“Okay,” Marina said, trying to hold it together in front of Avery. “Randy didn’t give us much time so I’m going to have to leave soon. He’s trying to get you in front of the judge today. I’ll see what I need to do. But I don’t want you to worry, okay? This isn’t your fault.”

Avery looked down at the floor. “Yes. It is. I lost it. I’m so sorry.”

“Baby, you have nothing to be sorry for,” Marina said. “Just try to stay calm and let me handle this, okay?”

Avery nodded and looked back up at Marina, her eyes filling with tears. “I love you, Mom. I know I never say it, but I do.”

Marina reached through the bars and squeezed Avery’s hand. “I know you do. I’ll be back as soon as I know something. Just hang in there.”

The door opened and Randy stuck his head in. “Time’s up.”

Marina practically ran out of the sheriff’s department. As soon as she slammed the door on her car, she burst into tears. Halcyon reached across the center console and wrapped her arms around her.

“Let it out, honey,” Halcyon said. “Upset always comes first but mad is on the way, I promise you.”

“I’m pretty sure it’s arrived,” Marina coughed and choked out a few more cries before stopping. She pulled back and looked at Halcyon. “I can’t believe this. Everything I’ve spent my entire life working for is falling apart.”

“I know it feels that way, but we can handle this.”

“No. It doesn’t just feel that way. It is that way. If Chastity doesn’t drop those charges, Avery will lose her scholarship. I can’t afford to pay for the university and even if Harold could, why would he? He didn’t even care enough to keep that tramp out of Avery’s closet.”

“We’ll find an attorney, okay?”

But Marina could tell that Halcyon was as worried as she was. “Where? Do you have a gentleman caller with a law degree? Because the only one in Last Chance is siding with the enemy. Along with the deputy, the sheriff, and the judge. We’re in big trouble here. I don’t even know where to start.”

“Start with explaining what the hell happened. I feel like Avery was talking in another language.”

“She was. Teen. Basically, Avery isn’t extra, which means overly dramatic.”

Halcyon stared. “Avery doesn’t think she’s overly dramatic?”

“She certainly appears to have been in this situation, but in regular teen world, she’s not. Trust me, I went into an online forum for teens to see if I could figure out lingo and stuff, and I almost had a heart attack at what those kids were up to. Avery is high-maintenance but she’s not regular teen drama.”

“Okay, so what was the rest of that?”

“Chastity was flexing about Harold, which is showing him off. That, combined with the clothes thing, set Avery off.”

“And rightfully so. Why doesn’t Preston give his daughter a bigger allowance so that she can get her own clothes? So what’s this ‘thot’ thing?”