Holly Banks Full of Angst (Village of Primm, #1)(80)

“Wait. What?” Holly stood too. “I thought the Little Kids, Little Zoo play was this Friday.”

“No, it was moved to today,” Miss Bently said. “I sent an email—oh.”

“Ella doesn’t have a costume. She knows the book, but does she know her lines?”

“Oh, sure. Ella knows her lines. And the costumes are already made and donated by Mary-Caroline’s mom, Mrs. St. James.”

Holly’s eyes narrowed. “St. James? Mary-Margaret St. James?”

“Yes. Why? She’s quite nice.”

“No, she’s not,” Holly snapped. “She’s like—Glinda the Good Witch. Except don’t be fooled. She may be sweet and pink, but she’s not good. She’s evil.”

“Holly!” Greta seemed proud. “You’re really tearing this place up.”

“Mary-Margaret St. James does a lot for this school.” Miss Bently readied herself to leave the room.

Holly rolled her eyes. Pa-leez.

“Actually, Mrs. Banks, Mrs. St. James has a large family and remembers well what it feels like to be a kindergarten parent. She told me two weeks ago she wanted to make all of the costumes for the kindergarten back-to-school play so that other families could sit back and enjoy the children and not have to worry about making a costume during a hectic first week of school. Leopard Print’s Little Kids, Little Zoo play is a tradition at our school,” Miss Bently explained to Greta.

Greta smiled and nodded at Miss Bently. To Holly, she offered, “I probably can’t pay you back for the cat doula certification, but if you want, I can make curtains for your living room.”

Holly pushed Greta and her suggestion aside. “Are you serious?” she said to Miss Bently. “She did that for us?”

“Yes. She did. And from what I hear, she does nice things for people all the time.”

Holly reached inside her neckline to kill the mic. That’s not true. Mary-Margaret’s not nice. This can’t be true. It doesn’t fit with my story. That’s not what my film is about.





31


After about fifteen minutes



Holly and Greta followed Miss Bently to the library, taking a seat in the back row of chairs set up for kindergarten parents. They waited about ten minutes as Miss Bently and Mrs. Holiday, the librarian, readied the children behind a bookcase and then led them in single file to their positions in front of the parents. The minute Ella saw her grammy, she waved frantically. Almost as frantically as her grammy was waving back. Holly tugged on Greta’s earthen hippie dress to get her to sit down.

As the play began, Holly spotted Mary-Margaret slipping into a seat at the side of the room. Mary-Margaret must have been behind the library shelves helping with costumes. Holly’s camera was rolling, but she found herself confused. Typically, a witch didn’t do nice things. Although, Holly did notice a change in color today. Mary-Margaret didn’t wear pink. She wore purple. Why purple? Was she Glinda, the Pink Witch? Or was she a horse of a different color?


FADE IN:


INT. LIBRARY — AFTERNOON


MISS BENTLY sitting in front of the CHILDREN, holding an oversize cardboard book written and illustrated by Leopard Print. She turns the pages and coaches the children as PARENTS gaze lovingly upon them. Everyone is snapping pictures. The costumes are elaborate. Camera zoom in to close-up:


CHILDREN

Little frog, on a log, who is next to me?





LITTLE FROG

(child dressed as a frog)

Little duck, with a cluck, is quacking next to me.





It continued down the line as each child took a turn stepping forward to recite their line. “Little duck, with a cluck, who is next to me? Little bird, flitter bird, is flying next to me.”

Mary-Caroline’s mom must have stayed up all night. Holly stole another glance at Mary-Margaret. She waved and smiled at her daughter, Mary-Caroline, as Mary-Caroline stepped forward to recite her lines. Mary-Caroline was the little dog. If she is anything like her mother, she probably bites.

Greta poked Holly in the arm, pulling her from her thoughts.

When Ella stepped forward, dressed as a teacher, it occurred to Holly: maybe Ella was Holly’s teacher. Maybe what Holly should be learning about Primm Academy she should be learning from Ella, not the other moms.

Was Holly playing nicely in the sandbox? Holly had a spy camera buried in the neckline of her sweater because she planned to decimate the mother of the little girl dressed in a doggie costume.

Ella wore a long dress, a shawl that nearly swallowed her up, a big brown wig resting sideways on her head, and a pair of super huge glasses cut from black poster board. The glasses kept slipping down her nose, so she was constantly reaching up to shove them back where they belonged. Ella looked absolutely adorable, and Holly had no one to thank but Mary-Margaret.

Ella’s entire class, in unison, said to Ella: “Teacher, teacher, who is next to me?”

And all Holly could see were the enormous poster-board glasses on Ella’s face. Holly could hardly stand it and had to blink away tears. Holly’s daughter needed glasses, and Holly didn’t have the good sense to notice what was right in front of her and do something about it. The sippy cup. Her thumb. Her sight. What’s wrong with me?