chapter sixty two.

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"Oh, hey Claudia! Is this your mom?"

Garrett interrupted the two women, not noticing the look on Janis' face. He always heard wild and nice things about Janis Donovan but never had the chance to officially meet the woman who threw a desk out the window.

Janis rolled her eyes and forced a smile on her face. "Oh, hi! You must be Claudia's friend. I've never heard of you. I'm her young mom, Janis." She extended her hand out for Garrett to shake.

Garrett chuckled nervously. "Oh? I'm Garrett, an English teacher too. Which makes sense since we're in a school, you know. Kids and stuff."

Janis nodded and kept smiling. "Right, right, so um Claudia was wondering if it was okay if she left early? We have a family emergency right now. Grandma Donna is at the hospital and we don't know if she'll make it through the night," Janis began to fake cry, wiping away the tears. "And Claudia here hardly visited her and all Grandma Donna wants is to see her beautiful and annoying grandbaby."

Claudia looked at Janis. She knew it was a lie to get Garrett to cover for her, but it was still strange to hear her grandmother's name come out of Janis' mouth.

"I'm so sorry. Don't worry about the dance, Claudia, I'll talk to Howard so he doesn't think you bailed. Go be with your family. Your grandma needs you." Garrett told Claudia.

Before Claudia could get a word in, Janis stepped in. "Thank you so much Gary—"

"Garrett." Claudia whispered to her mom.

"Garrett!" Janis fixed her mistake. "You are such a kind soul. Grandma Donna will forever love you," She grabbed Claudia's wrist and dragged her away from Garrett. "Fuck Grandma Donna, she doesn't even love me, her own daughter."

Claudia waved at Garrett as she was being dragged away. So much for bringing a dress and heels. "So I'm assuming you're going to most likely throw something at them?" She asked as they walked through the halls to get to the exit.

"Use your english skills and figure it out, teacher Claudia. Do you want me to spell it out for you?" Janis kept a hold of Claudia's wrist. "Family cult meeting or whatever it's called right now."

"I'm pretty sure it's just family meeting, no cult."

The mother and daughter made it outside, still Janis kept walking until Claudia told her where Ben's car was. Suddenly, Janis stopped walking. She realized she was going to face her ex-lover and ex-best friend at the same time. She didn't know what she was going to say or do. Probably throw something at them, for sure, but her words? Nothing came to mind.

"Ma?" Claudia spoke. "You okay?"

Janis ran a hand through her hair and sighed. "I don't know if I should throw a desk at them or sharp pencils. Wait, do you have any sharpeners in your classroom? Maybe they'll get hurt by the blade when I throw it at them." She said.

"I can't tell if you're being serious right now," Claudia backed away from the furious woman. "maybe this talk can wait until we get home, okay?"

"Claudia, this needs to happen now!"

"Okay, just don't hurt me! You're scary when you're mad."

Janis shook her head. "I'm so past being mad. I could commit multiple crimes and get away with it. Years of crime shoes and documentaries have prepared me for this moment."

"I'm so scared right now." Claudia's phone vibrated. She had received a text from Ben.

Ben
Are you okay?

Claudia
Yeah, just a lot of shit happening with Janis.

Ben
Edward is on his way with Layna.

Claudia
Maybe them being here is going to call her down. Thanks Ben ❤

Janis saw the smile on Claudia's face. It reminded her of how she used to be with Nate when she was younger. Claudia was in love and Janis could tell. After all, Janis was once in love with Nate, but now she had someone better. And she loved him with her whole heart.

"So when's the wedding?" Janis teased.

Claudia rolled her eyes. "Is that what you're really thinking about at a time like this?"

"Yes. Now answer my question, child of mine before I sell you to the homeless man that lives behind the vet." Janis wagged her finger in Claudia's face. As a result, Claudia gently slapped Janis' finger away.

"You can't use that joke on me anymore, ma, it only worked once." Claudia mumbled.

"Wrong! It worked four times and you fell for that joke each time. Silly little five year old Claudia, wait till Benjamin hears about this one," Janis teased again. "and the mailbox."

Claudia's eyes widened. "No. Not the mailbox. You can't."

"I can and I fucking will, dipshit!" Janis laughed in Claudia's face. "Unless you let me throw something at father dearest and best friend of the century."

"You are an evil woman, Janis Donovan."

Janis smirked. "Maybe. But I'm better than everyone else so it doesn't matter."








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