Ostensibly

In retrospect, I am ashamed to say that our favorite distraction was making jokes at the expense of Catherine, who despite having mellowed out was sticking out like a sore thumb at school. She was still a spoiled rich brat, and also made herself the center of attention by chatting in French with her live-in best friend Louise. Her accent sounded different compared to that of the charming Parisienne who kept her company, but she was clearly fluent — in no small part because she was born in Montreal and spoke French at home with her parents. Rather than be impressed by her bilingualism, Tara rolled her eyes at another thing the Queen of the Goody Two Shoes could flaunt to the rest of us commoners. Not wanting to be contrary to my new female friend, I joined her in her open dislike of Catherine. Thus, ignoring my own words from the night of the football game in ‘89, I refused to see the good in someone.