Chaz pulled open her closet and started to hang up her t-shirts and blouses, grumbling under her breath. She wasn't in the best of moods, as she was getting somewhat sick of her mother working all the time. As she pulled some hangers down and started pulling her clothes onto them, she couldn't help but notice something was wrong...the closet seemed...emptier...than it usually did. Chaz stepped back and looked at it, tossing her things on her bed and putting her hands on her hips. What was it? What was missing? And then it hit her; her eyes widened in terror, her breath caught in her chest.
Her dollhouse. Where was her dollhouse? *** Charlize Farrar had the dollhouse for as long as she could remember, but the thing is, she never even really played with dolls. In fact, she wasn't even sure she'd ever once owned a doll, but she'd always loved the dollhouse. It was enormous, and it was made of wood. It was painted with a fuschia pink and a deep blue roof and each and every single room was meticulously detailed. Chaz wasn't even sure she'd ever properly "played" with it, but it was of great value and comfort to her, and now that it seemed to have suddenly vanished without a trace, she was feeling sick to her stomach. The phone rang a fourth time, and she was grousing to herself about her mom never answering when she was at work, but just then she finally picked up. "Mom?" Chaz asked. "What's going on? Are you okay?" "I'm home, everything's fine but I can't find the dollhouse in my closet," Chaz said, pacing in her bedroom, "do you have any idea where it could be?" No answer. This made Chaz all the more nervous. Finally, after a moment, her mother cleared her throat and spoke again. "I didn't know," she said softly, "If I'd known, I wouldn't have done anything. I took it to a thrift store yesterday with a bunch of other things. I figured you didn't want it. I hadn't seen it in over a year. I am so sorry, Charlize." "...what thrift store?" Chaz asked, grabbing a pen and a piece of paper. After she got the information and got off the phone with her mom, she then dialed up the only other person she knew who'd drop everything to help her. *** "You have a phone call," Mae's mother told her, handing her the phone while she sat in the living room, watching TV and eating cereal from the box. Mae took the phone and put it to her ear. "Hello?" she asked, "Oh, Chaz, what's going on?" "My mother gave away my dollhouse," Chaz said, "I need you to get your bike and meet me at Questa Park. We're gonna go find it. And be sure to call Trisha and Allie. We're gonna need their help." After Mae called the others, the three of them met at her house then took their bikes to the park. Trisha said she had to be back before dinner, but otherwise everything was fine. Questa was not far from Mae's house, and the girls often went there on their own, so their parents didn't have any qualms with this little outing. As they arrived, they could see Chaz sitting on a bench, her bike parked beside it. The girls all came to a stop and each climbed off their bike as well as Chaz looked up to see them. "We're looking for a dollhouse?" Allie asked, "I'm surprised to know you even own one." "Well I do, and it's important, so we need to find it," she said, "Trisha, did you bring the neighborhood map?" "I did," she said, pulling a folded up map from her fannypack and unfurling it, laying it on the bench for them all to view. The girls had made the map together the previous year in order to help optimize their trick or treating. It was made with crayons and markers and colored pencils, and it encompassed almost the entire surrounding neighborhood along with a little bit of the shops that were nestled within it. Trisha reached in and pointed at a spot, tapping it with her fingers. "This is probably the one she went to," she said, "It's the closest, and it's the one everyone likes. It's also the one with the biggest toy selection, so." "Okay then, that's the one we'll go to," Chaz said, climbing off the bench, pulling her helmet back on and strapping it before climbing back up onto her bike. The girls followed, confused as to the point of this mission but certainly willing to help their friend. The store in question was a little thrift shop run by two older women called Thrift Smart, and it was somewhere Allie was actually fairly familiar with considering most of the furniture in her trailer came from there, along with most other things she owned. All the girls had been there on at least one or more occasions, but Allie was especially familiar with it. It wasn't far either, it was tucked away in a little shopping strip near a drug store and between a VHS rental shop and a chinese restaurant. As the girls pulled up, they parked their bikes and left Trisha and Mae outside to watch them while Allie and Chaz headed indoors to search. "The toy aisle is over here," Allie said as they walked