Principal Rodman's tone turned more somber as he continued to speak. "I want to start this meeting by expressing my sympathies to the families affected by the arson."

He turned to the PTO president Trina here, and Trina put her hand on her heart and nodded. As he moved aside for her, she took her position at the podium.

Her expression looked serious. "We've decided the proceeds from our first fundraiser will go towards the two families affected by the arson, to help mitigate the costs of repairing fire damage." Fire damage. The words made Ellie's heart beat faster again.

The mood turned suddenly somber, probably because everyone wondered the same thing: who would do such a thing, and why? Would any one of the people sitting in the cafeteria become a future victim?

Then the discussion turned to raising funds for Lake End Elementary, and Ellie's heartbeat slowed as the mood in the cafeteria seemed to lift, despite the boring topic.

She found herself honing in on Trina's lips, which parted perfectly with each word. "The Fall Book Fair will be held the week after next, with all proceeds going to those teachers whose applications for classroom improvements have been approved..." This continued for a while, and Ellie's attention from Trina's features never wavered. The woman's enthusiasm for fundraising dripped from her every word like maple syrup. Ellie concentrated on the soft eloquence of her voice, on her clear and rhythmic diction, and she found herself mesmerized.

Papers went around, and even though Ellie had initially planned to practice some restraint, she listed her name for everything. Volunteer Compulsion, she thought—a phrase just then made up for this phenomenon: where her attempts to make a good impression overrode her efforts to stay within reasonable limits, to extend herself only as far as she could without losing her sanity. She signed away weeks or more of her life, devoting them to the Bookfair, the Bake Sale, the Giving Tree program, the Songs for Dollars fundraiser, Escape Room Night...until the names of the fundraisers began to blur together. Her new friends, sitting beside her, seemed proud, etching their names—Lana Clark and Melanie Monson— below hers: Ellie Vanderson.

"Now," Trina said as the papers were being collected. "Is there anything else we need to discuss?"

"We need to discuss the incident that occurred during the second week of school," said a mom sitting in the very front row. "The one involving my son, Zachary."

The principal stepped forward, out of the shadows of the cafeteria's stage curtains. "What are your concerns, Monica?"

"I just want to ensure the necessary measures are being taken to curb this violent behavior and protect the other children. Some of the other parents who volunteer during the day have told me the child is still exhibiting worrying behavior, like pushing kids at recess, yelling profanity, challenging his teachers..."

The principal rubbed his eyes. "I assure you we are doing everything we can to help this child." It seemed like the two of them had had this conversation before.

"But why does this child even go here? I know for a fact this child doesn't even live in our district. I don't understand why he isn't attending Forest Front."

"Well, as you know, we have an open enrollment policy."

"Yes, but my friend who lives in the Mountainside district was one of the first to sign up for open enrollment, and her family was denied."

"Well, we have limited space and prioritization procedures in place."

"So why was this child prioritized over my friend's?"

The agitation in Principal Rodman's voice went up a notch. "I'm not at liberty to discuss that."

"Well, I just don't understand why he isn't attending Forest Front. Their school is known for having troubled kids like him; they're more equipped to deal with him."

"I assure you we are perfectly equipped to deal with this child. Your thoughts have been noted."

Ellie couldn't believe what she was hearing. Maybe this was her opportunity, her chance to speak up and make a good point, something like, Who the fuck do you think you are, Monica? The wealthy gatekeeper of Lake End? We're talking about a kid, for fuck's sake! A good education sounds like it would benefit this child.

No. Ellie wouldn't raise her hand. Saying her thoughts aloud, even with the omission of cuss words, would be counterproductive. Her goal wasn't to become the savior/naysayer; it was to fit in. And by the looks of it, Lana and Melanie had swallowed Monica's words with ease; they nodded subtly in agreement.

Ellie recoiled, before feeling silly for her thoughts. Monica was only doing what any mammalian mother would do: protecting her children. Your kid gets attacked, you attack back. What if Avery had been the one to get punched?

The meeting concluded. Lana and Melanie walked slowly and close together as they whispered about the violent incident. "It really is such unacceptable behavior, and it's worrisome to think the school might not be handling it well," said Lana.

"I saw the boy's mother smoking cigarettes," Melanie chimed in, like smoking cigarettes was the worst thing in the world, directly linked to his violence.

"The boy's name is Trigger," said Lana. "Can you believe that? Who would name their kid that?"

Trigger? Ellie was pretty sure she knew exactly who this little boy was.

Lana and Melanie turned to her here, as if expecting a response, so she said, in a hushed voice, "Well I guess the name's fitting. You know, if he's so easily triggered that it took only a few Legos to send him into a fit of violence."

They laughed, and Lana said, "My god, Ellie, you are terrible."

She'd given Ellie a compliment. Ellie should have swelled with pride. But what she had said was cruel. Her words were actually, truly terrible, and she felt terrible reflecting on them, even as Lana stood laughing at her joke, proving her personal triumph.

"Sounds like a future arsonist," joked Melanie.

"His mother is so white trash," said Lana.

