and you’re just not. Face it, dear—you’re just too big and clumsy-looking for this. Find another activity.”
The two girls looked at each other with anger and indignation. Emily was their best friend, and nobody had the right to be so mean to her. They heard the door to the locker room forced open as Emily went to get her things. They also heard the two women continue to talk to each other.
“I don’t know how that girl could be related to Attiya and Ayanna. They got all the beauty in that family, and that’s the truth,” said Mrs. Carter.
“They took after their mother,” Mrs. Johnson agreed. “That Emily looks like a big ol’ bear next to them. It’s a good thing she gets good grades, because she has nothing else going for her. It must be hard being the big ugly one in a pretty family.”
“Too bad for her,” Mrs. Carter agreed. “Turn off the lights and let’s get out of here.”
The two girls waited until the lights went out in the gym before running into the locker room to get their friend. The teachers left by the side entrance and didn’t even notice that Emily was still in the locker room. The girls got there just in time to see Emily wiping away angry tears.
“I’m not going out for the dance team,” she mumbled. “I’m not going out for anything. I’m going home.”
“Don’t listen to those old bats,” said the short one, who was named Alexis. “They’re just old and senile, and they don’t know what they’re talking about.”
The tall one, named Sherri, agreed. “You should tell your mother and get them suspended without pay, because they have no right to say those things to a student. It’s discriminatory.”
They were trying to make her feel better, but it didn’t really work. She’d been hearing the same kind of things from people since she was a little girl. Nothing she ever did was good enough, because she didn’t look like her sisters. It wasn’t her fault that she was tall and sturdy instead of little and gorgeous. So she was done trying to be like them. From now on she was going to be the smartest girl in the family, since she couldn’t be anything else. And she had something else to look forward to, according to Sherri.
“Don’t worry about it, because tomorrow I’ma put a worm in their desks. That’ll fix the old hags.”
Emily was surprised that she could laugh, but she did. They all laughed together as they left the building and started the long walk home.
Chapter 1
“Do you think she’ll cuss us out?” Alexis sounded more amused than nervous as she checked the contents of her shopping bag.
“Probably. But she needs to vent to somebody or she’ll pop. It’s our duty to annoy her enough to let it out.” Sherri was always practical, down-to-earth and fearless. And she would probably need all of those characteristics to deal with their BFF today. She turned off the ignition and reached into the backseat to get the bag she’d brought. She turned to Alexis with a face of determination. “Let’s get it over with. Emily’s had her panties in a knot for weeks, and it’s past time that we find out why. Get out of the car.”
Alexis frowned. “If she wanted us to know what’s been bothering her, she’d have told us. She’s entitled to her privacy,” she pointed out.
“Get out of the car. She doesn’t need privacy, she needs her girls. Out!”
They finally made it to the green front door of the cottage. It was a perfect little jewel of a house. Emily had done almost all the renovation work herself, and the results were spectacular. Alexis looked ready to bolt, but Sherri grabbed her arm with one hand while she rang the bell with the other. “Girl, if you make me drop this bottle of wine, I will hurt you,” she threatened.
Luckily, Emily answered the door before mayhem could ensue. She had been exercising from the looks of her; she was wearing workout clothes that bore large sweat patterns around the neck and the armpits, and she was wiping more sweat from her face. “What a surprise,” she said dryly. “So what is this, an intervention?”
Sherri sucked her teeth. “Yes, it is. And it wouldn’t be necessary if you would just confide in your best friends like a normal woman. Move out of the way so we can come in before we drop this stuff.”
Emily didn’t budge. “What stuff? Is it edible?”
Alexis nodded vigorously. “We brought you dinner, and it’s hella good.” Emily moved out of the doorway so they could enter the house. As Alexis walked past her, she whispered, “Sherri made me ambush you. This was all her idea.”
Sadly, Alexis had never really learned how to whisper, so Sherri heard every word. “I’ll get you later. In the meantime, let’s eat,” Sherri said cheerfully. “We’ll set the table while you go shower, Miss Emily.”
“Fine, if you’re gonna gang up on me,” Emily mumbled, but she really didn’t sound angry. She actually sounded a little relieved, but only someone who knew her very well would have noticed.
In a short time the ladies were sitting at the table in the breakfast room off Emily’s kitchen. It was spotless, as was every room of the house. The walls were pale green, matching the green-and-white ceramic tile floor. All the trim was black, matching the black and stainless steel appliances and the black table and chairs. The chairs had seats covered in green-and-white-patterned fabric that matched the café curtains in the windows that surrounded the seating area.
“What are we eating?” Emily asked. “Not that I care, of course. You know I’ll eat anything.”
“I brought some chicken salad and rolls and brownies,” Alexis told her.
“Brought out the big guns, huh? You’re really trying to make me talk, aren’t you?” Emily put a big helping of salad on her plate and took two of the crusty homemade rolls. Alexis made astounding chicken salad, and Emily could never get enough of it.
Sherri poured her a glass of pinot grigio. “Yes, this is a bribe. It’s come to that, Em. You’ve been acting like a different person since you took that trip to Hilton Head in September and we want to know why. You have been avoiding us, and when we do manage to get in touch with you, you’re in a nasty-ass mood, the one that scares most people off. We’ve been friends since grade school, and you can’t scare us off,” she said. “But there has to be a good explanation for your errant behavior, and we want to know what it is. Time for you to share, sister.”
Emily looked at Sherri and then at Alexis. The three of them had been friends forever. They were really the only people she was close to, outside of her family. All of them were pretty, but they couldn’t have been more dissimilar. Emily was tall and bronze, with long, thick black hair that she never did anything to, other than keep it clean. She was in perfect shape, thanks to years of yoga, cycling and karate. Nothing fussy or girlish about her, but she was a very busy woman. Head of the biochemistry department at University of South Carolina, her schedule was loaded with academics as well as community service. She had too much on her plate to mess around with cosmetics—at least that was her excuse.
Alexis, on the other hand, was petite with chocolate-brown skin, and her hair was always chic. Since she was a much sought-after cosmetologist, her hair was her advertisement; it had better be fly. Sherri was even taller than Emily and very striking. She was very fair-skinned with short red hair, and she was always fashionably attired even though
