Catching Fireflies

“I knew you’d be hiding out again. You have math this period and I know you haven’t been going. I only have study hall right now and I told the teacher I needed to use the restroom,” she said, holding up her hall pass. She gave Misty a worried look. “You can’t keep skipping classes just because Annabelle’s a total jerk. Don’t you think Ms. Reed and Mr. Jamison are going to notice?”

“Mr. Jamison never takes attendance,” Misty replied. “And I don’t think he can see past the end of his nose, so he has no idea whether I’m in class or not. As long as you let me know when the tests are coming up and I show up to take those, he won’t have a clue.”

“We’re not in the same AP math class, though,” Katie protested. “They had to divide us into two groups, remember? One of these days he’ll give the tests on different days, and then what?”

“I’ll deal with that if it happens,” Misty insisted.

“Well, Ms. Reed is neither blind nor dumb,” Katie told her. “She’s bound to notice. Just tell her what’s going on, Misty. She’s pretty cool. I think she’d get it. Maybe she could even help.”

Misty shook her head. “I can’t take the chance, Katie. Who knows what Ms. Reed would do? Whatever it is, it will just make things worse with Annabelle. They’re bad enough already.”

She gave Katie a pleading look. “You know I’m right. You know how mean Annabelle can be. And that mother of hers is this overprotective grizzly bear who’s counting on her little darlin’ to propel them into the entertainment big time one of these days. Mrs. Litchfield will tell everyone it’s my fault, that I must have done something just awful to her precious darlin’ for her to do these horrible things.”

“I still say Ms. Reed would believe you,” Katie countered, not relenting. “Or why don’t you tell your mom and dad and let them handle it?”

Katie made it sound so simple, as if the whole world would be ready to leap to Misty’s defense. Misty knew, though, that nothing in her life these days was simple.

“Come on, Katie. I can’t do that,” she replied wearily. “My parents are barely speaking to each other. Mom’s so mad at Dad, she doesn’t care about anything else that’s going on. She just wants me and my brother to be invisible. She seems to have this crazy idea that if the house is perfect and Jake and I are little angels, Dad will change his mind about wanting a divorce.”

Katie nodded, her expression filled with understanding. “I remember what that was like. I was only six when my mom and dad got divorced, and I didn’t totally get what was going on, but there was way too much fighting that made my mom cry all the time. Even though I hated it when my dad moved out, things got so much better after that. And once my mom started seeing Coach Maddox and they got married, everything’s, like, a thousand times better at home.”

Misty sighed. “I wish someone like that would come along and sweep my mom off her feet. I don’t think it’s going to happen, though. She’s going to hang on to my dad for dear life, even though it’s so over for the two of them. I don’t even think she loves him anymore. I think she’s just scared to let go.”

They sat side by side in silence for a few minutes. Then Katie glanced at her. “What if I said something to my stepdad? I know he’d help.”

Misty’s eyes widened with alarm. “Coach Maddox? No way. Leave it alone, Katie. It’s my problem. I’ll figure something out.”

“You need to do it soon, Misty. You’re gonna get caught. Look what happened to me. Mom and Cal came down on me even harder than Mrs. Donovan did. I’ve never seen my mom so furious. She even made me scrub the whole locker room at The Corner Spa, and believe me, that was gross. Women are really messy, even in a classy place like that.”

“Suspension actually sounds good to me,” Misty admitted, unable to keep a wistful note out of her voice. It was almost hard to remember what it had been like when she’d loved coming to school, loved learning and books and hanging with her friends. These days the only time she even saw her friends was if she hooked up with them after school at Wharton’s, and even that was tense because Annabelle showed up every now and then and set out to make her life miserable.

Katie looked shocked. “You don’t mean that. You love school! You’re on track to get a scholarship, Misty. It’ll be on your transcript if you’re suspended. Believe me, I heard all about how it was going to ruin my future.”

“I know. I’m just saying, it sounds better than being here and hiding in the stairwell during English and math. I can’t even go to the cafeteria for lunch anymore. That’s the one good thing about this daze my mom is in. She hasn’t noticed I’m bringing my lunch to school all of a sudden, instead of buying it here.”

She gave her friend a weary look. “I just wish I could figure out why Annabelle hates me so much. She’s beautiful. She’s got this incredible voice that will get her onto American Idol someday, just the way Travis McDonald said on the radio on the Fourth of July. And she’s dating the most popular boy in school.”

