Acquiring Trouble

this dress to the cleaner two months ago. Morgan cursed —s he was starting to think fate was laughing at her.
    She dug around in her purse and found the small tester bottle of perfume she bought the last time she was at the mall. She sprayed herself in a cloud of perfume and tied her hair into a loose bun at the nape of her neck before hurrying toward the path around the house.
    “You sure clean up nice for a delinquent.”
    Morgan almost slid on the stone path as she turned around to face the deep voice. Pierce sauntered tow ard her from the parking area.
    “Gee thanks. It’s so nice to be judged on who you were as a teenager. What were you like as a teenager?” Morgan didn’t remember. Pierce was just a little kid when she graduated from high school, but she guessed very few people weren’t slightly self-conscious from som ething during their teen years.
    “Look, I’m sorry. But, I can’t let you into the reception , ” Pierce said nicely, but sternly as he stepped in to block her way .
    “I don’t care what you say, I’m going in.” Morgan tried to push past Pierce. He was the total opposite of Miles. He was tall and had the same hazel eyes, but he was so laid back. He always looked like he knew something you didn’t and was laughing about it , where as Miles was always so serious.
    “Morgan,” Pierce suddenly didn’t sound so laid back. He sounded just like Miles. “This is my brother’s wedding. I refuse to let you inside and have you disrupt their special night.”
    Morgan looked up and Pierce was no longer the young man she had seen just a minute ago. He now looked like a man, a very tall, very handsome, very strong man. “Look, Pierce, I have to. Miles’ s safety is at stake because of me. I have to warn him.”
    “Why do you care? From what I’ ve h eard you only seem to care about yourself and your own entertainment.”
    Morgan felt the verbal slap to the face and recoiled. “Because I love him ! I always have. I need to talk to him.”
    Pierce rubbed his chin and looked at her closely. She almost squirmed under his review. “Why should I believe someone with your reputation?”
    “What part of it?” She felt her voice start to rise, “ T he part where I graduated high school with honors and earned a scholarship to college? The part where I worked my way through school and into a high - powered job?” Morgan said through clenched teeth.
    “No,” Pierce said calmly, not reacting to her rising temper in the slight est, “ t he part where you caused the breakup of my brother and his girlfriend. The part where you almost got expelled from said high school when you put blue dye in the cheerleaders ’ shampoo and turned them all into C heer S murfs. Or, how about the part where your family disowned you?” Pierce leveled hi s gaze at her and she crumbled.
    Morgan felt the tears rise as she bit her lip to keep from crying. She never told anyone about that night. She assumed, incorrectly, that people would forgive and forget. She should’ve known better. In a small town no one ever forgot anything —e ven people like Pierce who was just a kid when she was a teenager.
    “Look, I’m sorry. Please don’t cry.” Pierce stepped forward and handed her a handkerchief.
    “I don’t know if you’ll believe me, but I’m the one who loves your brother. The same person who had a silent crush on him for four years through high school and who only meant to kiss him goodbye. I never intended for anyone to see it. I’m also the person who left a note of apology to Miles up on the water tower to say how sorry I was if I caused any trouble. The same person who put blue dye in the cheerleaders ’ shampoo —a fter they wrote ‘skank’ on my locker, after they egged me as I walked home from school, and after they spilled fruit punch on my white prom dress simply because Tommy Simpson asked me to dance when one of them had a crush on him.”
    Morgan paused. She hadn’t told anyone, even her mother, about the bullying she received in high school. Morgan had always thought of it as her secret embarrassment. She hadn’t wanted anyone to feel sorry for her. “Did you know that my perfect sister was the head cheerleader during some of that time?” Before Pierce could interrupt , she felt the story come tumbling out, “And yes, I was disowned. I was disowned because when I came home from graduation, to a party for my sister and her boyfriend that I wasn’t invited to, I made the mistake