inside, and Chaz followed her as Allie added, "...so...why did this happen?" "I don't know. My mom told me she hadn't seen it in a long time so she figured I didn't want it anymore, but that doesn't make any sense because I never really played with it," Chaz said. "If you don't play with it, then why do you want it?" Allie asked. Chaz didn't answer, and Allie decided not to push it. They reached the toy aisle and started digging, unsure of what they'd find. The way Chaz had described it, however, insinuated that if it were here, it'd be easy to find, given its enormity. Meanwhile, back outside, Trisha and Mae sat on the curb and shared a package of snack crackers Trisha had brought with her in the fannypack. As Mae shoveled a handful of cheese stuffed crackers in her mouth and chewed, Trisha sighed. "I always wanted a dollhouse, but mom won't let me have one," she said. "Why not?" Mae asked. "She says she doesn't want me distracted by make believe, and that I should focus on real life. She says fantasizing leads to sinning," Trisha said, "but it's just make believe. It's not like I'm fantasizing about doing something bad. I'd just play normal house." "Your mom's weird," Mae said, "...sorry." "No, you're not wrong," Trisha replied, "She is. I love her, she's my mom, but she is weird, and sometimes it feels unfair." "I don't have a dollhouse, but you're always welcome to come over and play with my horses," Mae said, referring to her enormous collection of plastic horses, adding, "We could play house but with a horse family!" Trisha laughed and nodded. She appreciated Mae's generosity, and she was grateful to have her as a best friend. Back in the store, Allie and Chaz weren't having any luck, so they headed to the front desk and rang the bell. After a moment, one of the older women came to the counter and looked over it at them, smiling warmly. "How may I help you girls?" she asked. "Did you get a big dollhouse in here recently?" Chaz asked, "it's sort of pink and it's like really huge and-" "Yes, we did!" the woman said, "unfortunately it was sold pretty quickly." "...do you...can you tell me who bought it?" Chaz asked. "It's really important," Allie said, using her familiarity with the owners to her advantage. The woman grimaced, and then sighed, taking a piece of paper and a pen and writing on it. "We're really not supposed to do this, but if Allie says it's important, it must be," she said, "Here, this is the name of the woman who bought it. You can find her in a phonebook, which we have right outside. Good luck, girls." Chaz and Allie re-emerged from the store, and sat down on the curb beside Trisha and Mae, Allie having grabbed a phonebook from the metal bin near the doors on their way out. As Chaz explained it, Allie started sifting through the phonebook, trying to track the name down. Chaz groaned and flopped backwards onto the cement, whining. "This suuuucks," she said, "Even if we find her, why would she ever give it back to me? She bought it, that means it's hers now. I'm never getting it back. Why would my mom do this to me?" "She said it was an accident," Mae said. "Still, she should've asked me first!" Chaz whined, as they heard Allie tap the page, grinning. "I got her!" she said. *** Her name was Kim Parker, and she lived in a fairly nice neighborhood that was at least a half hour bike ride away from the thrift store. It actually was just about off Trisha's map, which made her nervous, but the girls managed to find it nonetheless. Now it just boiled down to finding out which house was hers. Chaz suggested they split into pairs and search the mailboxes, looking at the names on the mail. When Trisha informed her that was illegal, Chaz told her they weren't going to open the mail, just look at the names. Trisha and Mae teamed up, Chaz and Allie being the other team, and they got to work. It took a good 15 or 20 minutes or so, but Trisha eventually found it, a magazine with the name K. Manners on it. As she shoved the mail back into the mailbox, Chaz and Allie running over to them, they all glanced up at the house. They could hear a kid laughing from nearby, and the girls decided to walk to the sidegate and peek over into the backyard. Mae and Allie got on their hands and knees and let Chaz climb on top of them to look over the fence. After a few moments, she finally climbed back down and looked sad. "What was it?" Mae asked. "My back hurts," Allie said, groaning as Trisha helped them both up. "It's a little girl," Chaz said. "We're little girls," Allie remarked, making Trisha and Mae chuckle. "No, I mean little little, like a kindergarten kid," Chaz said, "and she's playing with it. She looks so happy." "Well, at least it's been given to a good home," Trisha said. Suddenly the front door opened, and a woman stepped outside, looking at the girls, who all stopped like deer in headlights and stared back at her. The woman smiled and