Katie regarded her incredulously. “Come on. I know you can’t be that clueless, Misty. This is because super jock Greg Bennett, the most popular guy in school, is crazy about you. He’d dump Annabelle in a minute if he thought you’d go out with him. And worst of all, she knows it.”

“But I won’t go out with him,” Misty said with frustration. “I’ve turned him down. Annabelle knows that, too. It’s not my fault if he can’t take no for an answer. It ought to show her what a sleaze he is for being with her and asking me out at the same time.”

“The most popular boy in school,” Katie repeated with emphasis. “Annabelle feels she’s entitled to the best. And since she can’t blame him without losing him, she blames you.”

“I guess,” Misty said with a shrug. “I sure don’t get it, though. I’d have kicked him to the curb the second I found out he was hitting on another girl.”

“Because you’re smart and have it together,” Katie said loyally.

Misty sighed heavily. “If only that were true.”

The truth was that every single day she felt more and more as if her life were falling completely apart and Annabelle Litchfield was at the controls.

* * *

After fending off his nurse’s latest attempt to fix him up, pediatrician J. C. Fullerton was pondering the tendency of Serenity residents to meddle in other people’s lives when the door to his office opened a crack.

“Is it okay if I come in?” Misty Dawson asked hesitantly. “Everyone’s gone out front, but the lights were still on and the door was open. I thought you might still be here.”

“Sure. Come on in,” he said, regarding the teen worriedly. This kind of after-hours visit usually spelled trouble. With a sixteen-year-old girl, an unplanned pregnancy came immediately to mind.

“Everything okay?” he asked.

Misty sat gingerly on the edge of the chair across from him, her schoolbooks in her lap. “Not really.” She sucked in a deep breath, then blurted, “Could you write me some kind of note to get out of school?”

Over the years, J.C. had worked hard not to react visibly to anything patients said to him. Teens, especially, had tender feelings and could easily be scared into silence if their physician said the wrong thing. It usually worked best to listen and ask questions very, very carefully.

He studied Misty closely. Other than looking nervous and maybe a little pale, she appeared to be as healthy as she had been when she’d had her annual physical before the school year started. Her straight blond hair was shiny, her bright blue eyes clear. Looks, though, could be deceiving.

“Aren’t you feeling well?” he asked, treading carefully.

“Not really.”

He took the response at face value. “What seems to be the problem? Is something going on at school?”

“I just can’t go anymore, okay?” she said, instantly defensive. “And I know they’ll need some kind of an excuse if I stop showing up. I figured a note from you would work. You could tell ’em I have something really, really contagious, right?”

He held her gaze. “Do you have something really, really contagious?”

“No, but—”

“Then you know I can’t do it,” he said, his tone gentle but firm. “Talk to me, Misty. What’s really going on?”

“I’m not going back, that’s all,” she said stubbornly.

J.C.’s antennae went on full alert. He had seen this kind of thing before, kids who were good students who suddenly didn’t want to go to school. He’d seen it in a way that was up close and way too personal. He was instantly determined to get to the bottom of whatever was on this young girl’s mind.

“Is there a specific reason you don’t want to be in school, Misty?” he prodded gently. “The way I heard it from your mom, you’re an outstanding student, taking all sorts of advanced placement classes.”

She shrugged. “Doesn’t matter. I don’t want to be there anymore.”

“What will you do if you don’t go?” he asked reasonably. “I thought when we did your physical you mentioned something about wanting to be a broadcast journalist someday. You’ll need a high school diploma and college for that. You were all excited about the possibility of a scholarship.”

“Like you said, I’m smart. I’ll take the GED and ace it, then get into college someplace far away from Serenity. It might not be a fancy Ivy League school like I was hoping, but that’s okay. It’s a trade-off, but it’ll be worth it. I can do it,” she said earnestly. “Please, Dr. Fullerton. You’ve got to help me out.”

He leveled a look into her troubled eyes. “You know I can’t do that, Misty. Now, why don’t you tell me what’s really going on? Maybe I can help with that.”

Tears rolled down her cheeks, but she stood up, squared her shoulders and headed for the door, her disappointment unmistakable. “Sorry I bothered you.”

“Misty, wait. Let’s talk about this,” he pleaded, not wanting to be one more adult who let her down. She might not be physically ill, but she was clearly deeply disturbed about something. The fact that she’d come to him gave him a responsibility to help in any way he could.