CHAPTER FIFTEEN

Best (Pia’s Ending)

Sitting with her classmates at the graduation ceremony, Pia was overwhelmed. All was good between her and Stephen again. Her mom was still doing amazingly well. Finally, she was a high school graduate.

The ceremony was touching, but it went by fast. With so much of her life right, she was tripping when she looked around and saw many eyes looking her way. Over the course of the semester, one would have thought she would have been used to it. When she was placed on the swoop list, she was stared at and dissected. When the swoop list girls dressed up for the big basketball play-off game and brought a lot of attention to themselves, people had glared at and analyzed her. When three boys in her senior class were hauled away in handcuffs after she accused them of rape, she was looked at and scrutinized. As she threw up the hand that didn’t hold her diploma, she wondered what in the heck was wrong now.

She rushed over to Ms. Davis, who was waving her down in excitedly. “You did it, Pia! You’re a graduate, girl! Oh my gosh, I’m so proud of you!”

As Ms. Davis hugged her tight, she said, “Yeah, thanks, thanks, thanks, but why are all these people staring at me? What is it now?”

“Oh, Pia, it’s nothing bad. Haven’t you heard? You’re a hero!”

“What are you talking about?”

“Two other girls in the school have come forward saying that they were also raped. One was blindfolded similar to your story, so she couldn’t be sure it was those same guys. But the description and everything that happened was exactly like your experience. It was after a game one day. She was by herself, and they grabbed her. The other girl had a similar experience. One of the boys admitted to her that he’d done it. But she wasn’t going to say anything because she thought it was her fault. Then, with you coming forward, it was a no-brainer for her to do the same thing.”

Pia clutched her diploma over her heart. “Are you serious?”

“Yes, I am. And I’m so proud of you,” Ms. Davis said. “Actually, the strength of all five of you girls makes me proud. I just wish my niece would have been able to hold on too.”

“Your niece?”

“Nothing,” Ms. Davis said, getting a little emotional.

As she walked away, Pia watched her wipe away tears and thought of the different times that Ms. Davis had given hints of not being able to help someone else or this infamous niece. Before she could put it all together, she was practically tackled by her girls.

“We graduated!” Willow said as she did a cool dance. Octavia and Sanaa tried to copy Willow’s moves, but they were not as cool.

“Come on, Pia, help me out. These girls can’t dance,” Willow chuckled.

“Speak for them,” Olive said as she busted a cool move.

Pia motioned for them to settle down. “No, guys, listen. I think I know who’s been writing the Leah letters.”

“Who?” Sanaa asked.

“I know it wasn’t Hillary,” Willow said. “She wasn’t that caring.”

“And for sure not Stephen or any of our guys,” Olive uttered. “They weren’t that sensitive.”

“Tell us,” Octavia begged, tugging on Pia’s arm.

Pia took a deep breath. “I’m not sure, but I think it’s Ms. Davis.”

Willow looked betrayed. “What do you mean, Ms. Davis?”

Pia explained, “I think it’s her. She mentioned a niece and not being able to save her or something.”

“Well, let’s go confront her.” Willow huffed and uttered.

“What?” Pia said, trying to hold Willow back.

Willow jerked from Pia’s grip and shouted, “Naw, she’s been writing us these weird letters and been all close to us like she cares. Sending us eerie stuff from beyond the grave, scaring people half to death and junk. We need to get to the bottom of this. That stuff is not cool.”

“I don’t have any room to talk,” Octavia added.

Olive nudged Octavia and said, “Yes you do! If she duped you, you need to know.”

“Girls!” Ms. Davis excitedly said when they stood before her.

They all gave Pia a grueling stare, so reluctantly she said, “We have a question.”

“Yeah, and please tell us the truth,” Willow uttered with her usual big attitude as she placed her hand on her hip.

Still grinning, Ms. Davis said, “Sure. I’ll answer anything.”

Pia went in her phone and pulled up the last Leah note. “Did you send me this? Have you been the one writing the letters from Leah?”

Ms. Davis looked away. They could see a dejected look. The girls were dumbfounded by her reaction.

“Oh my gosh! You have been!” Willow screamed out.

“Just let her talk,” Sanaa said.

“Yeah, please, let her explain,” Octavia said to Willow.

Ms. Davis said, “Last year at this time, I was burying my niece. Her name was Leah Golf, and she went to a school in Warner Robbins. She was on the swoop list there. She was the only one on it at her school, and it was horrible.”

“We know,” Pia uttered.

“That’s right!” Ms. Davis replied, “You guys went down there and visited. We talked about it.”

“Yeah, but you didn’t tell us that was your niece, nor did you tell us you were writing us the notes,” Willow said.

Ms. Davis said, “I know I didn’t, and I’m sorry. See, I couldn’t help my niece, and every day I regret that I couldn’t be there for her. However, I could be there for you guys. When I saw the swoop list surface, I wanted do everything I could to help you all see that a dumb list that was devised to pull you down could be used to build you up. If you never forgive me, I understand. But with all my heart, I meant no harm.”

Ms. Davis turned to walk away, but Pia grabbed her and hugged her tight. All the other four girls joined in. The emotion that all of them shared was overwhelming and real.

“We thank you,” Pia said. “You’ve been there for us all along. And you’re right, you helped us become better.”

Sanaa chimed in, “We’ve learned to give it up—our foolish ways, that is.”

Willow said, “Yeah, I’m always hard on you, but you showed us how to get on our knees and pray. We really need true faith in our lives.”

Olive said, “And I liked it when you told us to back that thing up. We didn’t have to be in a boy’s face. We could go back in our lives and learn from our past mistakes.”

“And to truly feel real good,” Octavia shared, “was to give back to others.”

Pia said, “And you told us that to be true leaders, if we want to sit on top, we’ve got to find forgiveness and help those who have hurt us.”

“And y’all have done all those things. I believe Leah is smiling down. And I’m so proud of you,” Ms. Davis said. “Now all of you are truly at your best.”