“That Ms. Gibson seems to be a nice lady. And wow… her grandma is… well, she’s kind of odd,” Jade remarked, slouching on the sofa.

“Well, Ms. Gibson’s not really ‘normal’ herself,” Ophelia replied. “The pizza’s going to be here in about 45 minutes.”

“That’s fine. That gives us time to plan how I’m going to get back at Dunstan.” Jade stared at Ophelia for a few seconds, seeking to know the answer to her question. “So,” she said slowly, “why do you hate Dunstan? I mean, really. I mean, I know he slaps your cousin around, but…” She trailed off, seeking for the words she needed to express her thoughts.

“But what?” Ophelia asked.

“You’re angry about more than just that. I can understand you being angry at him for hitting your cousin, but there’s something else that’s angering you.”

“What do you mean by that?” Ophelia said quickly, focusing her eyes everywhere but on Jade.

Jade smiled slightly. “You’re angry like he’s done something to you.” Ophelia merely looked down, not saying a single word. Jade nodded, as though Ophelia had responded, and continued, “You know, you kind of remind me of myself when I was in high school, after I ended things with Dunstan because of the straw that broke the camel’s back. I was so angry, and I had good reason. My so-called friends had turned their backs on me; all the times I tried to tell them what Dunstan put me through, they just shrugged it off or ignored me. It got to the point where I just stopped trying to tell people since I figured they just wouldn’t believe me anyway.” Ophelia looked up, and, for the briefest moment, met Jade’s gaze. “He hurt you too, didn’t he?” Jade asked softly.

“Yeah,” Ophelia finally admitted. A tear slowly ran down her face.

Jade sighed and patted Ophelia’s shoulder. “I’ll make him feel worse than he ever made any of us feel, honey,” she assured the girl.


Emily wandered through the room, admiring the various works scattered around the room. This was the first time she was able to see her competition; the judging had already been done, and the results would soon be announced. She sighed, admiring the entries.

Everyone’s stuff looks so good, she thought. I bet they laughed at my entry. She wandered over to her entry and examined it, trying to see it as everyone else would. The work was collage of photos that she’d edited on her computer to make them look like the negatives of photographs. The images were primarily of her and Ophelia, but also contained images of various other people in her life, such as AJ, Tiffani, and even Angela. Emily had titled her work Negative.

It’s just good that they don’t say who the artist is under the works, she thought. Still, people will probably figure out it’s mine.


She wandered away from her work to see the painting that a crowd had gathered around. As she approached, the crowd parted, and the people murmured to each other. Emily’s mouth fell open when she saw the painting. The painting, titled Maiden, Mother, Warrior, and Crone: Four Faces of the Goddess, was done in a stylized manner, almost like a comic book. It showed four women of varying ages interacting with each other. As Emily looked more closely, she realized that the women looked familiar. The woman with the book, for instance, looked great deal like Ms. Gibson, and could that redheaded woman perhaps be Cy? And the girl with black hair seated on the ground…

It’s me, she thought.

“Excuse me,” Mr. Rivers called out. “It is time to announce the winners of this year’s art contest.” He glanced over at a piece of paper and smiled, then continued, “In the painting category, the runner-up is Rose is Rain by Maya Smith. Third place is Fallen by Sherrie Aldrich. Second place is Denim Goddess by Lyle Robbins. And first place is Maiden, Mother, Warrior, and Crone: Four Faces of the Goddess by Ophelia Foley.”

The crowd applauded. Emily’s mouth dropped in astonishment. Ophelia? she thought, startled. She was the one who painted that, even though I was so mean to her?

After the applause had died down, Mr. Rivers continued, “And now for the collage category. Runner-up is Society’s Contradictions by Mae Rivers. Third place is Perfection by Veronica McNamara. Second place is Comedy/Tragedy by Andi Marcado. First place is Negative by Emily Desjardin.”


The audience applauded again, and Emily felt as though she would faint. I… I got first place? Oh my God!

“Hey,” a voice said behind her. Emily turned to see the speaker; it was Ophelia.

“Hey,” Emily said awkwardly.

“Congratulations,” Ophelia said warmly.

“Yeah, you too,” Emily replied, looking uncomfortable. “Your painting was really good. I can’t believe you actually, you know… entered that, after all the stuff I said to you.”

“I already had the painting mostly done by the time that happened. It’s not like I had much choice,” Ophelia responded. She chuckled. “But I figured it was worth seeing your reaction.”

“It’s a nice painting,” Emily admitted.

“You want it? I don’t have any room for it at my place.”

“Seriously?” Emily asked.

“Sure. Maybe one day, we’ll stop squabbling and go back to being friends. But, whenever. You can have the painting when we get the things back.”

“Yeah, okay.”

“By the way, the thing you did was really cool-looking. Did you enlarge negatives or something?”

“Nah, I just did some photo editing on my computer. Most of those pictures came from those times when we were hanging out and all,” Emily replied.

Ophelia slung an arm over Emily’s shoulder. “So, what do you say to helping out with a little prank I have in mind to semi-publicly embarrass Dunstan?”

Emily grinned broadly. “What did you have in mind?”