folded her arms, slowly approaching them. "Everything okay? Can I help you?" she asked. "Are you Mrs. Manners?" Chaz asked. "I am, is there something you girls need?" Kim asked, and Chaz walked up to her, the other girls staying behind. "My name is Chaz, and you bought my dollhouse. My mom gave it away without asking, and it means a lot to me, and I-" "It's a beautiful dollhouse," Mrs. Manners said, sitting on the porch swing, patting the seat, indicating the girls should join her, which they did; only Chaz and Trisha could fit on the swing, so Mae and Allie sat on the porch proper and listened as Mrs. Manners pushed her bangs from her eyes and continued, smiling, "I'm sorry she did that, that wasn't very smart of her. She should've asked you. But when I saw it in the store, I knew my daughter had to have it. She's adopted. My husband and I recently adopted her in the last few months, and she's having trouble adjusting to having a home, so I thought maybe if she could have her own home to play with, it would make her feel more at ease." None of the girls spoke, though they all glanced at one another nervously. Chaz sighed and looked down at her shoes. "...yeah, that makes sense," she said. "I'm sorry this happened to you," Mrs. Manners said, putting her hand on Chaz's shoulder and smiling at her softly, "but it's made her so happy, I couldn't ask her to give it up. You understand, don't you?" "I do," Chaz said. "Do you girls want to come in and have some juice? How far did you come to find me?" Kim asked. "Pretty far," Allie said, "What kind of juice?" Despite being told they shouldn't go in strangers homes, even Trisha felt like this was safe. The girls followed Kim inside, and she gave them each a glass of juice and even a snack. She then invited them to go into the backyard and play with her daughter, an offer the other girls found weird but Chaz happily took up. So after snacks, the girls headed into the backyard and played with Kim's daughter, and for the first time, and last, Chaz actually played with her dollhouse. After the playdate, when it was starting to get darker, the girls all decided it was time to head home. Trisha had to be home soon for dinner, and she didn't want to get in trouble, so the girls rode their bikes back to their side of town, and stopped at the park. The each said their respective goodbyes and said they'd see one another at school tomorrow. Trisha went her way, Allie went her way, but Chaz got off her bike and sat on the bench again, Mae sitting with her. "...are you okay?" Mae asked. "We used to be that girls age," Chaz said, "We used to play with toys like that." "I still play with toys like that," Mae said, shrugging, making Chaz chuckle. "Okay, we still do, but you know what I mean," she said, "...I'm glad she can feel okay, but I don't feel okay." "Do you wanna stay over for dinner?" Mae asked, and Chaz shook her head. "Thanks, but I need to talk to my mom," she said. They said goodbye, and then each rode their bike their way home. Chaz's mom wouldn't be home until an hour after Chaz got back, but when she got inside, she found Chaz sitting in her bedroom with the lights off and the fan on, and looking at a photo album with a flashlight. Her mother, Karen, entered the room quietly, shutting the door behind her as she sat on the bed beside Chaz. "I'm home from work," she said. "I guessed," Chaz said. "What are you doing?" Karen asked, looking at the photo album, and seeing photos of her ex husband. "...dad made me that dollhouse," Chaz said, "it was the only thing he ever did for me. Now he's gone, and we live in a broken home, but that dollhouse wasn't broken and-" "Who said we live in a broken home?" Karen asked. "Kids at school." "Well they're wrong," Karen said, "Just because I'm a single mother doesn't mean our home is broken. A broken home is a home where a family fights all the time, where perhaps things get violent, but your father and I came to a mutual agreement that we shouldn't be together and we separated rather amicably. Sure, he's not in our life anymore, but this is not a broken home, Charlize, and I'm sorry you were told it was. And I'm sorry I sold your dollhouse. Frankly, I'd forgotten he'd made it for you. I'll make it up to you, okay?" Karen then couldn't help but notice that Chaz was crying quietly, and she rubbed her back. "...why doesn't dad come see me?" she asked. "I don't know sweetheart," Karen said, running her hand up Chaz's back and into her mop of blonde hair, sighing as she said, "he was never really interested in having a family, and nobody can force him to come see you, but I do think you're right, and that it's scummy that he doesn't...but I'm here, your sister is here, and we love you so much. Get your jacket and shoes on and we'll go get ice cream, okay?" Chaz smiled weakly. She couldn't resist that offer. As her mother got off the bed and headed for the door, she