Chapter 21 : Mandatory Meeting

I woke up later than usual. My body needed to rest after the emotional night I had. Both Charlotte and Alice were already gone and from the alarm clock on my bedside, I saw that it was already nine-thirty in the morning. I got ready quickly and went down to the kitchen.

Valerie was there with her morning cup of coffee, studying the girls and eyeing what they ate for breakfast, like usual. I prepared my helping of plain, boring oatmeal and went to sit by Alice.

“Where’s Charlotte?” I asked her.

“Oh, she has another date with her sponsor,” Alice replied casually, just in case anyone was listening to our conversation.

I nodded. I didn’t want to say anything more here, but I needed to remember to ask Alice if she knew who Charlotte’s sponsor was.

Before I could say anything else to her, Valerie cleared her throat and stood up. Everyone immediately quieted down.

“Good morning, girls,” Valerie began. “After you wash the breakfast dishes up, there will be a