Obviously Sherri had never been to a barre class in her life. Maybe barre hasn’t made it out to Ohio yet? We don’t know. Oh, her form in the plank section! Not that we could really see, concentrating as we were on our own planks—it was a particularly difficult series, with one of the most challenging instructors—but as we were turning from front plank to side plank some of us did see Sherri topple. Though we all pretended not to. We tried to remember when we too were new to barre, many moons ago, and if the side plank was difficult for us then. But we couldn’t recall. Some of us have naturally strong obliques, and of course that makes side plank easier.

Dawn told Sherri about the barre class and she said, sure, she’d give it a try. The first class is free. Did we mention Sherri ordered the surf and turf at Plum Island Grille? So maybe money wasn’t an issue for her. Then again, the Laundromat. So maybe it was.

Come to think of it, we said later, Rebecca hadn’t been at the barre class, nor at coffee after. It had been Gina who switched us from the class we used to take, the 8:15, to this one, the 9:15. The switch was due to a change in the schedule of our favorite instructor. Gina, when pressed, told us she had specifically mentioned the new class to Rebecca in person. We didn’t know why she hadn’t come—with her teaching schedule summer is the only time she can go to the 8:15 or the 9:15. It was yet another example of Rebecca pulling away from us.

And she couldn’t hide what she did later that day anyway, because Morgan posted on her Instagram story a video of Katie doing handstands on the beach. When the camera swerved we could see Rebecca. Next to her in a matching chair, the new woman. Sherri. Later, a TikTok appeared. And there we were at Jenness, like a bunch of idiots. We planned it after barre class, at the coffee shop. Some of the kids wanted to bring surfboards, and it’s much harder to surf at Salisbury. But we would have been happy to bag the boards! Would it have killed Rebecca to let the rest of us know where she was going that day? The Mom Squad group chat is right there for anybody to add to at any time. It’s not that hard.

But nobody told us about the trip to Salisbury. I think that’s the important thing you have to remember here. Nobody. Told. Us.