“I’m so very sorry this happened to you, Lou.”

The cold fist of anger wrapped around her heart meant Lou was able to keep her tears at bay. This hadn’t always been the case, of course. The tears she had cried over Mia Miller. Not just over Mia, but over herself, and all the ways in which she was so obviously inadequate. She wasn’t the only one getting bullied at school, even though it did feel as though Mia singled her out. In hindsight—and Lou had had a lot of that—it would have always felt that way. But the other kids seemed somehow better equipped to deal with the taunting and the being put down relentlessly. They seemed to bounce back more easily, while Lou always just wanted to slink off, wrap her arms around herself, shut out the world, and cry.

“No need for you to be sorry.” Lou stared into Amber’s kind green eyes.

“We need a plan.” Amber scooted a little closer and put a hand on Lou’s arm. “A when, where and what.”

Lou tried to picture herself having the conversation with Mia that Amber was suggesting. Maybe she could do it. After all, she had a thing or two to say to her former tormentor.

“It can’t be at the Pink Bean.”

“No. Not in a public space. Why not talk to her at the studio? She’s meant to come by to talk to Micky and me about the Google ads. Micky and I can leave so you’ll have the place to yourselves.”

“When is she stopping by?” Lou asked.

“We haven’t set it up yet, but I can press her for it.”

“Okay.”

“It’ll be the first thing I ask when I see her on Monday. I’ll make sure she stops by at a time when there are no more classes. Then you can talk to her in the office.” The office was a room above the main studio with a large table where Micky and Amber ran Glow from their laptops. It also served as the break room.

“And then I just throw it in her face?”

“You should probably give some thought to what you’re going to say. What she did to you was horrible, but it was years ago. I take it it’s not revenge you’re after? Because if that’s the case, I’m not sure I can be part of that.”

“What would you say if you were in my shoes?” Lou asked, ignoring the revenge remark.