“Sarah, relax.”
“They're damaging things.”
“It's water.”
“My furniture is getting soaked.”
Karen shrugged.
“It'll dry.”
Sarah stared at her.
That was the problem.
Everything could be dismissed.
A wet cushion.
A broken decoration.
Food being contaminated.
Children running on wet concrete.
Nothing mattered because Karen wasn't paying for it.
A little later, Sarah saw a younger child standing beside the food table.
He was holding a potato chip.
Then he licked it.
Sarah frowned.
The boy placed the chip back in the bowl.
He grabbed another.
Licked it.
Put it back.
Sarah hurried over.
“Hey, buddy. Please don't put food back after you've touched it.”
The boy stared at her.
Then he smiled.
Karen appeared behind him.
“What's wrong?”
“Your son is putting used food back into the serving bowl.”
Karen looked down.
Then she laughed.
“He's just playing.”
Sarah pointed at the bowl.
“Everyone has been eating from that.”
Karen took a chip.
She ate it.
“See? Perfectly fine.”
Sarah felt her patience thinning.
“I'm going to replace that bowl.”
Karen rolled her eyes.
“Sarah, you're making a big deal out of nothing.”
Sarah looked around.
Her friends had stopped talking.
David was watching Karen.
Khloe was watching Sarah.
Nobody wanted to be the first person to say what everyone was thinking.
This wasn't a party anymore.
It was an invasion.
And Sarah finally understood that being polite wasn't going to solve it.
The children became increasingly reckless.
Tyler discovered the diving board and began competing with himself to make the biggest splash.
The younger children started running around the wet patio.
One child climbed onto a lounge chair.
Another began pulling flowers from a planter.
The inflatable flamingo Sarah had bought specifically for the party was attacked by a little girl who tried to climb onto its neck.
Sarah hurried toward her.
“Please be careful with that.”
The girl ignored her.
“Karen!”
Karen was sitting under an umbrella, scrolling through her phone.
“What?”
“Your daughter is damaging the float.”
Karen barely looked up.
“She'll be fine.”
“The float won't.”
Karen sighed.
“You really need to learn to let children be children.”
Sarah stared at her.
“Children can have fun without destroying things.”
Karen's expression changed.
Only slightly.
But Sarah noticed.
The smile remained.
The warmth disappeared.
“You don't have children,” Karen said.
“No.”
“So maybe you don't understand.”
Sarah looked toward Leo.
Khloe's son was sitting quietly in the shallow water, building something with floating blocks.
“He seems to understand.”
Karen ignored the comment.
Then another scream came from the pool.
Tyler had jumped again.
This time, his foot struck Leo.
Leo fell backward.
Khloe immediately ran toward him.
“Leo!”
The boy came up crying.
Sarah rushed over.
“Are you hurt?”
Leo shook his head, but tears streamed down his face.
Khloe picked him up.
“That's enough.”
Karen stood.
“What's enough?”
“Your kids need to stop.”
Karen's eyebrows rose.
“They're playing.”
“He hit Leo.”
“It was an accident.”
“Maybe. But they've been unsupervised for nearly an hour.”
Karen's face hardened.
“I have been watching them.”
Sarah pointed toward the phone in Karen's hand.
“You've been on your phone.”
Silence.
Several guests looked away.
Karen stared at Sarah.
Then she smiled.
It was a completely different smile from before.
“You know what?” she said quietly. “I think you're being very judgmental.”
Sarah felt something inside her finally snap into place.
She wasn't going to argue about whether the children were energetic.
She wasn't going to debate parenting.
This was her house.
Her property.
Her party.
And she had reached her limit.
“Karen,” Sarah said, “the pool is closed.”
Karen blinked.
“What?”
“The pool is closed.”
For several seconds, nobody moved.
Sarah walked toward the pool equipment.
She switched off the circulation system and closed the safety gate.
Karen stared at her.
“What are you doing?”
“I've asked you repeatedly to control the children.”
Karen's voice rose.
“They're in the pool!”
“I know.”
“My children could drown!”
Sarah looked directly at her.
“The water isn't deep enough for that.”
“That is not the point!”
Karen's voice echoed across the yard.
The children stopped playing.
Tyler climbed out.
A younger girl began crying.
Sarah remained calm.
“The point is that this is my property, and I am responsible for what happens here.”