Susan
"But who told them? How... I don't understand."
"She said she saw you at the café that day."
"And she just told everyone? She didn't call me or ask me what was happening, she just... told everyone!"
"I'm sorry, Susan. You know how it is here, people say things..."
Davis came into the room. Noticing my demeanor, he looked at me questioningly. I waved him off before he could speak. "Well, tell her to mind her own business. Or- no, scratch that. I'll tell her myself."
"Okay. Susan, don't let this stop you from coming. We miss you. And the boys' music, it always brought such a spirit to the service."
"We'll think about it. Bye." I hung up. I didn't mean to be rude, but I was too upset to even think about going back to church now.
"What happened?" Davis asked me.
"Jeanine saw us at the café when we met Diana," I said.
"Oh." He scratched his head. "What did she say?"
"I was talking to Kelsey. Jeanine told everybody! The whole church! She said all these ridiculous things- she didn't even ask me what was happening! Everyone knows now!"
"Well, what did she say?" Davis repeated.
"That we're replacing our daughter, using Diana to relieve our grief, like she's some kind of Barbie! All these disgusting things!" I sat on the bed. "This is why I never liked her. She just sees something and starts judging everyone and telling everyone..."
Davis sat next to me. "Well..."
"Well, what?"
"She's kind of right, Susan." He shrugged guiltily.
"How is she right? Diana... her appearance is a fluke. We were going to help a foster child. That was it."
"But it hasn't been long, my love."
I stayed silent. In part, he was right... I saw Diana and I wanted her to be with us. Who could blame me, though? I was looking at my baby's face. I could see her...
But that wasn't the only reason. I wanted to help other children out there. Diana has a pretty disturbing past. I would love to help... relieve some of it, at least.
Either way, Jeanine started a rumor. Again. She hadn't even apologized. Just last year, she thought Amy had turned to drugs.
Yeah, sure. She turned to drugs. Chemo drugs.
"She's wrong, Davis. She doesn't know this family, she doesn't know what we're feeling. She didn't have any right to go around telling everyone!" I stood, pacing quickly. "The way she made it sound made us look like psychos! And they want us to go back?! Oh, no. I'm not going to face everyone after what she told them."
"Susan, please, calm down-"
"Stop telling me to calm down, because I'm not calming down. My God, how dare she! If she lost her baby, how would she feel?"
"Honey, you're shaking! Please, take a deep breath."
Someone knocked at the door. I quickly composed myself and tried to breathe normally, lacing my trembling hands behind me. "Who is it?"
"It's Diana."
"Come in, sweetheart."
She opened the door. Just seeing her brought me back to when our lives were normal. When my baby girl would come bouncing on her feet, asking me for permission to watch TV, or use the computer, or just to complain about her brothers annoying her.
It's not her. It's another girl with her own family. This is Diana.
"I needed to ask you about school..." Diana started.
"Oh, sure, honey. You have any questions?"
"I was..." She cleared her throat. "I think I want to go to school face-to-face. At Summit High."
My stomach dropped to my feet. I tried to mask it with a smile. "What?"
"I gave it some thought, and... there's a lot of classes that I want to take, but they're not available online. So... I really want to go to school now. Maybe it'll be different. Last time, it was just elementary school, so... it might be a better experience."
I glanced at Davis for help. His mouth flapped, but no sound came out. Why did I even expect help from him? Turning to Diana, I tried to act as normal as possible. "Um... are you sure, sweetheart? I mean... the boys have been pretty rude to you. I'm trying to talk to them. I don't want you to force yourself to spend time with them."
"It's fine. They're in different grades."
"Y-yeah, but..."
"Maybe you could try out a different school?" Davis suggested.
"Yeah. We thought you could go to Lawson High. That way you and the boys can spend some time apart. They get pretty mischievous around their friends, and we wouldn't be there to stop them. We can only punish them after the fact."
Diana's eyes suddenly filled with tears and she grew anxious. "B-but... I don't know anyone at Lawson."
"You would only know them at this school, anyway," said Davis. "Don't cry, Diana-"
"No, I can't- I can't go to school alone! Please, I want to go with the boys, I need the support, I can't be alone! Please? I promise everything will be okay, and we'll get along, I just need someone I know close to me because then I'm too scared and I'm gonna screw up and they'll suspend me-"
I didn't know what to do. From her file, I figured she'd hate going to school. I was sure she'd stay online. Where did this come from?
"Okay, okay, it's okay!" I put my hands on her shoulders, trying to calm her down. Tears covered her cheeks. "It's alright. Um... we'll talk to Tommy and Harry, okay? We'll make sure they're not rude to you at school. Okay? But... if you change your mind, let us know. Lawson's a good school, too."
"Diana, really, you're not going to see much of Tommy and Harry," said Davis. "If you go to Lawson, there's not much of a difference."
"Yeah, but..." She sniffled. "At least I know there's a familiar face nearby, you know?"
"Are you sure? Virtual school has a lot," I said. "That way you don't have to wake up so early, or-"
Diana stepped back, gazing at us with hurt in her eyes. She sniffled and wiped her eyes. "I get it. You... you don't want me to embarrass your sons at school, do you?"
I glanced at Davis again. This was not going well. "No, that's not it-"
"It's just like them. They freaked out because they didn't want me with them. But I get it. You're embarrassed. Like the other families. It's okay, I'm used to it."
Oh, God... What could I say? The girl just wanted a normal life. I couldn't deny her the right to go to the school she wanted. I didn't know what changed her mind after she was so adamant about staying home.
"If you want to go with them... then you can go with them, Diana," Davis said slowly. "We just want you to be happy, and we know you and our sons don't get along well. That's all."
"We'll get along. I know we will."
I looked at my husband. We didn't really have much of a choice. "Okay, we'll just... talk to them."
Her face instantly brightened up. I felt a stab in my heart from her familiar smile. My beautiful princess... she lit up the room with that smile. The house was so much darker after...
"Thank you! Thank you, Davis. And Susan. I'm so excited to make new friends... and take Cooking class! I can't wait!" She squealed, bouncing on her feet, and ran to her room. "I'm going to see what I can wear!"
For moments, we just stood there, contemplating the situation.
"This just got a whole lot worse," Davis finally broke the silence.
Thoughts on Diana's acting?