I chuckle. It's the most depressing sound I've ever heard.
"Take a bubble bath. A Xanax. Whatever you've gotta do, just get your mind off all this."
I nod. "Okay."
"Okay."
We stand just as three room moms walk in together.
I smooth the front of my shirt and put on a smile. "Hey--can I help y'all with something?"
Dana, the ringleader and head of the PTA, gives me a smile that doesn't reach her eyes. "Hey, sweetie. We just wanted to check on you. Make sure you're holding up okay."
Her saccharine tone does not match her words.
My guard goes up. Cass stiffens beside me.
"I'm fine," I answer carefully. "Thanks for asking."
"It's just…" Brenda tilts her head, dripping with false sympathy. "We've all been so worried. This whole situation with Coach Brooks--it's put you in such an awkward position."
"There's no awkward position. We're together. That's all there is to it."
Dana exchanges a look with the others. "Honey, we're not judging. We just have…standards. For the school. For the children."
My hackles prickle. "I take my role here very seriously--"
"Do you?" Tammy asks.
Dana sighs like I'm a child who won't listen. "It's just…Grey is a respected man in this community. He's been here his whole life. People care about him."
"So do I. What exactly are you--"
"I'm sure you think you do." Another pitying smile. "But you have to realize how this looks. You're new here. You don't know how things work. And now, with all these rumors about what you two did…" Dana shudders delicately. "In the children's library. These little girls look up to you."
My hands start to shake, and the tremor climbs up my arms, up my spine. "That rumor isn't true."
"Of course you'd say that." Brenda's voice is honey over broken glass. "But people are talking, Miss Lane. And some of us are starting to wonder if maybe this job isn't the right fit for you."
My stomach drops.
Tammy steps closer, her voice low and conspiratorial, like she's doing me a favor. "Grey deservers someone who isn't going to drag him through the mud. Someone who understands this town. Maybe you should think about stepping back. For his sake."
"We'd hate to see his reputation ruined," Dana adds, "because he got a little…distracted."
Cass has practically burst into flames next to me. I wonder if she's bitten her tongue off, she's so mad. Until she laughs, sharp and dangerous.
"Oh, that's rich.Sorich, coming from y'all."
"This isn't about you,Cassidy," Dana snaps.
Brenda leans in. "Some of us have been here our whole lives, Miss Lane. We know Grey Brooks. He's a good man." A pause. "Or he was, anyway."
I feel like I'm far, far away from myself.
Dana shakes her head, all false pity. "Men can't help themselves," Dana notes. "It's up to us to have some self-respect."
Laughter bursts out of Cass. "You have got to be kidding me, Brenda. I know you didn't just judge anybody's self-respect."
