A familiar looking frum woman brushed by and smiled tightly as they passed. Her blond sheitel was the sort of custom that was truly custom… of course. It was Malky Lang.

Libby hadn’t seen her since 12th-grade graduation, but it would make sense that she’d bump into her today, as her life crumbled into a million shards.

“Malky? Hi! Libby Steiner. Well, Frankel now.”

Malky looked stunned. “Libby. Hi! Do you shop here? I heard you married a Frankel. Wow, it’s been so long. You look… And how are… Wow.”

Libby smirked inwardly. Malky of the high school clique and the low-key bullying was at a complete loss for words.

Well, good. She should be. Let her see what came of all her labeling and putting down and petty excluding….

“Libby! So good to see you, how have you been?” Chantalle came bustling out of the back room in a cloud of perfume.

And Malky, with her blonde sheitel and high school queen bee vibes, was suddenly rendered invisible.

Why did that feel so good, after all these years? I guess you can take the girl out of high school but you can’t take high school out of the girl.

Libby smiled to herself long enough to remember that pretty soon, no one would be fawning over her. And just like that, the smile disappeared.

Libby added two tennis bracelets to her stack — the emerald and the classic — and smoothed down her dress.

“You know they want us to buy them a new gym,” she said, trying to make her words light and airy. Instead, it suddenly felt like she was fighting a head cold.

Akiva frowned. “Are you okay? Coming down with something?”

So much for positivity. “I’m fine,” she said through gritted teeth. “I just want you to realize they didn’t call us in to discuss how charming Deena is. They want something.”

Akiva gave her a long look. Oh, now he was annoyed.

“Thank you, Libby. Yes, I’ve played this game before.”

“Except the rules have now changed, haven’t they? We can no longer purchase gyms or gift all the staff members with gift cards before Yom Tov.”

Akiva raised his eyebrows. “Not once have we done that.”

Libby gives a half-smile. “But we could have.”

Well, it wasn’t a gym.

“Deena is… a lovely girl,” Rebbetzin Rubin said heartily. The president of the board, Mr. Kagan, nodded slightly.

“A lovely girl,” the Rebbetzin reiterated. “Spirited, yes? Mind of her own. Independent.”

Akiva smiled languidly. “Yes, we think so, too.”

Mr. Kagan gave a laugh that morphed into a dignified cough.

“Just maybe a bit too spirited at times. We strive to create a calm, dignified atmosphere. Deena does require us to… rise to the occasion, so to speak. Use all of our kochos and pedagogical skills.”

Mr. Kagan gave another cough. Rebbetzin Rubin looked down.

“Of course, we have noticed she’s been having some trouble with some of the classes, mainly English. Perhaps with a more comprehensive library, she’d achieve more, strive for higher.”

A library. Libby hadn’t realized people still used those.

She looked at Akiva. This was the part where he pulled out his checkbook and made everything all better.

What was he going to do now? What on earth was he going to do?

He wouldn’t use his parents’ money, not now, not anymore.

What was going to happen to Deena and the school that was barely tolerating her? If it was no longer worth their while, would the school have patience for her?

She looked at him sideways. Was he also panicking?

But something else was happening on his face.

And, like most of the things her husband had done in the past week, she had a very strong feeling she wasn’t going to like it.

“Deena,” said Akiva, whose entire face was now bright red, “is an amazing girl. Kind and funny and sweet and, yes, spirited. And so very independent, baruch Hashem.”

He rose to his feet, his jaw tight.

“And you know what else? She absolutely hates your school. So hatzlachah with your library and your spirit-less classes. We are taking Deena elsewhere. Have a good day.”

And Libby closed her gaping mouth, stood up, and followed her husband out the door.

To be continued…

(Originally featured in Mishpacha, Issue 976)