For a brief second, I considered my next move. Should I walk over to her and say hi? She looks as if she’s making a huge effort to ignore me, so should I even bother?

Of course, with me being my thick-skinned self, I disregarded my hesitation, crossed the street and bridged the distance between us. I needed to get to the other side anyway.

Brimming with confidence, I walk up to her and stand beside her table, making it impossible for her to keep up her charade of ignorance. “Excuse me, miss.” She flinched at my voice. Slowly, she brought the book down and warily glanced up at my smiling face. “I’m not sure if you remember me, but I used to be a student at Redwind Academy. I believe I paid your office a visit during my senior year..”

“Yes, you did.” She tells me in a strained voice, looking mighty uncomfortable. “I remember you very well, Miss Porter.”

“I’m glad you do, Miss.. uh..” Shit. I can’t remember her name. Sorry, I know I have a fantastic memory and all – but I never really knew or called her by anything else during her short stint in Redwind Academy other than cunt-face or that all-knowing bitch. After all these years, I don’t think it would be polite that I call her by either.

“Adams.” She supplies, taking off her shades. “So what can I do for you this afternoon, Miss Porter?”

“Bette.” I correct.

“Excuse me?”

“Please call me Bette.” I tell her, like she was a friend that I hadn’t seen for so long. Judging by the look on her face, I knew she was hesitant to do so. To call someone by the first name was somehow too.. I dunno.. chummy? Like we were friends or something. And you know from our history that this woman and I were far from having a friendly relationship.

She hesitates for another second before finally deciding to follow my lead. “Then please, call me Paige.”

I smile at this. “I apologize for disturbing you from your book, I saw you over there and I knew I just had to come over and talk to you for a while. I.. well.. I just wanted to apologize for my behavior in the past and I also wanted you to know that you were right.”