Blended TML Ch 40

Piper has already decided to push. “You and Jess were the hot, popular ones, right?”

“I don’t like thinking about it in those terms.”

“Who was in the friend group?”

“Trish, Gale, and Annie. Nadia. Sometimes Nadia’s sister would hang out with us, but she was younger.”

Of those people, only Nadia Simmons is still around Gurlberg; she’s a prosecutor. Piper frowns. “Who’s Nadia’s sister?”

“Tracy Kerns. Used to be Tracy Simmons.”

“Oh, shit. I took a class from her. She’s cool. Pretty too. There’s no way you guys weren’t the hot ones. Were there two groups of hot girls?”

Gurlberg High isn’t that big. There were still plenty of cliques, but only one suitable for girls like Mary and Jess during Piper’s time.

“Again, I don’t like that way of saying it, but my friend group—we were all from normal homes. Well, that’s not true. Jess’s parents divorced. Tracy and Nadia had it kind of rough. Um, Gale’s home life was real bad. But we weren’t rich. None of us were rich.” Mary points vaguely across the lake. “Tiffany was. She and these two other rich girls kind of kept to themselves, but they had this little gang of suckups. I don’t know. It was a long time ago.”

Mary clearly doesn’t like talking about it.

“Anyway, I’m stressed out, and seeing her reminded me of stuff I’m not proud of,” Mary says conclusively. “That’s it. Let it go, Piper.”

“Why, certainly, Mary. I would love to respect your boundaries and do that. Are you letting it go?”

Mary laughs. “Yes. Yes, I am, for tonight.”

“Do I need to cancel our stuff tomorrow?”

“No. I don’t want to see Tiffany, but I’m not running away from her. I will get a massage or whatever you signed us up for at the resort that she owns, and I’ll probably feel a little inadequate, but running away won’t make me feel better. We do it.”

“She owns it?”

“Apparently.”

Curiouser and curiouser. Piper relaxes and sinks into the deck chair, giving Mary the quiet that she probably wants. Water laps at the bank, and the frogs aren’t too loud tonight.

Her phone goes off. Piper discreetly checks it. It’s Tiffany, finally replying. Piper chews her lip for a moment, waves a curious bug away, and turns to Mary.

“Were you enemies?” she asks. “You and Tiffany?”

Mary’s sigh is deep. “Maybe. I don’t know.” She sounds defeated, and it seems like that’s all she’ll say. Piper is confused and curious, but this certainly adds a new layer to consider in terms of her next move. Whatever’s going on, there’s more to it, and at least to Mary, it’s delicate.

She rubs her thumb along the edge of her phone.

Engage with Tiffany? Or play it safe and ghost her?

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