was surprised to feel Chaz suddenly hug her tightly from behind, and she laughed. She worked a lot, but she loved her children greatly, and she was going to make sure she made this right somehow. Ice cream seemed liked the right start. Every little girl loves ice cream, she thought. *** The next day, at recess, Mae surprised everyone by bringing a bag of her plastic horses, and offered them to the girls to play with that day, to which they all happily agreed, even Allie. So they sat in the sandbox and played with the plastic horses, and Chaz couldn't help but realize how lucky she was to have not just a great mom, but also great friends. Sure, somewhere else a new little girl was playing with her dollhouse... ...but she wasn't playing horses with the only friends she'd ever had, and Chaz felt like she'd won in a way.
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"You're wearing mismatched socks," Trisha said as she looked down at Mae's feet. The girls were standing in the hallway, waiting for the bell to ring and class to start. Mae looked down at her feet and groaned.
"Yeah, that happens a lot," she replied, "I have trouble getting up in the morning so I never know what it is I'm putting on." "I mean, they're nice socks, but still." "At least I'm wearing socks. My parents had to fight with me all last year to get me to wear socks at all, remember?" Mae asked, and Trisha laughed, her ponytail bobbing. "I do remember that!" she said gleefully, adding, "At one point you didn't even wanna wear shoes anymore!" Just then Allie walked up, joining them as she chewed on a cereal bar she held in her hand. After a moment of standing there, Allie looked down and then back up at Mae. "You're wearing mismatched socks," she said. "I know that," Mae said, now getting annoyed at all the attention being called to her footwear. "Where's Chaz?" Trisha asked. "I don't know," Allie replied, shrugging, as the door to the classroom swung open and their teacher for the year, Mrs. Spinner, invited all the awaiting students inside. The kids slowly piled in and were instructed to find their own seat, as Mrs. Spinner stated she didn't believe in seating charts. Trisha, Allie and Mae all put their backpacks and bookbags into the respective cubbyholes in the back of the classroom, then all found desks next to one another. As Mrs. Spinner got her things on her desk prepared, Allie and Trisha talked a bit about the classroom, while Mae surveyed the surrounding classmates. Then she noticed a girl sitting in the very back corner, with long mousy brown hair that covered half her face, not paying any attention to anyone or anything except the coloring book she had in front of her. Mae turned back to the girls and nudged Trisha in the elbow. "What?" Trisha asked, turning to face her. "Who's that? I've never seen her at the school before," Mae said, pointing at the girl so Trisha and Allie could both look towards her. Allie and Trisha looked momentarily, then looked at one another and then looked back at Mae. "No clue," Allie said. "I think she's new," Trisha said, "I've never seen her before either." "Alright kids," Mrs. Spinner said, adjusting her glasses and sitting behind her desk, "Eyes up front, please. It's nice to have a new class, and I hope we all manage to get along for the year. This year we have a special student with us, in the back, her name is Rachel Lachapelle. She's joining public school for the first time this year, and was homeschooled for her life until now, so I'd like you all to be nice to her and help her around the school if you can, okay?" All the students glanced back at Rachel, who sunk lower in her seat, then nodded in agreement, turning back to face Mrs. Spinner. She smiled, opened a book on her desk and sighed. "Well then," she said, "Let's start with our vocabulary list for the week." *** At recess, Allie, Mae and Trisha sat together at one of the blue metal picnic tables near the playground, watching Rachel sit by herself, enjoying an activity book with pictures to color and stickers to place. After a minute or so of splitting her fruit stick into pieces for Mae and Trisha to have some of, Allie scratched her head. "What's homeschooled mean?" she asked. "I think it's literal," Mae said, "You're schooled at home." "That's exactly what it is, yes," Trisha said, "There's a boy from my church who's homeschooled. His dad stays home and teaches him while his mom goes to work. Some parents do it because they don't like the public school system, and I don't blame them." "You're too smart," Allie said, sounding annoyed, which made Trisha laugh and shrug. "She's probably lonely," Mae said, "I remember coming to the school when I first moved here and I was scared as heck. I bet she would like to have friends. We should be her friends." "Okay, go be her friend," Allie said, "We don't know anything about her, so go be her friend and then bring her