"Yeah. Maybe it's a growth spurt," Claire joked, hoping the humor would ring true.
"So, do it," Emily said. "Bail on your plans and come watch bad TV with us."
"I can't." Claire sighed. "There's a bunch of stuff that I have to talk to him about." She'd meant to imply that they needed to talk about the dance, but there was a stony heaviness to her words.
Amy's eyes widened. "Is everything okay?"
"Sure," Claire said, waving a hand. "We just have some stuff to sort out."
Emily cocked her head to one side and opened her mouth. Claire scrambled for some new subject before Emily could start asking questions.
"So, what about this necklace?" she asked, grabbing a strand of creamy pearls with a rhinestone pendant hanging from it.
Emily closed her mouth and rolled her eyes. "It would look great. If you were going to an old-lady lunch or something." She glanced over her shoulder. "Hang on. You wait here—I think I saw something back there that would be perfect for your dress. Stay with her, Amy, and make sure she doesn't buy anything horrible, okay?"
"I'll tie her hands behind her back," Amy said with a laugh, holding a sparkling pair of earrings up to her ears.
Claire laughed, trying to relax now that they were safely back on the subject of accessories, but everything inside her bristled. Her human side. Her wolf side. All of her was on edge.
"Hey, Claire!" Katherine popped out from behind a display of bracelets, waving wildly.
Claire froze. Was she kidding? Couldn't Katherine see that she was with other people? Other distinctly human people?
"What are you doing here?" Katherine chirped. She dropped her shopping bags and hugged Claire. "It's such a killer sale—I couldn't resist picking up a few things." She looked around, her mouth falling open when she saw Amy.
"Oh, hi."
"Hi." Amy smiled her most winning, adults-always-likeme smile. "I'm Amy Harper."
"Nice to meet you," Katherine said, looking at Claire in a way that said she was surprised Claire had friends.
"Katherine is a, uh, friend of my mom's," Claire said.
"Oh, just an acquaintance, really. It's been ages!" Katherine's whinnying laugh made Claire cringe.
"Oh, well, um, nice to meet you, too." Amy shifted awkwardly from foot to foot, giving Claire a why-is-this-so-weird sort of look. "I haven't met Claire's mom yet, but I've seen some of her pictures. They're amazing."
"Oh, right. Her pictures. I don't, um . . ." Katherine had gone bright red, and a sheen of sweat glistened at her temples.
"Here! I found it!" Emily came sprinting back, a necklace clutched victoriously in her hand.
Claire turned, and Katherine cleared her throat awkwardly. "Well, I can see I'm interrupting. I'm going to go. . . ." She scrabbled for her shopping bags. "Tell your mom I said hi, and that I'll see you guys, uh, soon."
Claire wanted to smack her. No wonder Judith always stuck so close to Katherine. It was like Katherine's mouth was always three steps ahead of her brain.
Katherine swept off toward the shoe department, leaving Claire, Emily, and Amy staring after her.
"Who was that?" Emily asked.
"A friend of my mom's," Claire said simply. "Let me see the necklace you found." She held out her hand.
"I'm surprised you don't know her," Amy said. "She was all over Claire like some sort of long-lost aunt or something."She was half-joking, but there was something suspicious in her voice at the same time, and Claire struggled to get Amy talking about something else.
Emily handed her the jewelry, her gaze still trained on Katherine and a confused, betrayed expression on her face. "No, I've . . . I've never met any of Marie's friends, I guess."
"What are you and your mom doing with her?" Amy asked, toying with a pair of earrings. "She sounded like she was really looking forward to it, whatever it was."
Emily looked over at Claire, interested. Waiting.
"I . . ." Claire scrambled for an answer. A good answer. This was why she couldn't afford to be friends with Amy. A tooth rattlingly, face slappingly great example of why it would be a horrible idea. "I think she's coming to the house to have some pictures taken. I dunno."
She held up the necklace that Emily had given her. "Oh, Emily, this is perfect!" Claire gushed in a desperate bid to get their attention off Katherine.
The necklace really was perfect. The simple rhinestone choker would be amazing with the green of the dress and her dark hair.
"It'll be great with the neckline. And it's not too fussy, either. I know you hate that." Emily looked ridiculously pleased with herself.
"Thanks." Claire reached over to hug her. "You're the best."
"What are friends for?" Emily said.
Claire looked at Emily and Amy, who were both beaming. She wished she had an answer to Emily's question, because the echoing silence hurt like hell.
Chapter Twelve