As both women laughed, Ellie went still, wondering: should she laugh, too? Her own comment had been terrible, but Lana's comment was worse. It upset Ellie, because she knew the awful power words wielded. She had experienced that power. 

Brushing off Lana's comment as a joke in poor taste, Ellie turned to find Trina coming toward their huddled group.

Trina looked into Ellie's eyes as she said, "Thank you for coming, ladies, and for volunteering!"

Lana started gushing. "Great work up there, Trina. I don't know how you do all the things you do." Ellie could almost feel her eyes rolling of their own accord; this wasn't the first time she'd witnessed Lana acting like some google-eyed fangirl in Trina's almighty presence. Although Lana pretended to hate Trina, Ellie knew she was one of Trina's biggest fans; she seemed to go to great lengths to get invitations to all of Trina's social functions, and she bragged ad nauseam about the ones she'd attended in the past. Ellie had to play along with her, because being even just partially in Trina's social circle would bring those Good Parents benefits she needed.

Trina took Lana's compliment with a smile, and said, "Well, I don't get as much sleep as I should, but you ladies will help by volunteering. Really."

She then grabbed Ellie's hand, squeezing it tightly, and Ellie smiled back, saying, "I'm always happy to help. And so is Clay. He's so glad he decided to be your assistant soccer coach. I think he just loves having someone order him around who's not me." Ellie laughed, and Trina laughed too, and the others joined in. Something changed in Trina's expression, something subtle, like she was chewing on the ideas Ellie had been trying to put into her mind for the past couple weeks. Her eyes glimmered with possibility.

The four of them said their goodbyes and parted ways, and Ellie found herself once more in the parking lot, breathing in the Colorado air, the scents of mountain breezes, decomposing leaves, and firewood. This weather felt far too cold for her, but still she welcomed the smell of burning firewood, one of her favorite smells.

Wishing she could linger, she thought, this place is so beautiful. Elementary students got the most gorgeous view of the snow-capped mountains, a view they would probably never appreciate because they would grow up thinking it was normal to see something like this every day.

Ellie felt so pleased with Clay's decision to finally let them move to Mountain Springs. Mountain Springs had numerous outdoor activities, a great community, a library with excellent funding, an emphasis on locally grown food, and a hatred for litter. Apart from the recent arson, it was safe, a perfect place to raise a child. A resort town with one of the smaller resorts, it brought in just enough tourists and was affordable enough to allow for more diversity than hoity-toity resort towns.

Above all, Mountain Springs was a whole state away from the place and the people Ellie had left behind, the place where the women said terrible things about her, where her cruel family could go on disowning her forever. Lana might say terrible things sometimes, but she was nice to Ellie, and she was a great mother, and she loved the community, and, most importantly, she would bring her children to Avery's birthday parties. Ellie thought back to Avery's third birthday party in Arizona, when none of the invitees had shown up. That moment epitomized her failure as a mother, and she couldn't let that happen again. She couldn't let her old reputation ever affect her son again. Mountain Springs was the fresh start they all needed..

As she got into her car, her cell started ringing, so I took it out of her purse to see who was calling. Dylan.

Freed from the restraints of grownup talk, no fear of walking on eggshells, she answered. "Hey, loser." She had known Dylan forever, since they were kids.

"Hey, Elle," he called her by her shortened name; he was the only one who did that anymore. "How's your night?"

"A total drag. I just got out of a LEPO meeting."

"If only someone told you when we were in high school that, as an adult, you would be spending your time at parent meetings."

"I would have run far, far away from my future."

Dylan laughed with her, then paused before saying, "Well, listen. I can't talk long, but I called to tell you I'm moving."

Even though she already knew the answer, she asked, "Where?"

"There. Mountain Springs."

A mixture of feelings came over Ellie. She felt more excitement than she'd felt in a long time, but the feeling blanketed a sense of dread. She'd moved away from all that she knew and from everyone she loved to get away from the truth of her past, and Dylan was going to bring remnants of it right to her front door. Trying to focus on the excitement, she feigned enthusiasm. "Wow. That's great."

"Dad was gonna let us move in with you guys for a while. You know, until I get on my feet. But he wants me to make sure it's okay with you, first."

"Yeah," she started, and then, trying to sound more enthusiastic, she said, "I mean, of course! We've been joking about it for a while now, right?"

It was true they'd been talking about it for a while, for at least the nine months Ellie had lived in Mountain Springs. Life had been rough for Dylan, and she kept telling him it could be easier if he moved to beautiful Colorado, where she could help him take care of his daughter and he could be the best single dad he could be, trying to enjoy life instead of just trying to make it to the next day. She hadn't actually expected him to take her advice, but she wouldn't let it show. "I'm serious about helping out with Talia, too, you know. It's not like I do much else." That wasn't true, and it was something that really bothered her: people thinking she did nothing because she only worked part-time and identified as a stay-at-home mom. But for some reason, she perpetuated the myth on her own, and with ease.

"Give yourself credit, Elle. I mean, you go to LEPO meetings."

"Ha, ha. When are you coming?"

"Two weeks. Friday night. If that's alright."

"Perfect."

"I'm gonna go...but I can't wait to see you."

"Me neither," she said, half-lying.