Page 36 of The Game Is Afoot

I don’t know if it’s embarrassment over yesterday morning’s scene or fear that I’m about to be pitched again, but I get the overwhelming urge to run away. Except Dom’s mower has pulled into view, and I’m only going to call attention to myself if I take off now. So I step into the mob and try to look like I belong. I’ve got the outfit down, at least.

“Oh, yay! Are you going to join us?” Mackenzie says, clapping her hands in excitement.

I nod, accepting my fate. “Yes. Um. Totally!”

“Are you sure, Mavis? I didn’t think this was your thing.” With her weird, plastic smile still firmly in place, Bethany looks me up and down with suspicion. She turns to the group. “This isn’t really her thing.”

“Oh, this is my thing!” I insist. “This is, like, more my thing than…anything.”

I have no fucking idea what exactly it is I’m claiming as my thing, but out of the corner of my eye, I see Dom shutting off his mower and looking at us with interest. I adjust my position so my face is out of his view.

“Are you sure? I know you’re busy.” She swivels to look at all the women again. “She’sbusy.”

The way she says it, I know it means more than just theMerriam-Websterdictionary definition to this group. Claudia wrinkles her nose in confirmation, and I feel a flash of annoyance bordering on anger. This feels like middle school shit.

I mean, I get it. Bethany’s probably pissed at me about yesterday, and okay, I shouldn’t have yelled at her. But also, she should have taken no for an answer the first time instead of pushing it to that point.

I need to fit in with this group, though. At least until Dom is gone. I sneak another quick glance and see that he’s pulling his keys from his belt loop to unlock his shed/office door. Did I remember to lock it? God, I hope I put everything back where it was.

“I’m actually on a, um…sabbaticalfrom work, so I’d love to join. Really.”

Bethany looks unconvinced, which is a sharp turn from the relentless saleswoman yesterday, but Mackenzie loops her arm through mine. Yeah, if Ms. Joyce hears about this, it’s going to set me back like six months of me-and-Mackenzie-are-not-friends protests.

“Well, we’re going to set up over there.” Bethany points to an open area in the park. “Everyone’s welcome.”

She manages to say that in theleastwelcoming tone, but no one else seems to notice it as they smile and follow her, picking up on whatever conversations I interrupted. I try to look back at Dom again, but Mackenzie pulls me in closer and tugs me along.

“I think this will be good for you,” she says, her voice bubbly and bright. “Ms. Joyce told me that you knew Cole, too, and that’s why the police were at your house yesterday. This will besucha good way to deal with those feelings and find closure, you know? I’m so glad you ran into us.”

Wait, Ms. Joyce and her were talking? And aboutme? Why is Ms. Joyce allowed to make small talk with her nemesis but I can’t even wave hello across the street?

But I ask the most pressing question.

“What does Cole have to do with this?”

“Oh, Cole ran our Tuesday morning exercise boot camp! It’s part of the Balanced With Bethany program. Exercise is theEin her I LUV ME method!”

“He did? And—you’rein her downline?”

“Downstream,” she corrects me with a seriousness that does not match the silliness of that term at all. “And yes, I love it! I was one of the first to join Bethany.Beforeshe got sick.”

Her eyes well up. I wonder if she believes the bullshit, that Bethany’s personal brand of self-care cured her cancer.

“So I’ve seen, firsthand, the miracles this method can work. It’s beensoinspiring.”

Yep, and there we go. I take back everything I said about yelling at Bethany. She deserved that. She deservedmore.

“I’m so humbled and grateful that I get to work with her to help women live healthy, happy, and well-balanced lives. And my business just keeps growing and growing! I’m going to hit the Absolute Wellness Guru rank next month!”

Her phrasing feels familiar, but that’s probably because it’s lifted straight from the handbook. And Absolute Wellness Guru—is that lower or higher than Ultimate Wellness Goddess? How much does Bethany get off each of them?

But as much as I want to snark, I need to bring it back to the most confusing thing here. “So…Bethany—she knows Cole?”

I guess it would make sense, because her daughter was enrolled in his soccer program. But there are hundreds of kids in his program…

“Yeah! Oh yeah, they’ve collaborated foryearsnow. He’s helped her develop a lot of her exercise curriculum in the method, and they’re partnering together on a new Balanced With Bethany supplement line. It’s so exciting! Well, uh…partnered, I guess.” She fixes her face into an exaggerated frownand mimes a tear falling down her cheek. “But from what I’ve heard, they were mostly done before he, well…you know.” Her face lights up, sadness over. “Actually, it would be a great time to join us and build your own business. You could get in at the ground floor, because Balanced With Bethany is just going to skyrocket from here! If you’re interested, we can hop on a call later—”

“Okay but what doesthishave to do with Cole? Whatever you guys are doing right now?”