back here. Recess isn't for getting up. It's for sitting and eating fruit snacks." "Actually recess is exactly for getting up," Trisha said. "Fine, I will," Mae said, climbing off the table and walking across the playground until she reached the spot Rachel was sitting. Mae sat down next to her and, still biting into her half of the fruit stick, looked over at the activity book Rachel was enjoying. After a moment or so, Rachel noticed her and looked up, smiling faintly. "Hi," she said. "Hello," Mae said, "What are you doing?" "I don't know, playing with stickers I guess," Rachel said, shrugging, "My mom gave me this book so I wouldn't have to play with anyone. She doesn't want me becoming friends with anyone. She doesn't like other kids." "Well that's mean," Mae said, "Why'd she send you to school if she didn't like other kids?" "Because she had to start going back to work," Rachel said, "She couldn't stay home and school me anymore. I don't really like being here, it's really crowded and noisy. But it is kinda neat to see other kids for a change." "...do you wanna come sit with me and my friends?" Mae asked. "...okay," Rachel said, smiling, shutting her activity book and following Mae back to the picnic table. When they got back to the table, they noticed Chaz had joined. "Where have you been?" Mae asked. "At the dentists," Chaz said, "Now my teeth hurt and I can't have a snack for recess." "Who schedules a dentist appointment on the first day of school?" Trisha asked. "My mom, apparently," Chaz said, then noticing Rachel asked, "Who's she?" "This is Rachel, she's new. She was homeschooled and this is her first time at a public school," Mae said. "Want some fruit stick?" Allie asked, and Rachel shook her head politely, making Allie shrug and say, "Good, I didn't wanna give out more anyway." Rachel and Mae sat back down at the table and they watched Rachel pull her hair back into a ponytail with a big green scrunchy. She set her activity book down on her lap as she did it, and Trisha tapped it with her fingertips gently. "I used to do these," Trisha said, "When I was in 1st grade I was very nervous all the time, and my parents got me these activity books so I'd feel more calm in public. Is that why you have one?" "Mhm," Rachel said, nodding, "But mine is from my therapist." None of the girls knew how to react to that, so they chose not to. Instead, they talked about the stickers inside the book, and tried to make Rachel feel as welcome as possible. By the time the bell that signaled the end of recess rang, Rachel felt like she did belong, and it was nice. She'd never had any friends before, and she was grateful for their kindness. As they'd find out soon enough, her mother would feel otherwise. *** Sitting at home that night, Mae and Allie were lying on the couch while her mother cooked dinner in the nearby kitchen. Seeing as it had been the first day of school there hadn't been any homework, so there wasn't anything Mae needed to do. Allie was only there because she didn't wanna be alone in the trailer park until her dad got off work, so she was able to stay at Mae's until he came to pick her up. "What's your mom making?" Allie asked. "I don't know. Mom! What are you making?!" Mae shouted. "I'm not yelling across the room, you wanna talk to me then come in here," Juliet said. "When's your dad gonna be here?" Mae asked and Allie shrugged. "I dunno. Probably not very late," Allie said. "You know you can stay the night if it gets too late," Mae said, "Mom doesn't mind. She can take you to school with me tomorrow." The phone rang and they heard Juliet groan. She set her utensils down and headed across the room to the lime green landline hanging on the wall. She picked up the receiver and put it to her face, putting on her nicest phone voice. "Hello?" she asked, "...okay, yes, this is she, who may I ask is calling?" Mae and Allie got on their knees and glanced over the couch, watching Juliet stand in the kitchen, phone to her ear, hand on her hip. She had a sour look on her face, like whoever was on the other end was being very rude to her, but she held her tongue and remained calm. After a minute she checked her watch, which made the girls laugh which in turn made her smirk, and finally she spoke again. "Yes, okay, I'll talk to them, thank you," Juliet said, finally hanging up as she looked at the girls, and asked, "...did you meet a homeschooled girl today?" "Yeah..." the girls said in unison. "Well that was her mother," Juliet said, "and while she's grateful that you were kind and made her feel welcome, she also would like you to leave her daughter alone. Anything you wanna admit to? You do something bad?" "All I did was offer her some fruit stick," Allie said. "The woman sounded...not...great," Juliet said, making the girls chuckle as she scratched the back of her head and added, "but, it is her child and we should abide by her wishes, alright. So