The Sisters of Nowhere

e i g h t e e n : e x p l a n a t i o n

Marigold was already back home when Birdie and Ophelia trekked up the driveway, careful to skirt around the house so as not to wake their parents.

"I guess secrets aren't all bad." Ophelia said, coming to a stop beneath Marigold's bedroom window. "But one this big should've been a sister-secret, no doubt about it."

Birdie nodded but kept her thoughts to herself. Why couldn't Marigold trust them enough to tell them about the ghost? Had Birdie been right in assuming that Marigold had been in danger?

And now she'd made an idiot of herself with Wyatt, which was almost as unbearable an idea as it was for Marigold to keep something from her sisters.

They snuck back into the house by going up the oak tree outside Marigold's window.

When Birdie popped her head beneath the sill, Marigold was pacing back and forth across the ratty pink rug, wringing her hands. She must've been sick once she realized that her sisters weren't still asleep.

Did she feel bad that she'd been living a lie or guilty because she'd been caught?

"Nice night for a stroll," Birdie said.

Marigold froze at the sound of her voice and turned around with a pained expression. Birdie couldn't decipher what her expression meant.

Birdie crawled through the window, followed by Ophelia.

"Don't be mad," Marigold said. "It isn't what it looked like."

"We've been worried about you," Birdie said, trying to keep her tone in check. Her mother always told them not to let the sun set on their anger. Birdie had made the mistake of letting hers simmer for more than a week now and it was just about to boil over if she wasn't careful. "We were worried and all this time," she continued, "you've just been having secret trysts with a ghost."

Marigold's eyes flashed. "You don't know what you're talking about!"

"Girls," Ophelia hissed, serving as the unsuspecting voice of reason, "we don't want to wake Mama and Dad, so shut up if you're going to argue."

"There's nothing to argue about," Birdie replied. "Marigold's been lying to us and that's that."

Marigold clenched her fists and stepped towards Birdie, all evidence of remorse being replaced by indignance. "You're the one who needs to shut up! Just because I don't tell you every single thing that goes on in my life doesn't make me a liar!"

Birdie gave a harsh laugh.

Ophelia sighed.

"That would be something like not telling us what you ate for lunch or who you talked to at school," Birdie said, "not something like this, Marigold. And you know it. You've said you're going to the store or taking a drive or going to the movies--that's lying."

"I was going to tell you!" Marigold cried desperately.

Ophelia shushed them again.

"When?" Birdie asked. "After you invite him to dinner? Or when you give him enough energy to reincarnate or something?"

"It's not like that," Marigold spat.

Ophelia stepped between them. "Then why don't you explain it to us?"

She put a hand on Birdie's shoulder. She was beginning to like this motherly role she was playing. She also rather enjoyed being the only sensible one in the room. "If you two could be civil for one second, maybe we could work this out?"