room to your left or your right?”

“My left,” she said. “After you sign off on the punishment and Olivia agrees to apologize, I’llaskif they feel like talking to you two.”

“We feel like talking to them now.” I grabbed Olivia’s hand and pushed the twins’ stroller into the parlor.

Poor little Sydney sat between her parents, sporting a toothy smile and a thin, clear Band-Aid above her eyebrow.

“That’s not a black eye.” I stepped in front of them. “I’ve seen worse paper cuts."

“Who are you?” Her mother faced me. “Better yet, why are you in here?”

“I’m here to tell you that your daughter is a fucking bully.” I glared at them. “She’s made Olivia’s life a living hell by isolating her at every turn, and you all are too far up your daughter’s spoiled ass to see it.”

Her mother's jaw dropped.

---