Chapter 13

"Bad woman!" "Britney's a bad woman!" Noah and Simon pointed right at Britney as they spoke. Britney stepped in from the balcony, her eyes already red and brimming with tears by the time she reached Calvin. "Calvin, I can't believe Noah and Simon would accuse me like this. How could I ever hit them?" she said, biting her lip and sounding genuinely hurt. Calvin hesitated for a second, then asked, "Just tell me what happened. What's really going on?" Britney let her eyes well up as she explained, "They didn't want to go to school. I tried to convince them, but then, they started slapping themselves. They figured if they looked hurt, you'd let them stay home. I didn't want to worry you, so I kept it to myself, but I never thought they'd make up lies to get back at me..." She didn't finish her sentence, but her pitiful look said it all. Calvin turned to his sons, his face dark with anger. "You two tried to blame Britney? She's always had your best interests at heart. How can you li