Her Mom Likes Girls

10

Sam found Hailey at the nearby park and brought her home. I paced the living room worriedly. When they walked through the door, I looked at my daughter with anger burning through my stare.

"Must I ground you too, Hailey?"

"Do whatever you want, Mom." Hailey stormed off into her room. I looked at Sam and she hesitantly walked over to me.

"I'll talk to her, honey."

"Talk to her? We need to do something about this, Sam. She's getting out of control."

Sam ushered me into the kitchen, so that Hailey was less likely to hear us. "We will handle it. Also, is there anything you want to tell me about?" Sam raised her eyebrows and crossed her arms over her chest.

I looked at her, confused. "What do you mean? I want to talk to you about Haile—"

"I'm referring to what's going on at your work, Peyton." Her serious tone irritated me.

"What are you getting at? Is this about what Hailey did in the girls' restroom?"

Sam narrowed her eyes, as though she was trying to analyze me. "Yes, Peyton. I want you to tell me about it."

I scoffed. "I have no idea what you're talking about, Sam. I'm concerned about our daughter's behavior towards her teacher."

"Peyton, she doesn't have a wild imagination. Why would she say something like that if it wasn't true?"

"Oh, so she said something. I didn't know that the two of you had some talk without me."

Sam stepped forward. "This new teacher, are you sleeping with her, Peyton?" Sam stared intensely into my eyes. I wondered if she thought she could read my honesty by my expressions and reactions.

"You can't be serious," I scoffed. "That's what you think?" I stepped backward and turned away from her. I felt as though my energy had been sucked out of me.

"Peyton," Sam grabbed my arm. "I know we haven't been, you know, our best for a while now. What do you want me to think? Something like this doesn't come up unless there's some truth."

"Sam, I'm not sleeping with anyone."

Sam stared at me, annoyed. "You must be flirting then."

"Sam, I don't flirt with anyone, especially not my colleagues."

"Then, where would Hailey come up with something like that?"

"How would I know, Sam? She's clearly throwing a tantrum." I threw my hand into the air. "I just can't believe you'd actually question me like that. I've been faithful to you for half my life. Why the hell would you accuse me of something like that?"

"I'm sorry," Sam mumbled. "It got to my head."

"I'm done with this conversation."

I walked away from her, a burning sensation in my chest.