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"Who is this?" Kallie's mom asked after she paused the show she was watching to look over at us.
"Hello Beverly," Jackson dragged out, rocking back on his heels.
"Ms. Anders," she corrected monotonously, brushing a strand of wavy blonde hair behind her ear as she looked at us expectantly.
"This is Jackson, Elliott's friend. He's staying with them, remember?" Kallie smiled sweetly at her as she gestured toward him.
Ms. Beverly nodded curtly, cocking an eyebrow, silently saying, okay, but why is he here?
"Remember that talk we had before you let me start drinking?" Kallie made her way to lean against the couch.
I saw Jackson waddle closer to me from the corner of my eye, and pressed my lips together.
"You said if I ever had the opportunity to stop someone from getting behind the wheel under the influence to take it, and you wouldn't be mad. That's what I did — I just didn't have anywhere to take him," Kallie finished, smiling sheepishly.
"You know how my parents are," I added, hoping the small reminder would keep her from calling my mom.
Ms. Beverly let out a long sigh, narrowing her eyes at Kallie — making her look more like Kallie's sister. "We don't have these talks so you can use them against me later on."
"I'm not trying to use it against you," Kallie said confidently. "Just trying to help a...friend."
I bit the inside of my cheek to keep from laughing at the grudgingly way she said friend.
"You didn't drink, did you?" Ms. Beverly asked, looking between Kallie and I again. We shook our heads.
Definitely didn't smoke, either.
Thank God I only took two hits.
"Good. This is the only time I'm allowing this, and no one says a peep to Debbie — I don't want to lose my Thanksgiving privileges. You," Ms. Beverly pointed at Jackson with authority, "sleep in the guest room. And all bedroom doors stay cracked."
"This is never going to happen again, don't worry," I promised, turning to Jackson and crossing my arms. "Right?"
"Yes ma'am," Jackson gave me a short nod, trying to look serious.
"I'll show you the guest room," Kallie waved for us to follow her as she started toward the hallway to the left.
We walked past her room, and Kallie opened the door next to the bathroom across the hall. Jackson took a quick glance into the beige room, with only a long dresser and full size bed, covered by a dusty rose colored duvet.
"There's no tv," Jackson pouted as he looked back at Kallie.
Kallie shrugged nonchalantly. "Mom said if we made it too comfortable, people would over stay their welcome. You don't need tv anyways; you need sleep."
