Chapter 19: The Gala

The gala was in the ballroom of a downtown hotel, and a banner over the doors read EDUCATOR OF THE YEAR.

Lindsey wore the green dress.

I wore one of my mother's, taken in at the waist by my grandmother, with a pin still in the hem.

In my clutch were the photograph in its plastic sleeve and the empty pen from Parents' Day.

I had carried that pen in my backpack for two weeks.

"Table fourteen, in the back," my grandmother said, steering my mother through the crowd by the elbow. "We'll be where he can't see us."

"He'll see us," my mother said.

"Then we'll be where he can see us and can't do anything about it."

Noemi had already vanished toward the booth at the back of the room. She'd given me a thumbs up over her press badge.

We were almost at the ballroom doors when a woman in a cream coat stepped in front of Lindsey.

"Mom," Lindsey said.

Lindsey's mother had a man beside her in a gray suit, carrying a leather folder.

"This is a lawyer," her mother said. "He represents the Parents' Association."

"He represents Dad," Lindsey said.

The man in the gray suit didn't blink.

"Miss Howland, I'm here to make sure you understand your position," he said.

"Your mother signed an agreement when you were nine. If you speak tonight, the payments stop and the tuition stops."

"And your mother is exposed to a lawsuit," he added.

Lindsey looked at her mother.

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