Naughty Princess

4

"You girls having fun?" Talk about the life of the party. Their laughter dies down, and they pause the movie. A light flickers on, and suddenly the room is flooded. Coming into view is Grace's lavish desk, a corner of piled Fluffamals, and her wall of reprinted art pieces.

In the doorway is Grace's mother.

Her mom looks like she's nice; she has the smile and red cheeks, her greying hair curls around her ears. She's half a head shorter than Addison, and Addison is 5 foot 4.

She is not, in fact, nice.

"Hey, mom. We're just, uh, watching some Hala." Of course, the movie is paused on a weird shot of a shirtless werewolf, but Grace's mom isn't looking at that. Instead, she is looking at Addison.

She isn't a friend of Jessica, but she does like to gossip. Heat floods Addison's face; she pulls Grace's frosty blue duvet into her lap and over her legs. Grace glances at her and then back to her mother. Addison looks down, and so she doesn't see the way Grace's eyes harden.

"Can you help me with the groceries, sweetie?" It's said light, a hint of a laugh at the edge of the words. They're three women having a laugh at a weird but somewhat good movie.

Her heart squeezes.

"Uh, sure, Mom. I'll be down in a minute." The door closes with a small bang, steps echoing in the hall as Grace's mother walks away in her heeled boots. Addison can't bring herself to look at her friend. Sometimes she gets these gut feelings, and right now, it's telling her that she shouldn't be here, that she's not welcomed.

"Hey, don't worry about Addy. I pay rent here, and you're my best friend, alright?" Grace puts her hand over Addison's, where it's squeezing the comforting cloth of the duvet. Grace is right, she does pay rent. $100 weekly.

Her gut feeling tells her again that she probably doesn't have as much say as Grace would like to think.

But this is her friend, and sometimes you have to swallow your own discomfort. She turns to Grace; her chocolate brown eyes move over her face quickly, and her eyebrows are knitted together. Maybe she isn't so sure herself, which isn't comforting.

"Look, just trust me, please?" Addison can't say no to that, especially not with the puppy eyes.

"Okay, Gee, I trust you." There's still a grimness to her, but also a sense of purpose. She gets up from the bed, and throws on a fluffy robe and a pair of warm slippers. She gives Addison a nod and turns around stiff like she's off to war.

There's a reason why she doesn't usually spend time at Grace's house if it isn't in her room, but she can't blame her for it. Sometimes you can't say no to those you love.