Between Two Girls

Chapter 36

Ding-dong.

"Anika, can you get the door for me?" Paige calls out. "I'd get it, but my hands are full at the moment." She opens the cupboard for the dishes while Anika gets out of her room.

"Akay!" Anika opens the front door, and Paige can hear muffled talking while she sets the table. Shuffles follow, and Paige looks up to see her sister holding hands with Lucy. Paige's eyes widen as she scans Lucy from head to toe. Her guest is wearing a dark blue dress that hugs her curves, along with wedges on her feet to match. Lucy's hair is pulled into a tight ponytail with a black clip.

"She's here!" Anika squeals, not noticing Paige's reaction. "Can we play now?"

Paige snaps out of it and looks down at Anika. "No, dinner's ready," she says. "Can you get mom?" Anika nods and promptly leaves the room.

"Looks like someone wants to have alone time with Miss Hottie!" Juli says.

"Who's that?" Emery asks.

Paige imagines her gaping. "Have you seen Lucy? Even I want her to take me out on a date!"

"You're straight?"

"Wha-? What kind of a question is that?!"

"I can tell Anika likes me," Lucy interrupts the voices, sounding awkward. Paige assumes she wants to fill the space.

"Um, yeah," Paige replies. "She wouldn't stop talking about how much of an awesome play date you would be."

Lucy laughs. "I don't think I'm dressed up for that," she says. "I would have dressed up in sweats if I knew what's going to happen."

Anika comes back to the kitchen with Mrs. Sery. "Everyone's here!" she anmounces.

"So, this is Lucy," Mrs. Sery says. She holds out a hand to the guest. "It's nice to meet you. I'm Mrs. Sery. You can call me Ally."

"Oh. Um, thanks, Ally." Lucy shakes her hand. "It's nice to meet you, too."

Mrs. Sery smiles softly. Paige can tell she likes Lucy. "Why don't we eat then?" Paige asks. "The food will get cold."

"Yay food!" Anika exclaims.

Both Lucy and Mrs. Sery laugh. "You can ask me any questions you may have," Lucy says.

"I do, and I will."

______

Half an hour later, everyone is finished and Paige gets the dishes. She's surprised at how much her mom has eaten. And without the bookworm telling her.

"Do you think she doesn't want Lucy to know about her eating disorder?" Emery wonders. "It's not exactly something to boast about."

"Not unless you're a model," Paige mutters as she bags the leftovers.

Emery chuckles. "Even then a model wouldn't say those exact words. Probably replace the term with 'diet'."

"True."

Paige turns to see Anika showing Lucy her favorite board game. "Can we play this game?" Anika asks.

"Sure." Lucy looks around the box. "Uh-oh. The rules says we have to have at least one more player."

"Awww." Anika pouts. "And Paigey doesn't like this game." She thinks. "Oooh! How about the park? It'll be so fun!"

Lucy looks at Paige. "Can we?" she asks.

Paige shrugs. "Anika's determined to play. I'll, um, talk to mom. For, something." She leaves the kitchen, while Anika cheers and puts on her boots and jacket.

Walking down the hallway, Paige asks, "Mom? Can I talk to you?"

Mrs. Sery comes out of her room. "Yes, Paige? Is this about Lucy? She's a wonderful girl, so you don't have to worry."

"Um, I know this is a bad time," Paige starts. "But it's been almost two weeks since you got home from the hospital. The doctor says you need to be weighed at least once a week, if not every day."

Mrs. Sery scoffs. "Of course it's a bad time," she says. "Not while Lucy's here."

"I mean, when Lucy's gone," Paige says. "She, Anika, and I are going to the park. But when we come back, I'm going to have to--"

"You're not going to do anything," her mom says sternly. "It's not going to happen, whether during or after Lucy's visit." She goes to her room and shuts the door forcefully.

Paige sighs. "Great." She slowly turns around to see a concerned Lucy.

"Is everything alright?" she asks.

The bookworm nods. "Yeah, everything's good." She nods towards the front door, where Anika is impatiently pacing back and forth. "I don't think we need to keep the little one waiting."

Lucy looks back. She laughs. "I don't want to see her angry tonight," she says. "Let's go."