Don suddenly looked a lot less certain.
“You’re saying that Annabelle has done that?” Mariah said with outraged disbelief. “You’re just as crazy as she is.” She nodded in Laura’s direction.
Don frowned at her. “Can it, Mariah. I want to hear the rest of this. Betty wouldn’t be telling us this if she weren’t certain of her facts. Otherwise she’d be opening herself up to a lawsuit for slander.” He held Betty’s gaze. “Isn’t that right?”
“That’s a hundred percent right,” Betty concurred. “The school system lawyers are all over this.”
“Go on,” he said tightly.
Something in his tone had Annabelle sitting up a little straighter. For the first time there was a hint of real fear in her eyes. Laura thought she was finally realizing that her game was over, that she’d been caught dead to rights.
“Do you recognize this girl?” Betty asked, holding out the damning photos.
Don’s face turned ashen. “It looks like Misty Dawson, at least I think that’s her. But it sure as heck isn’t her body. She’s a skinny little thing.”
“They were posted online by Annabelle,” Betty told him.
Don faced his daughter. “Annabelle, what do you know about this?”
She shrugged.
He gave her a stern look. “That’s not an answer. How did these pictures get posted on your page? Did you put them up there?”
As he waited for a reply, he handed the pictures to his wife. “You want to try to defend this, Mariah?”
Mariah glanced at the pictures and covered her mouth with her hand. She turned to her daughter, her expression slightly frantic as she saw all her plans for Annabelle starting to unravel.
She must be seeing the end of yet another dream, Laura thought with more sympathy than she’d ever imagined having for the woman.
“You would never post filthy pictures like this, would you, sweetheart?” Mariah asked Annabelle, her voice shaky.
Annabelle looked at the floor, not acknowledging the question by so much as a blink.
“Annabelle!” her father snapped, finally grabbing her attention. “Did you do it? And if you tell me you didn’t, I’d like to hear a really, really good explanation about how you think it could have happened.”
Annabelle gave him a defiant look, folded her arms across her chest and returned her gaze to the floor, remaining stubbornly silent.
Betty stepped in. “There’s more,” she said quietly. “These are a few of her posts about Misty. There are many, many more if you need further evidence that the bullying has been nasty. And you can see by the dates of the posts that it’s been ongoing.”
As Don read the pages, his eyes widening with dismay, Betty said, “While you’re looking those over, I’d like you to think about what you’d expect me to do if the tables were turned, if this were Annabelle who’d been tormented like this.”
Don tried to hand the pages to Mariah, but she waved him off. “I’ve seen enough, and I don’t believe for a minute that Annabelle had anything to do with this,” she said with pure bravado. “Someone must have gotten hold of her password and posted those pictures and comments. Why on earth would she bother attacking Misty Dawson?”
Betty glanced toward Laura, indicating she should answer.
“We believe it’s because Annabelle found out that Greg Bennett has asked Misty out on several occasions. Rather than blaming Greg, she’s taken her anger out on Misty.”
Mariah rolled her eyes in disbelief. “Please, Greg knows he’s lucky that a girl like Annabelle even looks at him. Why would he cheat on her?”
“Because he can,” Laura said. “And so you know, Misty has rebuffed all of his advances, but that hasn’t stopped him. And that’s only infuriated Annabelle more.” She faced Annabelle, who’d finally looked up at the mention of Greg’s name. “Isn’t that right?”
Annabelle’s cheeks had grown increasingly flushed as Laura spoke. She turned on her furiously. “Okay, yes, I hate Misty. She has no right to Greg. He’s my boyfriend.”
“Misty’s never been interested in Greg. She’s never encouraged him,” Laura reminded her gently. “Greg’s the one who’s pursued her.”
Though she looked vaguely rattled by Laura’s calm certainty, Annabelle wasn’t giving up the pretense of being the victim without a fight. “Well, she has to be sending out some kind of message for him to keep chasing her. She’s nothing but a little slut.”
Even Mariah finally looked taken aback by the venom in her daughter’s voice. “Annabelle, that’s enough. You’re not helping the situation.”
“I’ve heard enough,” Don said, his expression resigned. He faced Betty. “What’s next?”
“I have no choice but to suspend her,” Betty said. “I think you can expect legal action from the Dawsons. If there’s so much as a hint of another incident, Annabelle will be expelled.”
Laura thought Annabelle finally looked shaken, rather than defiant, but it was her mother’s reaction that startled Laura. Mariah looked genuinely stunned, as if she’d had no idea where this was leading.
“But that will all go on her record,” she protested. “Don, we can’t allow Annabelle’s future to be destroyed by a childish prank.”
“There is nothing childish about what Annabelle did,” he said. “She’s old enough to understand exactly what she was doing. Like Betty said, we need to think about how we’d feel if someone did this to Annabelle. We’d be out for blood.”
“But she’s our daughter,” Mariah argued. “We have to be on her side.”
“I’m always on her side,” he said. “But sometimes that means making sure she learns that actions have consequences.”
“What if we just took her out of school?” Mariah pleaded. “We could get her into a private school. None of this would have to come out. Wouldn’t that be best for everyone?”
“You’d send me away?” Annabelle said, her eyes wide.
“Not far,” Mariah said. She rushed on, clearly warming to the idea. “There are excellent schools in Charleston or Columbia. I know it’s already late in the fall, but I’m sure we could pull a few strings, find a spot for you somewhere. Don’t think of it as punishment, sweetheart. You’ll have so many more opportunities. You’ll make better friends, the sort of friends who’ll last a lifetime, friends from good families with great contacts.”
“And where’s the money for this expensive private school to come from?” Don asked practically. “Out of her college fund? Then what?”
“I’ll ask my parents,” Mariah said desperately. “When I’ve explained, they’ll want to help.”
Don shook his head. “I’m against this, Mariah. Annabelle needs to stay right here and learn a lesson. You’ve gotten
