“Thanks.” Lou took a deep breath, wondering what stories Mia was making up in her head right now about why Lou had asked her to stay. Maybe she believed her feeble attempts at flirting had worked. Or that Lou wanted to apologize for giving her the cold shoulder at the open mic last Friday. Or perhaps she did have a clue. Perhaps she did know. Either way, the time to stop guessing had come. “I’ll be in touch later,” Lou said and watched Amber leave. They had agreed not to tell Micky—the fewer who people knew, the better. So when Micky walked past Lou on her way out, she surely had very different ideas about the conversation that was about to occur, and shot Lou a big fat wink, accompanied by a heartfelt, “Have fun.”

Mia was sitting in Amber’s chair, but had swiveled it around so she was looking out the window.

“Hey,” she said when Lou walked in.

Lou didn’t close the door, afraid it might have a too suffocating effect on her.

“Thanks for staying,” she said, trying to keep her voice from shaking.

“You’ve got me intrigued.” Mia painted on one of her crooked grins. When she smiled, everything about her lit up—which Lou thought an infuriating quality. “I was convinced you didn’t like me very much.”

Lou tried to remember Amber’s words and remain calm. She sat down in Micky’s chair, leaving a good distance between them. When she tried to speak the first time, the words died in the back of her throat. She had to swallow hard and try again. “You really have no idea who I am?”

Mia narrowed her eyes. “Of course I do. You’re Louise, known as Lou by everyone around here, and you teach yoga in this very studio.” She tilted her head. “What am I missing?”

Lou took another deep breath, then finally said the words. “I’m Louise Hamilton of the graduating class of 2003 at Queen Mary’s College For Girls.” Lou willed herself to study Mia’s face. To observe what happened to it when the penny dropped.

“We went to the same school?” Mia asked innocently. “I really hadn’t recognized you. Were we in the same class?”

Lou had to deploy every single tactic she had ever learned in yoga and meditation training to stay calm and not lash out and start shouting. All she did was shake her head and say, as evenly as possible, “I’m the half-breed you and your gang waited for just behind the gate every single morning. The girl you thought so little of, you didn’t think twice about calling her names and insulting her on a daily basis. The girl who made you feel superior and feared by everyone else. Your so-called friends included.”

“What?” Mia’s face was starting to sink. “No.”

“Oh, yes.”