I was up late, still working on my book, when the doorbell rang. I figured it was probably Jenny. She was out at her school reunion that night and said she might stop by on her way home to tell me how it went.
I opened the door and there she was. But she wasn't alone. She had her arm around a woman I'd never seen before, a short blonde in a tight dress who seemed like she could barely stand. Before I could say anything, Jenny interrupted.
'Give me a hand getting her inside.'
'Jenny, what's going on? Is she drunk?'
'Just hurry. Here, take her other arm.'
We got her inside and took her to the lounge, where we sat her down on the couch. Her eyes were half closed, and she had a dopey smile on her face.
I touched her cheek very gently. 'Hey, are you alright?'
Jenny pulled me away and led me to the other side of the room. 'Never mind her. She's fine.'
'What happened?'
Jenny put her arms around my neck and kissed me. When our lips parted, she smiled at the confusion on my face.
'You remember that girl I told you about,' she said, 'in high school? The one who used to pick on me all the time? The one who's guts I hated more than anything?'
'Yeah, Sara something.'
'Sara Young.'
I looked at the semi-conscious woman on the couch.
'Yes, that's her,' Jenny said.
'And what's wrong with her?'
'She took something at the reunion. For old time's sake, I suppose. Who knows what planet she's on right now.' I could see the satisfaction in her eyes. 'Anyway, I walked her out the backdoor when no one was watching. They're not going to miss her. She was being a pain in the ass to everyone.'
'So, why did you bring her here?'
Jenny looked serious for a moment. 'There's something I never told you about her. Something she did to me.'
'Okay.' Now I was a little nervous.
'For a while, in our third year, I was dating this guy called James. Sara liked him, and she couldn't stand the fact that he was with me. So one night, at the Spring ball, she seduced him and stole him away from me.'
'Well, I would blame James for that one, too,' I said.
'I did. But that wasn't the end of it. While James and I had been together, I let him take a few pictures of me.' She hesitated. 'With a Polaroid camera.'
I nodded, understanding. 'Okay. And Sara somehow got her hands on them, right?'
'She took them from his room and made copies for everyone. Then she dumped him the next day.'
'Jesus,' I said, looking again at the stoned blonde on my couch. 'What a bitch.'
'That's just what I thought.'
'How come you never told me any of this before?'
'I was too embarrassed. I just wanted to forget the whole thing.' Now Jenny looked at Sara. 'I went there tonight dreading meeting her again. But I thought there might be a chance that she'd changed. I was even stupid enough to hope for some kind of apology.'
'But she's still the same?'
'Even worse. I heard making a joke about the whole thing to someone else, and I knew she didn't give a shit about what she'd done to me.'