The fabric is slinky, hugging her body like a glove. She’s as thin as the popular girls, even if she hides it most of the time. The black dress has a deep, plunging neckline and widens below her hips.
She does a little shimmy. “What do you think?”
“It’s beautiful.” Lenora winks. “And spicy.”
Riley tosses her hair back. “I think I’ll knock Eli’s socks off.”
He officially asked her while I was home recovering, apparently. And she said yes, amongst a sea of jealous onlookers. It was quite the spectacle. Singing, a marching band, the lacrosse team surrounding Riley and lifting her.
Still, she tries on two more dresses before she declares herself satisfied with the first. We walk out of the store with our arms linked—the three of us, me at the center. There’s a warm feeling in my chest, and it’s easy to ignore the pain in my abdomen.
We get pretzels and browse around a few stores. I hesitate picking out jewelry. There are some things of my mom’s I could get. I’m sure they’re in her room in our old house. Going in to get them would probably give me a panic attack, but...
It would be nice to wear her earrings or necklace. Feel closer to her.
Riley holds up a stunning necklace dripping in crystals. “I’m getting this,” she announces. She tries it on, holding her hair up and turning every which way.
“I love it,” I tell her.
She grins at me.
As we’re leaving the store, someone shouts my name.
A blur shoots past Riley and knocks into me.
Someone latches on to me, their arms around my waist. All the breath is expelled from my lungs. It takes me a few seconds to comprehend that the small person isn’t a stranger—it’s Hanna.
I laugh and wrap my arms around her, rocking back and forth. Screw the searing pain in my stomach. It’s Hanna. My expectation of seeing her again was lower than low.
Claire jogs up, panting. “Jesus, Hanna,” she admonishes. To me, she says, “She saw you and took off.”
Hanna takes a step back, and I brush back her hair. She’s only a few years younger than us, but I babied her more than Claire ever did. Probably because I hadn’t had a kid sister for more than a few months at a time.
“How are you?” I remember my manners suddenly and turn to Lenora. “This is my foster mom. Lenora, this is Claire and Hanna.”
Lenora’s nostrils flare—or maybe it’s my imagination. She smiles at Hanna and Claire, reaching out to shake their hands.
Claire stares at her outstretched hand and doesn’t move.
Embarrassment creeps up my neck in the form of a blush. I’ve been telling Lenora and Robert about my foster siblings, how much I missed them, and here Claire is, shoving that all out the window.
Hanna steps forward and takes Lenora’s hand, shaking it up and down enthusiastically. It makes up for the iciness of her sister.
“Can we steal Margo?” Claire asks. She glances at Riley, then away. “We were hoping to see her this weekend anyway.”
After Lenora bought me a dress, and Riley and I are spending time together? I automatically feel guilty for even thinking that I could break away and go with Claire and Hanna.
I start to turn her down. “Claire—”
“It’s okay.” Lenora shares a look with Riley.
Riley shrugs.
“You go spend some time with them. I’m going to put our stuff in the car, and we’ll meet you in the food court? In an hour?”
Guilt.
It’s all I feel.
I start to say no again, but Hanna grabs my hand.
“Come see this shirt Claire’s gonna buy me!” she says, hopping from one foot to the other. At my nod, she drags me down the hallway.
We end up in a kids’ clothing store, following Hanna around. She excitedly tears clothes off the racks to try on. I glance at Claire, who now smiles openly.
“We get an allowance,” she tells me. “And we’ve been saving up for a shopping spree.”
And my foster mom bought a five hundred dollar dress without flinching.
Now I’m the one trying not to flinch.
Claire follows Hanna toward the dressing room, making her come out after each shirt. They end up selecting three, all from the clearance rack, and a pair of jeans.
I try not to let it bother me.
Money, friends, love.
It’s all luck of the draw for us.
“Ice cream?” Hanna asks.
Claire frowns. “We can split a cone.”
Lenora had given me a twenty-dollar bill earlier. I feel it in my pocket and smile. “My treat.”
Hanna screams. It’s high-pitched and intense. Even after she’s stopped, it bangs around my head.
But Claire just chuckles, rubbing Hanna’s head. “She got into this excited squealing in school. All her friends do it.”
“Right.”
My own screams echo in my ears.
I shake my head.
We go toward the food court, and Claire grips my arm.
She bites her lip. “Remember how you used to talk about Caleb all the time?”
I blush. I didn’t talk about him all the time. But if we were talking about our pasts, which we did often—trading war stories, as it was—then… yeah, I mentioned him.
She gives me a knowing look, and then she’s right back to watching me with an odd expression. It takes a minute to place the emotion on her face, because she so rarely shows worry or concern. But now both are flashing across her features.
We watch Hanna skip ahead of us, then circle and come back.
“I didn’t realize…”
I glance at her. “What?”
“I recognized him.”
Her words aren’t computing. “Huh? From what?”
“I… I don’t know. I’ll keep trying to remember, but it’s weird. I saw a picture of you and him on Instagram, and he just seems so familiar.”
“There’s a picture on Instagram? Of us?”
She rolls her eyes. “Yeah. Some girls at Lion’s Head are obsessed with the Emery-Rose lacrosse team. They have a fan page for them. Anyway, they reposted it…”
My mouth drops open. First, that he’d post a picture of us. Second, that he has a fan page. What?
“That’s… weird.”
She shrugs. “He has some pretty rabid fans, if you ask me. Just search his hashtag.”
Hanna slams into me again. I failed to mention my stomach, so maybe it’s my fault that I suddenly can’t breathe. But then Riley is in front of me, gently prying Hanna off.