Forewarned

The play ends with no help from my “friends,” Merigold folding me so neatly into the evening’s script that she must have been forewarned of our attendance. She pulls me into the lobby, basking in the praise from departing guests. I glower at them all.

“Don’t wreak the theater just yet,” Rach’s ex murmurs. “Dancing free of inhibitions had to be fun, right?”

“Was it fun being a puppet?”

Here comes Rach, Felicia, and Vera, acting as though they’re ignorant of the daggers in my eyes.

“You broke our agreement, Mer,” Rach says. “And I can’t stop what happens next.”