Between Two Girls

Chapter 34

Now that Paige knows her crush is into girls, she's not sure how to respond. She can go down the shocked route, where she pretends Lucy is straight and still feel sad whenever she sees the popular girl with Eli. Or Paige can be ecstatic because it means she has a better chance of going out with Lucy.

"What are you planning to do with the awesome news?" Juli asks as Paige stirs a pot of spaghetti noodles on Friday night. Anika is doing her homework on the kitchen table, so Paige can't answer one of the voices' question. She can, however, answer her sister's question.

"What's 3 plus 4?" Anika asks.

"It's 7," Paige replies. "You might want to start memorizing the flash cards your teacher gave you at the beginning of the year."

"But Miss Daisy makes learning boring!" Anika protests. "I learn better from you." Paige hears the scratches of a pencil on paper behind her.

"Awww, that's so sweet!" Juli pipes up. "You should teach her lots of things!"

"She has a lot to do, Juli," Emery says. "She has school, work, homework, and now she has to find various ways to keep her mom eating and drinking right. I doubt Paige would have the time to help her sister."

"Awww." Juli pauses. "What if I help Anika with school?" she asks. "That would be fun!"

"She doesn't know about you. And Paige doesn't want Anika to know about you."

Juli gasps dramatically. "Well, that's just rude!"

"How is that rude? Anika needs a least one stable family member to raise her," Emery says.

As Paige turns off the stove burner and drains the pasta, the voices keep debating. The bookworm gets three bowls to split the food in and adds heated spaghetti sauce in each one. "Anika," she says. "Can you get mom for dinner?"

"Sure." Anika moves her things off the table before leaving to their mom's room. Seconds later, she comes back without Mrs. Sery. "She doesn't want to leave her room," Anika states.

"Did she say why?" Paige questions. When her sister shakes her head, she adds, "Alright, I'll get her. You can start eating." She walks past Anika and goes to her mom's room.

"Mom?" she calls out. She enters the room and sees Mrs. Sery curled up on her bed. She's clutching a picture frame to her chest, and Paige can see the blank look on her face. "Mom," Paige says again.

Mrs. Sery looks up. "Yes, Paige?" she asks.

The bookworm gestures to the kitchen. "It's dinnertime," she says. "It's spaghetti, your favorite."

"Is it?" Mrs. Sery sits up and smells the air. "It is." She looks down at the picture frame, where Paige can now see is an old picture of her father. "I think I'll skip tonight," her mom says. "Maybe tomorrow night."

"No, mom. You need to eat," Paige says sternly. "Come on. Anika and I are waiting for you." She goes over to Mrs. Sery and takes her hand.

Mrs. Sery sighs in resignation. "If you say so," she says. She and Paige walk to the kitchen. Anika is halfway through her dinner, and smiles up at the two. Her mouth and cheeks are covered in spaghetti sauce.

Paige laughs. "I left you alone for two minutes!" she says. She grabs a couple of napkins and crouches next to her sister. She starts wiping the sauce off. "How did you get so messy after two minutes?"

Anika shrugs, but she's also smiling. "It's my best talent," she replies.

"If making a mess in a short amount of time is her best talent," Emery muses, "then I wonder what her worst talent is."

"Probably staying clean," Juli offers. Emery hoots with laughter while Paige tries not to crack a smile.

"What's so funny?" Anika asks.

"Nothing, just you being you," Paige replies. She stands up and throws the soiled napkins away. Paige waits for Mrs. Sery to sit down before she does. "What's happening lately, Anika?"

"Besides the boredom? Nothing much." Anika twists her fork in the noodles. "Is Lucy gonna come here soon?"

Paige is surprised. "What brought that up?"

"You said when the project is over, then Lucy can come here and play with me," her sister replies. "Don't you remember?"

"Who's Lucy, Paige?" Mrs. Sery asks suddenly.

"Um, she's a friend of mine." Paige focuses on the food in front of her. "You don't know her."

"Yeah, but she's pretty!" Anika says enthusiastically. "And she's like Paige!"

Confused, Paige asks, "What do you meant by that?"

"You two love to read. And do boring stuff. Like the project."

"We didn't like doing the project," Paige defends. "It was a school assignment. And we were partners on it."

"Well, when Lucy was here, you guys kept laughing and smiling as you worked," Anika says. "You don't do that kind of stuff if it's boring."

Emery chuckles. "She has you there," he says.

"You're not helping, Emery!" Juli speaks on Paige's behalf.

"Why don't you invite Lucy over to dinner sometime?" Mrs. Sery suggests. "I get to meet her, and she can play with Anika."

"Please, Paigey?" Anika pleads. "I wanna play with her!"

"Okay, okay!" Paige exclaims. "But only if both of you eat your dinner until there's nothing left in your bowls."

"Challenge accepted!" Anika says. She immediately starts chowing down the sauce covered pasta. Mrs. Sery, on the other hand, doesn't look thrilled to have to eat. Paige sees that her bowl is barely touched.

"Mom?" Paige asks.

"Huh?" Looking up at her eldest daughter, Mrs. Sery raises an eyebrow. "What is it?" The bookworm proceeds to explain the condition once again, and her mother frowns. "That doesn't seem fair," she says.

Paige shrugs. "Well, too bad. If you want to meet Lucy, then you do what I asked you to do." She crosses her arms.

Mrs. Sery slowly smiles. "You would make a great negotiator when you grow up," she says. Leaving the bookworm thinking about her career choices, Paige watches her mom lift up a fork and twirl it in the pile of noodles. Bite by bite, Mrs. Sery eats until the bowl is empty. "See?"

"Yes, mom. I see."

"You should make it a game!" Juli says. "It'd be fun!"

"Considering how close Paige's mom was to death, I don't think that'd be a good thing," the sage says.

"OK," Paige says, interrupting the voices. "Let me call Lucy and ask if she wants to come over." She stands up to puts the dirty dishes in the sink while Anika happily does her victory dance.