Page 81 of Just a Little White Lie

Look at me being all mature.

“Haven Academy has a reputation to uphold, and I am worried that these students… theseMisfits”—she pulls a face to let me know exactly what she thinks of the team name—“are going to sully our impeccable reputation. We do our best to present a good image. These people trust us with their children, and when I send one of them home with a fat lip, I spend the afternoon on the phone trying to smooth things over. Believe me, it’s not a fun job.” Her steely glare makes me want to wilt, but I sit a little straighter, refusing to let this fly.

“Helen, these misfits are a great bunch of kids, and they are going to make this school so proud. I promise you.”

“They certainly haven’t so far.”

I tut and shake my head. “Because you hide them away in a dance studio. You pull them out of class, make them feel like complete rejects, and then expect them to behave like the two-faced Ronans of this world.”

“Ronan Ayers is a top student with an impeccable record,” she interrupts me. “I won’t have you speaking badly of him.”

I scoff. “Yet everyone is allowed to think the worst of Maverick?”

“He punched the boy in the face!”

“He was protecting his crew after having just been told they were pieces of trash. I saw it while I was on duty.”

Helen’s forehead wrinkles, her black bob keeping perfect form when she shakes her head and murmurs, “I’m sure that’s not what Ronan meant. You must have misheard him.”

A flash of anger fires through me, and I can’t help my derisive mutter. “You just don’t want to see it.”

“Excuse me?” She leans forward, and I can’t decide if I’m grateful or not that she didn’t hear my barb.

Pulling in a breath, I try to reach for a little calm, even forcing a smile, because that’s going to get me a little further than the hellfire I want to rain down on this woman.

“Look, Helen, my kids are genuine. They may not always come off as perfectly mannered or well behaved, but at least what you see is what you get. And when they’re dancing and they’re working together, I’m telling you, it’s phenomenal. You need to give these guys a chance, because no one else ever does. Have you even read their files? Do you know where they’re coming from?”

She holds up her hand to shut me up again. “I am aware of their histories. I am on the selection committee.”

“You don’t seem like a very enthusiastic member.” I give her a withering frown, and her nostrils flare.

“Choose your words carefully, Lauren. I can take this competition away like that.” She snaps her fingers.

I close my eyes with a sigh. “Please don’t. They need this. They need a chance to prove how amazing they are.”

“If they’re so amazing, why are they fighting at lunchtime?”

“Because they were completely provoked. I just told you what happened. Ronan has a mouth on him, and it’s not pretty.”

She clears her throat, tweaking the lapel of her power suit. “I don’t care what you think you heard Ronan say. That doesn’t change the fact that Maverick needs to control his temper.”

“Ronan needs to control his tongue,” I bite back. “And he should have been in detention too.”

Helen gives me a tight smile, her eyes glinting with a warning I should probably heed.

Her voice has a dangerous edge when she lowers it and informs me, “Everly Ayer is Ronan’s mother, and she also happens to be chairman of the school board, not to mention a very influential member of the town council.”

Of course she is!

Not rolling my eyes is impossible, so I turn my head to the side and let the bookshelf witness my derision.

“Maverick is lucky to still be a student here. He is so close to being expelled, and I have to fight for him in almost every board meeting I attend.”

I blink and turn back to face the principal, surprised by this revelation.

She huffs and shakes her head, picking up a pen to roll between her fingers. “I am notantithese students. I know this school has the capability to help them. But only if they allow it to. I am trying to hold this all together and keep the influential parents happy while still protecting our most vulnerable. Maverick does himself no favors when he loses it like that. And I’m hesitant to allow him to remain on the dance team.”

“No.” I lurch forward. “You can’t take him off.” I’m shaking my head so vehemently my earrings are hitting my cheeks. “Please. He is the leader of the group. If I lose him, I lose them all. Give him another chance. Please. You have to give him a chance.”

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