Page 48 of Dancing in the Rain

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When his cellphone rang Monday evening and he saw Peyton’s name on the screen, he grabbed it to answer. He’d been thinking about when to call, what to suggest, so he was glad that she was calling.

“Yeah, we have a little problem here,” she said after they’d greeted each other.

“What?” His gut clenched. “Sara?”

“No, she’s okay. Well, not really. But it’s Chloe.”

“What’s wrong?”

“She told a bunch of kids at school about you.”

“Okaaaaay…”

“They didn’t believe her.”

He frowned. “What?”

“She told them her dad is a famous hockey star and they all laughed at her and said she was making it up.”

“Fuck that!”

“Um, yeah, about the language thing…”

“Sorry. But seriously—fuck that.”

She laughed softly. “I agree. She’s pretty upset. The whole school is apparently talking about her like she’s a nut job.”

“Jesus Christ.” He jumped up from where he sat on his couch. “I’ll go to that fucking school tomorrow and shut their mean little mouths.”

“Er…”

“I will. Of course I will. That’s the only way they’re going to believe her.”

“Maybe we should talk to her teacher…”

Okay, she probably thought he was serious about being violent. “Sure. Whatever. I’ll do that, too.”

“Okay, hold up, cowboy. Let’s not be rash here.”

He sank back down onto the couch. “Yeah, I can be that way sometimes.”

She paused. “Would you really go to the school?”

“Hell, yeah. They can’t give Chloe a hard time. But I’d just talk to them.”

Another pause. “Sara will call the school in the morning. They’ll tell us the best way to handle it.”

“Okay. Sure.” He rubbed his face. “Let me know. I can go anytime.”

“Thank you, Drew.”

“Can I talk to Chloe?”

“Of course. She’s right here.”

Chloe’s smaller voice came on. “Hi, Drew.”

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