tomorrow, when you see this girl, be polite, but try not to interact, alright? Last thing I need is an unhinged mother beating down my door. Now who wants Chili?" The girls high fived and scrambled over the top of the couch, rushing to the kitchen. Lying in Mae's room that night, the glow in the dark stars stuck to her ceiling their only light, Allie couldn't help but feel weird about the phone call. She rolled onto her side on the bed and looked at Mae, who just kept looking up at the stars. "Why's that lady not want her kid to have any friends?" Allie asked, and Mae shrugged. "No idea," Mae said, "but I don't wanna get in trouble, so." "It just seems so...mean," Allie said. "I know that Trisha's mom doesn't like me being friend with Trisha," Mae said, "I think some parents are just overprotective. Your dad doesn't care who your friends are?" "Of course not! He's thankful I have friends at all!" Allie said, the both of them giggling as she added, "It just doesn't seem fair. Everyone deserves to have friends, right? If you don't have friends, your only friends are your parents, and if your parents are mean to you, then all you know is cruelty." Mae shrugged again, and Allie rolled back onto her back and looked back up at the ceiling. Laying there, Mae shut her eyes and listened to Allie breathing, as it lulled her to sleep. Allie couldn't let this go. For some reason this really bothered her, even though Mae's mother was the one who had received the phone call. She swore that, come tomorrow, she'd prove what being a good friend was like, no matter what some high strung mom said. *** That morning, Juliet drove Allie and Mae to school, stopping for breakfast at a fast food place on the way, getting hashbrowns and muffin sandwiches and the like, along with coffee for herself. As they eventually pulled into the roundabout in front of the school, Allie pulled the front door open and stepped out, Mae right behind her. Juliet rolled down the window and looked at the girls. "Remember what we talked about last night, right?" she asked, "We don't-" Suddenly a knock on her window surprised her, and after catching her breath, she rolled down her own window, to find Trisha's mother standing there of all people. "Hi Alice," Juliet said, "What's going on?" "Did you get a phone call last night?" Alice asked, "From some woman who was annoyed that our girls were friendly to her daughter?" "As a matter of fact I did," Juliet said. Trisha walked around the car and stopped beside Mae and Allie, Chaz joining them scant seconds later, the four of them standing and watching Alice and Juliet talk, unable to properly hear the conversation. Mae felt nervous for a reason she couldn't place, then she nudged Trisha in the elbow and whispered to her. "What's going on?" Mae asked. "Mom got a phone call last night from the mom of that homeschooled girl," Trisha said, "She's been...quiet and eerily angry since then. I'm not a fan." "Your mom's always like that," Allie said, Chaz giving her a high five. "Right, but this is different somehow," Trisha said. Just then another car pulled up and the door opened, allowing Rachel to climb out. Her mother, a very conservatively dressed woman, climbed out of the drivers side and walked with Rachel around the car. Trisha noticed Rachel, and ran up to her mother quickly, tugging on her moms shirt and pointing at Rachel and her mother. Juliet and Alice glanced up, spotting them. Rachel noticed the girls and waved, smiling, only to have her mother yank her wrist back down, which finally caused Alice to snap. "Excuse me!" Alice said, walking sternly around the cars until she reached Rachel's mother, asking, "Are you Mrs. Lachapelle?" "Yes." "I'm Mrs. Davies, you called me, along with some other parents, last night," Alice said, "First of all, far be it from me to tell someone how to parent, but how about you don't hurt your child physically? Grabbing her wrist like that was uncalled for. Secondly, what exactly is wrong with our daughters? I'll have you know my daughter is a model student and citizen. She goes to church, she eats well, she is an accomplished student and she's very clean and polite." "Sad when 'clean' is included in your list of accomplishments," Chaz said, making the girls chuckle. "They were just being nice, and guess what, if you hide your child away from kindness, they're going to grow up being bitter and angry and...well...like you, frankly," Alice said, making all the girls gasp as Juliet finally climbed out of her car and ran around to Alice, grabbing her by the arms. "Okay, hey, maybe that's enough," Juliet said, chuckling nervously, "Come on Alice. We're sorry, we-" "No, I'm not sorry!" Alice said loudly, now causing other parents to stop and watch as she continued, "You telling your daughter not to interact with our children reflects poorly on us as parents, it insinuates that you think we've done a bad