LIMERENCE | Abby Littman

𝐭𝐡𝐫𝐞𝐞.

chapter three
[unedited]

𝐈𝐓 𝐖𝐀𝐒 𝐀𝐓 𝐓𝐇𝐈𝐒 𝐒𝐂𝐇𝐎𝐎𝐋 𝐁𝐎𝐀𝐑𝐃 𝐌𝐄𝐄𝐓𝐈𝐍𝐆 𝐓𝐇𝐀𝐓 𝐒𝐎𝐋𝐀𝐍𝐆𝐄 𝐇𝐀𝐃 𝐇𝐄𝐑 𝐅𝐈𝐑𝐒𝐓 𝐄𝐍𝐂𝐎𝐔𝐍𝐓𝐄𝐑 𝐖𝐈𝐓𝐇 𝐆𝐄𝐎𝐑𝐆𝐈𝐀 𝐌𝐈𝐋𝐋𝐄𝐑.

She was sitting directly behind Paul in the front of the room. It was a chair meant to fill in the last row for parents that would be joining the meeting, but now Solange was using it and the last row was missing a chair.

Cynthia was talking, like she had been for the past twenty minutes trying to prove her point about organic food options in schools.

Solange was only half way paying attention to the meeting with one of her AirPods in and YouTube playing on her phone, but she thought there were better things for the town to throw their money at. Of course Cynthia would be the one to make the amount of organic food options at school a mayoral crisis when it didn't have to be. There already were two alternative and completely organic food options provided at schools, people just didn't want to eat them.

The meeting was supposed to be styled off pure democracy so everyone can talk and contribute for themselves, but Cynthia was a Napoleon, dictating everything from the parental side of the room. And all the other parents just let her. "We live in one of the most wealthiest cities in the U.S. I find it unbelievable, I mean, we can buy organic foods."

Solange caught Paul's low sigh and giggled a bit, covering it up with a cough.

She was fake coughing into her sleeve when two blondes walked in the room. She recognized one of them, Ellen Baker, the mother of Maxine and Marcus Baker, but the other one she'd never seen before.

They whispered to each other, while looking at Cynthia. Then their eyes split to look at Solange. She knew they were looking at her and not Paul because the new woman's eyes locked with hers.

Solange wasn't going to look away like some pussy. She was staring and they were talking about her. It was what it was.

"It's a conspiracy!" Cynthia said, talking about micro plastics in non organic foods.

"We hear you," Paul sighed, finally done with letting her talk uninterrupted. "And we do not disagree with you, however, our options are extremely limited. This is the cheapest meal plan available and our budget is stretched too thin."

"Unacceptable," Cynthia argued.

Solange was sure they were going to be going back and forth again like they were at the beginning of the meeting but a new voice joined the conversation. "Excuse me, Excuse me, everybody."

It was the woman that had come in with Ellen. She had her arm wrapped around Joe's arm, one of the only people Solange liked in that godforsaken town and the owner of Blue Farm Cafe. The second he had walked in the door the woman had pounced on him and looked like she was making sure he wasn't getting away.

The woman kept talking once all of the attention in the room was focused on her, Solange's included. "For those who don't know me, I'm Georgia Miller. I am so grateful, to Cynthia for alerting me to this problem. I know you're all familiar with Wellsbury's best kept secret, Joe's Blue Farm Cafe, his hummus is outrageous! Joe has graciously offered for a very affordable fee, to provide a few more healthy, local grown, organic lunch options to the school district, fresh from his farm a few miles outside of town."

The parents started clapping and cheering. Paul saw his way out and took it, over the noise he announced, "Okay, we'll in the case, meeting is adjourned, thank you for coming everyone!"