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Mrs Shaw smiled. “Aren’t you sweet? Jesse’s not here right now. He’s gone out for a drive with his dad. He shouldn’t be too long. You’re welcome to come in and wait.”
As we stepped inside Mrs Shaw said, “Can I get you anything? Coffee? Juice? Cupcakes?”
“Coffee and cupcakes sound good.”
“Just some water for me, thanks,” Leah answered.
“Take a seat. I’ll be right back.”
I couldn’t help smiling at the cosiness of Jesse’s parents’ place. The house wasn’t small, but it was no mansion either. An average home, comfortable and neat. I wished Jude would move us into a place like this. I wouldn’t be so lost when he wasn’t home if I could easily see every wall of every room and not have to walk half a mile from the lounge to the kitchen. I missed my childhood house; a place which used to hold so much comfort and love. That was one of the reasons I loved the Shaw house. It reminded me of what I used to have.
“Oh, hello.”
Jesse’s sister, Kayla, bounded in, probably looking for her mom, not expecting me and Leah.
“Hey Kayla,” Leah said. “How are you doing?”
Kayla shrugged. “Good, I guess.”
Having spent so much time at Jesse’s lately, I’d gotten to know Kayla pretty well. Fifteen years old and totally kickass. I wasn’t like her at fifteen, so I admired her feistiness. However, I recognised at that moment she wasn’t feeling too feisty.
“Okay, what’s wrong?”
Kayla gave us a slightly uneasy look as if trying to decide whether to tell us. I quirked an eyebrow and her face broke into a smile.
“I’m going to a party tonight. At my best friend’s house.”
“And?”
“The guy I like is going. I haven’t told mom boys will be there and I don’t know what to wear and, well, I’m freaking out.”
Leah laughed. “What do you need help with? Telling your mum about the boys, or getting ready?”
“I think I’m not telling her about the boys. I do need help getting ready, though but if Mom sees me too dressed up, she’ll know.”
“Word of advice.” Leah leaned in towards her. “She already knows. Mums have a magic way of knowing everything.”
Kayla nodded. “You’re probably right. But she doesn’t like me wearing make-up or anything and I want to look really good, so yeah, I need help.”
Part of me wanted to grill her about the party. What kind of party? Would there be drinking? Parental supervision? Did she have any idea how disgusting and horny some teenage boys were? But all those questions were the reasons she didn’t want to tell her mom. Kayla was a smart girl. She could handle herself.
I jumped to my feet and pulled Leah up with me. “Let’s go.”
Kayla called out to her mom that we were going up to her room to choose an outfit for her. Mrs Shaw simply gave an amused chuckle in response. This wasn’t the first time Kayla had asked me to pick out clothes for a special occasion.
Kayla had a real girly bedroom with pink stuff and posters of boy bands tacked to the walls. When we were out of earshot from her mom, I said, “Okay. What do you have?”
Kayla opened her wardrobe, delved right to the back of a shelf, pulling out a thick book. When she opened it, I burst out laughing. The book was hollow, hiding a large selection of make-up, including concealers, foundations, eye shadows, lipsticks, and all kinds of other beauty stuff.
“Oh, I love you.” Leah chuckled. “I used to do this when I was a kid.”
Kayla smirked. “Mom hates me wearing make-up so I hide it. I buy all kinds with my allowance but I hardly ever get to wear it.”
I placed my hands on her shoulders and guided her towards her desk chair, sitting her down.
“Okay. I’ll do the make-up, Leah can take care of your clothes.”
Kayla grinned again and I high-fived Leah before getting to work.
