Megan looped her arm in mine and waggled her brows. “Did you get any more letters from that guy?”
“Brett?”
She nodded, “yeah.”
Brett Grace was my parents top choice for a husband, which was probably the only reason they forwarded his letters to me. I thought he was sweet in high school – he was away at college now – but that was about it. Don’t get me wrong Brett was a good man, but he was… boring.
“Not since the last time.”
“Maybe he found out about your scandalous one night stand?”
I rolled my eyes. “My parents like him too much for that.”
“Oh come on.” She chuckled and gave me a teasing nudge. “You never know, he might be fun?”
“Fun isn’t in Brett Grace’s vocabulary.”
“He might surprise you.” Megan argued.
Maybe she was right? Maybe I should give Brett a chance? He did write me every week. If nothing else, he was committed.
I forced myself to smile and pulled Megan walk over the grass. “Why don’t we get through this before I marry myself off.”
She tipped her head to her shoulder in a small shrug, which was a tame reaction. Megan was full of life and sass. The kind of girl my parents would call a bad influence. I expected more of an argument. Maybe she was finally falling in line with the rest of us?
I should’ve known better.
When we rounded the corner into our classroom and Agatha’s cold eyes narrowed in on my friend, my stomach flipped.
“What are you two talking about?”
Before I could stop her, Megan blurted out, “I was just telling Cheyenne that she should give her pen pal a chance.”
Agatha’s next statement only confirmed one of my suspicions.
“I think that’s a wonderful idea.”
She was in league with my parents.
“Right.” Megan tipped her head and smirked back at the woman. “In my experience, it’s usually the reserved ones that really know how to ride a woman.”
Everyone in the room froze as Agatha’s face dropped. I could literally feel the air around us growing denser. And what did Megan do?
She gave Agatha the biggest, sweetest smile and said, “so, what’s on the docket today? The whore of Babylon?”
“That’s it Miss. Cooke.” Without missing a beat, Agatha snapped her fingers, signalling the orderly’s to drag her away.
Before Don and Ruben could pry her off me, Megan leaned in a whispered, “don’t worry, I have a plan.”
The smile she gave me as she was dragged away would forever be burned in my mind.
3
Louis
17 years ago
One thing required by every psychiatrist was the basic understanding of human behaviour. That was a skill I’d perfected long before I began studying for my masters. Everyone had a tell.