job of raising our kids, as if they're untrustworthy, and I'm telling you right now how wrong that is. Sure, we all come from different economic rankings and class systems, and we all have different beliefs, but in the end, our girls are all friends and don't think about those things. They treat one another with respect and kindness because that's what you're supposed to do." Trisha was in absolute shock. She'd never once heard her mother speak so sternly to another adult like this before, and it was blowing her perception of her own mother out of the water. Mae reached down and grabbed Trisha's hand, squeezing it tightly. "So okay, lay down the law, but you can't enforce it. If she's here, she's going to interact, you don't want her to interact, take her back to homeschool," Alice said, "but at least here she'll have kids her own age who wanna know her because they think she's interesting, not because they're her only human interactions like her parents. I'm not pleased with my daughters social circle at times-" "Ow, uncalled for," Allie mumbled. "-but that doesn't mean that I can tell her who to be friends with. If anything, I'm just eternally grateful that she has friends who don't judge her for her parents, or her religious beliefs, or her academic achievements. They're her friends because they like her as a person, overall, and you should be just as grateful, that's all I'm saying. Because you know what happens if you don't let your kid choose their own friends? They'll never learn how to interact with people, and then you'll be an owner, not a parent." Alice exhaled deeply as Juliet patted her back. Rachel's mother looked down at Rachel, then at the mothers, then turned and quickly got back into her car and drove away. Some of the surrounding parents clapped a little for Alice, who smiled and blushed, feeling embarrassed now as she turned back to face Juliet. "I'm so sorry, I should be better at controlling my outbursts like this, I just..." she stopped, noticing the girls staring at her and she smiled, adding, "Girls, get to class, and take that girl with you." The girls all looked at Rachel, who looked at them, and they all ran off to class with one another. Juliet stood by Alice, hand on her shoulder. "You did good," Juliet said. "...my mother didn't let me have my own friends," Alice said, "I've tried so hard not to do the same thing to Trisha, and it burns me when I see other mothers doing that to their own kids. I try not to get involved in other peoples lives when it comes to raising their kids, but sometimes...sometimes I can't help it." "Trust me, when she's grown up, that girl's gonna remember that weird mom who verbally assaulted her own," Juliet said, making Alice laugh. As the girls got to the classroom, standing outside, waiting for Mrs. Spinner to open the door, Rachel pulled her backpack open and pulled out a box of crayons for each of the girls. "I brought these so we could do the activity book together today!" she said brightly. "That sounds nice!" Trisha said. The door swung open and Mrs. Spinner let the class in. As they piled into the classroom, Rachel shut her backpack back up and, upon looking down, noticed Mae's shoes. "You're wearing mismatched socks," she said. "I know!" Mae shouted. "They smell like grapes," Allie said, "Here, smell."
She held the purple marker to Mae's face, and she took in a big whiff herself before shrugging. "I can't really tell. I've never noticed grapes to have a smell," Mae replied. Allie put the marker back on the shelf with the others and she and Mae continued down the isle, walking just behind Mae's mother. Allie often went back to school shopping with Mae and her mother, because Allie's dad worked all the time and he figured he could get someone else to pay for some of Allie's needed school supplies. Thankfully, Mae's mother, Juliet, didn't seem to mind one bit. "Are you gonna get a binder?" Allie asked. "I never use binders," Mae replied, "They always take up too much space in my backpack and all my papers wind up outside of them anyway." As they passed a nearby shelf, Mae grabbed a package of stickers and continued walking. "Do you ever plan your outfits the night before?" Allie asked. "What do I look like, someone with fashion sense?" Mae replied, "I just wear whatever isn't dirty." "Same." "Though, a lot of my clothes look the same...maybe variety wouldn't be such a bad idea after all," Mae said, "I see all the other girls on the first day of school and they all look so nice and it makes me wish that maybe I could look that nice too. I just...I hate how girly everything is." "I know, sometimes I just wanna wear shorts and a t-shirt, and not like a pink dress with a glittery unicorn on it, you know? I live in a trailer park, I don't have to look nice," Allie said, making the both of them laugh. Allie and Mae had become closer friends since last year, even while the other