CHAPTER EIGHT: June 2,2012
"No, it's fine. I understand." Nancy's tone wasclipped. Elizabeth shifted uncomfortably. She did not understandhow this woman could wield such power. She just knew that Nancy wasmaking her feel like a small child being scolded. Elizabeth gotenough of that from Agnes and didn't need a supposed peer to makeher feel badly about herself.
"Nancy, I'm thankful again for the invite. Ireally wish I could have made it. However, I think you and yourfriends, as well as John's father, should be very thankful that Ikept that awful virus to myself. I really didn't want to ruin yourspecial day."
Nancy softened ever so slightly. She stillseemed a little irritated. "Yes, and I thank you for that. Are youfeeling better?"
"Much, but it was terrible. I can't believe ithas taken us almost two weeks to fully recover. How did your eventgo?"
"Fine." Nancy seemed perturbed again. She wasflicking her acrylic nails on each other in an agitated manner. "Ineed to go speak to the principal about something. Excuseme."
And with that, she was off. Elizabeth was notsure what had happened. It seemed that Nancy was obviously upset,although for the first time, Elizabeth sensed a crack in Nancy'sotherwise smooth veneer.
Elizabeth could not focus on Nancy's apparentissues for long. She was busy setting up for the Summer-Kick-OffCarnival, which was due to start in a few hours. With theunfortunate forecast of a 75% chance of showers, Elizabeth andJulia had been forced to re-think the set-up and use the schoolbuilding. The gym was humid and sticky, and the smell of oldperspiration permeated the air. Unfolding and setting up tables washard work, and Elizabeth paused momentarily to pull her long hairback into a ponytail. Normally, she clasped it back at the nape ofher neck, but she was feeling energized and decided to make herponytail high on her head. With her blunt-cut bangs, she felttrendy and stylish, and wanted her hair, even in a ponytail, toreflect her energy and style. Elizabeth was glad that, despite thecool temperature and precipitation outside, she had decided to wearshorts while setting up.
When the gym was cordoned off with tables,chairs and tape lines reflecting partitions, Elizabeth moved ontothe library to set up some activities in there. Julia wasfrantically trying to move tables and furniture so the librarybooks would be off-limits. Elizabeth fell seamlessly in step withJulia's efforts, and before long the library was festive and readyfor the carnival. They paused to take a brief break and drink ofwater before moving to the next task. Perched on the edge of atable, Elizabeth pushed up the three-quarter-length sleeves of herheather gray shirt and fanned herself. She saw Nancy pass by out inthe hall in a huff. It again occurred to her that Nancy was upset,and she began to wonder why. She hoped that it was not merely herabsence at the book signing.
"Hey—what's eating Nancy? She seems upset," Elizabeth casted,fishing for information.
"I knew there was something I wanted to tellyou! I can't believe we haven't talked about this since the bookevent!"
Elizabeth's heart dropped into her stomach. "OhGod, is it because I wasn't there? We were really, reallysick."
"No, no, no. Haven't you read thebook?"
"Um, well, I started to. I don't think I gotthat far."
"How far did you get?"
"I don't know. Really not far. I think the mainguy is drunk and horny and the high school girl shows up and then Ikind of dozed off. I don't remember much else."
"Oh, so not far at all."
"I guess not. I wasn't up to reading that muchwhen I was sick, and then Peter was away, and I've been doingcarnival stuff since. Why?" Elizabeth was suddenly wary.
"So, Nancy did totally think the book was goingto be about her. But it's not. Not really. You can totally tellthat it is set here, in Cherry Road. There are details that arespot-on. The school is described, the soccer field. Even somepeople."
"Really? Like who?"
"Well, there is a Nancy-like character, who isalways after the main female. She's not horrible, but notsuper-nice either."
"And Nancy is upset about that? I probablywould be."
"That, and – I don't want to give it away foryou."
"No, it's fine. I keep falling asleep whilereading it. I'm not sure I'm going to get back to it. Tellme."
"So the main guy, Ben, is totally the authorguy, J.P. You can tell by the physical description. And he has thishot and heavy affair with this girl he used to know in highschool."
"Right, got that. So how does the school andtown come into play?"
"Ben and Nellie continue their affair after theweekend. But she's a married mom."
"No way!"
Julia paused. "Well, that's the thing. She ispretty slutty, and ends up wrecking her marriage. Ben and Nelliehave sex all the time, all over the place. Includingschool."
"Holy hell. Are you kidding?"
"Not even close. There's this one scene in thecloset off the stage."
"What happens?"
Julia gave Elizabeth a look. "Exactly what youthink. I know I'll never look at that room the same wayagain."
"Was it that good?" Elizabeth leanedin.
"No, it was bad, like in a perverted, deviantkind of way. I can't believe I would know anyone who would act likethat."
"Neither can I."
"But that's the thing. You know, that makes iteven worse –" she broke off.
Elizabeth was literally perched on the edge ofthe table with anticipation. "Worse how? Don't leave me hanginghere!"
"The way it's written, with the details of thestory, and the descriptions, leads us to think that it is actuallyone of the moms here."
"What? Like someone here, at school, has donethis? Had sex in the theater closet?"
"Yeah, and she appears to be in thePTA."
"Our membership is close to 80%, so that couldbe a lot of women."
"No, she's one of us– on committees. Actuallyinvolved, from the description," Julia saiddramatically.
"Well that certainly narrows it down." Wow,this was big.
"Sure does."
"So, lemme guess. Nancy's on the warpath tryingto find out who it is."
"Yep. Even though she and this J. P. guy splitup a long time ago, she wants to find out what tramp is screwingher ex-husband."
"So they were married? I could never figurethat out, and I didn’t want to
