"Accept who you are. Unless you're a serial killer."

~Ellen DeGeneres

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

I'm surrounded by a dozen moms in yoga pants as we crowd around the sidelines on the soccer field.

Minivans are the backdrop.

Eloise is playing in right field, wearing a sporty golden jersey with the number 14 on it.

In left field is Carter Joseph, the punk who beat up Jemma. It's up to Eloise to avenge her sister.

Kristen is five yoga pants away from me.

Our eyes meet and we glower at each other.

"Go Carter!" she shouts.

"Come on, Eloise!" I yell, even louder.

"You know you're supposed to cheer for the team, not just your kid, right?" the mom next to me asks.

"Yeah, and did you know Copenhagen is the capital of Denmark?" I snap, cheering when Eloise takes the ball and starts running across the field.

"Take it, Carter!" Kristen shouts, and somehow she still sounds nice when she says it.

"Pass it, Eloise!" I instruct.

Eloise glances up at me and kicks the ball across the field to her teammate on the other side.

"Get it, honey!" Kristen claps like she's cheering him on, but I know she's secretly wanting Carter to destroy Eloise.

I cross my arms nervously when Carter races across the bright green grass like an athletic elven warrior.

Just as Eloise reclaims the ball from her teammate and goes to kick it into the goal, Carter does some fancy footwork and elbows Eloise out of the way.

She falls to her knees and winces.

"Interference!" I yell, then grind my teeth. Screw politeness. "Kick him into next Saturday, Eloise! Pound his stupid little rat face into the ground!"

The moms around me gasp, but I glance at them and shrug.

"Keep going!" Kristen has a huge smile that reaches from ear to ear like the Cheshire cat.

"Eloise! Go, go, go!"

Eloise pumps her arms as hard as she can, racing across the field with everything she has.

I'm leaning over the rope that separates us from going onto the field, cheering my head off as Eloise gets closer to Carter.

Just as Carter hauls his leg back to make the goal, Eloise slides underneath him.

He trips backward, but his left foot still catches the ball and sends it flying the opposite way.

It's like it all happens in slow motion after that.

The moms and I watch, mouths agape, as Carter falls on top of Eloise, and the ball sails through the sky right into the face of another kid who never saw it coming.

The kid's arms flail in the air when the ball meets his forehead and his feet go airborne until he lands flat on his back.

"Garret!" a mother screams. She leaps over the rope and sprints across the field as the referee lays on his whistle like a car horn.

I cover my mouth in shock.

Kristen leans over to glare sharp daggers into me. As if it's all my fault.

A nurse runs onto the field and I hang my head and sigh. This is so bad...

After a few moments, the kid gets up and the nurse helps him to the sidelines.

The referee's red face scans the crowd and lands on us.

"Kristen Joseph and Beverly Curie! Principal's office!"

~~~~~~

Going to the principal's office when you're in school is the epitome of humiliation. But when you're a twenty-seven-year-old adult...it's so much worse.

Kristen and I refuse to make eye contact because we both know we'll rip each other's throats out if we do.

Eloise and Carter are in Principal Douglas's office first, so Kristen and I are sitting in the lobby under the judging eye of the receptionist ladies.

In just two weeks, two of the girls will have gotten suspended, I know it. Aimee is going to kill me...not to mention the girls' permanent records.

Images of Jemma and Eloise scraping gum off of the benches in New York for $2 an hour after they can't even get a job at McDonald's keep replaying in my mind.

I'm surprised when Kristen speaks.

"Why'd you even take them in?" she asks hollowly. "You obviously aren't equipped to do it."

I glare down at my hands. I haven't told anyone that Aimee paid me to take care of the girls, and I'd rather go down a slide of razor blades into a pool of alcohol than tell Kristen, of all people.

"My sister didn't have a choice," I reply.

"Clearly."

For once, I don't feel like arguing, so I don't reply.

"You're horrible with them just so you know," she continues, still scowling at the ground. "No wonder they get into fights--probably all of those violent video games you let them play."

"And you're Mom of the Year, I'm sure," I say. "I'll bet your husband has another story to tell.

A dark cloud passes over Kristen's face. "Yes, I'm sure he would," she mutters vaguely, then shakes her head.

"Do you even feed them?" She looks at me with eyes sharp enough to cut through wire cables.

"Of course I do."

"What?"

I shrug. "I dunno...Kraft mac 'n cheese, Burger King...cereal."

Kristen scoffs and she sits up, almost excitedly. "Do they do chores?"

"No."

"Do you check their homework?"

"Hopefully a school this expensive teaches them well enough so I don't have to."

"Do you even clean the house?"

I shrink in my seat and murmur, "Would you believe me if I told you I had a maid?"

Kristen actually laughs. "Wow! Just...wow. You know, I know all about your family. My Dad worked in town when I was growing up." She shrugs a shoulder and leans back again. "He always said your parents were dishonest scoundrels whose name wasn't even worth mentioning." Her eyes settle on me pointedly. "I'm not as crass as he was, but I can tell you're following close in their footsteps."

I bite the inside of my cheek and look away.

Eloise and Carter trail out of principal Douglas's office and Kristen and I stand up.

Principal Douglas beckons us inside.

I try to give Eloise an apologetic look, but she averts her eyes as her already blushing cheeks grow even redder.

"Mrs. Joseph, Miss Curie," Principal Douglas sighs as we take our seats across from him.

"Look, Henry," Kristen says sweetly.

Principal Douglas lifts a hand. "You were both out of line today," he says. "And that behavior is unacceptable."

"Understood, you're absolutely right," Kristen says earnestly.

I mutter, "Oh, shut up."

"I have decided not to suspend either of your children," he says. "It was an accident, after all, though they could've been more careful. However, if I could, I would suspend the two of you."

Kristen and I both look down at our hands.

"Whatever's going on between you needs to stop," he urges.

After a few moments of silence, he sits up. "Kristen, you are dismissed."

My eyes widen as Kristen makes a beeline out of the office. Carter isn't getting punished?

"What about me?" I ask.

Principal Douglas folds his hands on the desk and I know I'm in for a lecture.

"Believe it or not, I used to be the principal at Chestnut Ridge High when your mom was growing up," he begins.

I groan. Another person linking me with my parents. Great.

"I know you're trying."

I look up at him in surprise.

"But you need someone to show you how to do all of this with the girls."

I gulp.

"Maybe you could cut down that enormous pride of yours and ask your sister for help. Or anyone else for that matter." His wrinkled face turns into one giant frown. "Six months can shape those girls' lives forever. Be careful."

I swallow and look down. "I just...I don't want to be like my parents."

"Then you have to prove it."

His words feel like a needle poking my insides. It isn't pleasant.

I lick my lips and stand up. "Thanks," I say quietly, "but I don't need a school counselor on my back too."

I turn to leave, feeling like rocks are weighing me down.

I close principal Douglas's door behind me and look up to see Finn Watson talking to Eloise, who is crying softly.

My lips part in both surprise and...is it hurt? I think so. It hurts to see someone else doing the job I can't. When was the last time I got Eloise to say more than twenty words? And it hurts because now there's another person who sees my failure.

I brush my hair behind my ear and avoid his gaze. "Come on, Eloise, let's go home."

"Beverly," Finn says softly.

"I have to go," I say tiredly. "Thanks for talking with her."

We leave the school and I contemplate never coming back.