Kendra...

"We need someone in charge of baked goods," said the red-headed woman on the stage, "Any volunteers?"

I watched as hands shot up to help. Well, this was a helpful bunch.

I was at a PTA meeting for Kyle's school. The school dance was coming up and a meeting was called to get everything together. Normally I would sit these things out, or just quietly sit in the back. But this time, things had to be different.

See, Brooke's words had been playing in my head over and over. So much to the point where I had already started looking for schools. I began to panic when the search became difficult, I couldn't find schools that I liked that were close enough to our apartment and my job. Would I have to move to make things easier? Spend more money and time getting him to a new school? There had to be another way to deal with this, right? But an alternative option came to mind when Kyle reminded me of the PTA meeting. Maybe if I participated more with the association, they would see my dedication to the school and not kick my son out. It wasn't guaranteed, but it was worth a try.

So here I was, sitting in the third row, raising my hand as high as I could. I was a decent enough baker to make cookies for the dance.

I watched as other parents got picked over me. That continued for as she went down the list of tasks. It was like being in high school all over again.

Speaking of high school, little Ms. Hawthorne and her mean girl clique was sitting just a few chairs away from me. Her not so subtle glances at me and the looks she shared with the woman on the stage, had me thinking that it was all done on purpose.

"And last, but certainly not least, decorations," the woman announced. "Any takers?"

Unlike before, hands didn't shoot up. The group of parents and teachers looked around at each other, waiting to see who would be the first to volunteer and take on the responsibility. Their lack of enthusiasm about the decor should have been enough of a warning for me, but I was desperate. I needed to show this school that I and my son deserved to be here.

I raised my hand, getting the attention of the president.

"Ah, Mrs. Wright," she smiled. I could have sworn I saw an evil glint in her eyes. I should correct her, but it was probably a ploy to make me look bad. I wasn't going to play into it. "Thank you so much for volunteering to be in charge."

In charge?

I thought it was just to help decorate, not actually be in charge.

"Is there anyone who would like to help with the decor?" she asked.

The room went silent again, and the hands stayed down. It was then that Brooke decided to speak.

She stood up and faced the crowd. "Come on guys, help out. This is Ms. Wright's first time doing all of this. She's going to need all the assistance she can get."

Was she helping me?

Hands instantly started going up. She really did have a pull in this group.

"Great," she smiled.

I should be grateful that she helped. But that smirk she sent my way before taking her seat, made me feel otherwise.

The meeting went on for about another thirty minutes before we were dismissed. I met with the other parents who agreed to help and got their numbers. We planned to meet in the next few days to come up with decorations for the theme, which happened to be based on the movie, The Chronicles of Narnia. Apparently, it was big among the students at the school, and they thought they would enjoy it.

"Mrs. Wright" I heard. I turned and saw the Queen bee herself and her crew, making their way towards me.

"It's Miss," I decided to correct this time.

"Oh right, you're not married," she said acting clueless. The women behind her did nothing to hide their amusement.

"Hello to you too, Brooke," I said, trying to be polite. I wasn't going to let her get to me.

Among the women following Brooke was the PTA president. I knew they were in cohorts.

"Thank you so much for volunteering," she said, flipping that auburn hair of hers, something I thought she was way too old to be doing, no matter how much she tried to hide it with the botox.

"Happy to help in any way I can," I forced a pleasant smile, causing my cheeks to hurt.

"It's too bad you may not be here for too long," Brooke said, a condescending smile on her face. "How's the school search going?"

I was thrown off by her question. I didn't expect her to say anything about that here. But I should have known. Her botox squad was here, she was trying to impress.

"I don't think there's any need for school search," I said confidently.

"Are you sure about that? The school board is meeting this week, and word on the street is that your son's expulsion is being discussed," she said, her squad nodding along behind her. Man, I wanted to slap those chemicals out their faces.

"And you better start the search while you still have a job. Your boss is in so much legal mess that he may have to shut down the paper."

I tried my best to not laugh at that.

See, her family had indeed contacted the paper after Iris' story broke, but Mr. Cooper had easily shut it all down. I have no idea what he did, but in Washington, I've learned it may be better to not ask too many questions. Brooke wasn't quite happy about it and had been slandering Mr. Cooper and the newspaper in the media every chance she got. Her antics weren't working luckily, but I did admire her dedication.

"Mr. Cooper is a smart man, he and the paper will be fine," I replied.

'We'll see about that," she said pointing her nose to the air. She then turned to one of her minions. "Anyway, this is Mrs. Mason, a teacher here at the school. Maybe you two can talk and she can recommend some great schools for your son."

The tiny dark-haired woman's eyes widened in surprise. She obviously wasn't expecting to be dragged into this.

"I'll be happy to help," she said, the mean tone absent.

Mrs. Mason wasn't like the other woman, no matter how much she tried with the clothes and facelifts. The vibe from her was totally different. She looked like one of those "loser" kids that tried so hard to be one of the "cool" kids and was failing miserably. I kind of felt bad for her.

"Well, I guess we'll see you around," she said before putting on the fakest of smiles. "Can't wait to see the decorations!"

I had no time to respond. They quickly turned and made their way to another group.

Who would have known that mean girl cliques existed in adulthood too.

Not wanting to think too much about the botox squad, I headed straight to the Mc Donald's drive-through, then home to relieve the babysitter. Kyle was already knocked out, which meant more fries for me. I was chowing down on said fries and sitting on the couch when I got a text from Eli.

"How did things go at the meeting?" he asked.

I had informed him about my plan to impress the school.

"Well, you're talking to the new head of the decorating committee," I typed back.

"Well look at you," he replied with a smiley face. "Brooke didn't give you any trouble did she?"

"Of course she did. She even brought up Kyle getting expelled in front of her little friends."

An angry emoticon was followed by, "Don't turn your back on her."

"I won't."

"So, you guys figured how you're going to decorate yet?"

"No. We have to meet on Thursday," I typed. "But from what I heard these parents suggest, they wanna go big. I may have gotten myself into something I can't handle."

"That's what you get for sending your child to a boujee ass school."

"Shut up!" I typed while laughing.

"I'm just joking. But you know I'm here if you need me right?"

His word instantly brought me back to Thanksgiving. Brought me back to the feeling of being in his arms. Was it odd to say that I missed it? Was it weird that I wished he was here right now, wrapped up in him? Weird that I really did want a do-over with that almost kiss?

But I needed to get myself out of that headspace. As much as I wished for those things, the idea of being with him scared me. I didn't know if I was ready to give my everything to a guy like that again. But some part of me was willing to step back and see what happens.

"I know," I replied.

"Plus, I know someone who can get you some free decorations."

"Oh, you got hook-ups?"

"A few."

And our text conversation continued for hours until I fell asleep on the couch. It was like I was 15 again. It had been so long since I've done this, felt like this. I hope that this time, I was ready for it. 

And there it is Chapter 18! Don't forget to vote and/or leave a comment. It will be greatly appreciated.

I'm so sorry for taking so long to update, but sadly, this may be the last chapter posted for a long while. I'm starting school on Monday, and my schedule is going to be packed. That means writing is taking the back burner. I have 3 or 4 chapters already written, so if I get some free time, I'll edit and post those. 

Sooo sorry again. But hopefully, I'm back with a vengeance during the summer.