girls, Trisha Davies and Chaz Farrar, were also close friends, but something about Allie Enos's attitude led Mae to feel like she was the friend who really understood her. Unbeknownst to the girls, Trisha and Chaz were also here, albeit not together. Chaz was here with her big sister, Laurie, who was only doing the shopping because she herself was in need of school supplies and their mom was working that afternoon. Being a single mom, she worked quite often, so Chaz often relied on Laurie to do things like this for her. At the moment, they were standing in the clothing area, trying to find anything Chaz liked. Her fashion sense was definitely "comfort" over "style", but she was beginning to feel somewhat out of place among the other girls her age thanks to that decision. Chaz held up a blue shirt with a butterfly design and turned to face her sister. "What do you think about this?" she asked. "It's nice," Laurie said, "Blue is definitely a color that works for you. Blonde and blue goes well together." Chaz was a heavier set girl, but she didn't seem bothered by this. She was pretty nonetheless, with short curly blonde hair and green eyes, she was easily one of the prettiest girls in her class, she just lacked a fashion sense. Thankfully she had her sister to help her. Laurie was incredibly fashion conscious, and often dressed well when they were out and about. "If you pair it with jeans-" "I don't like jeans." "Yeah but jeans go with anything, they're the universal pants," Laurie said. "I like shorts that aren't jeans," Chaz said sternly, tonally insisting she was resistant to budging on this fact. "Alright, your choice," Laurie said, "But I still think the shirt is good." As they rounded a corner they bumped into Juliet's car, and thusly Mae and Allie, who stopped to greet Chaz. Seeing her opportunity to do a little of her own shopping, Laurie asked Juliet if Chaz could stick with them for a bit while she got some things, and she'd be back shortly, to which Juliet had no issue with. Chaz walked alongside Allie and Mae. "Who's your teacher this year?" Allie asked. "Uh, Mr. Murphy," Chaz said, "He's cool, I like him. Laurie had him and she said he was fun." "I got Mrs. Spinner," Mae said, "She's old. Why are so many teachers so old?" "You have to live a long time to be able to learn enough to teach," Allie replied. "Oh...that...actually makes sense," Mae said, "Hey, has anyone seen Trisha?" Chaz shook her head, and Allie reminded Mae that she'd been with her since last night. Trisha never went shopping with them. In fact, she was lucky if her parents let her do anything with them. Trisha Davies came from an extremely religious family, and as such her parents didn't like her mixing with outsiders, but they also felt it was a poor choice to send her to religious school instead of public school. They thought public school gave you much of the needed socialization, and they weren't wrong, terrible as public school was. Trisha often shopped with her parents and her little sister for back to school, and it just so happened she was at the store this very day, with those very people, doing that shopping. In fact, she was only a few aisles down, not that the girls would know that. Standing there in her sunday best, looking longingly at a selection of gel pens while her little sister was picking out a backpack with her mother. Their father, David, was still there with Trisha, arms crossed as he watched Trisha. She slowly pulled a pack of gel pens off the rack and turned back to face her father. "Can I get these?" she asked. "Will you be allowed to use them for work?" he asked, and she shrugged. "I...I don't know," she mumbled, "I just think they're pretty. I'm sure if I wrote legibly and turned it in on time, nobody would mind if I used them for homework. And even if not, I could take notes with them. I could even color code the notes by pen so I know what color corresponds to what course. Blue for english, red for math, whatever." David smiled and shrugged. "Sure, I guess it'd be fine," he said, "As long as you can find a practical use for them." Trisha smiled and did a little hop, excited. She tossed the pens into the basket he was holding and then, together, they continued down the aisle. Trisha had always liked her father more; he had never been as strict as her mother, and always seemed to let her get away with things her mother usually wouldn't. As they walked side by side, David put his hand on her head and stroked her hair, tied up with a ribbon. "I'm scared," Trisha said. "For?" "4th grade," Trisha said, "I mean, I like learning, I like school, but...but it just feels like I'm getting too old too fast." "That's life for you," David said, exhaling, "Enjoy it while you can." Meanwhile, after a bit more shopping, Juliet went to get groceries at the opposite side of the store, leaving the girls in the clothing aisle again, since Mae needed some new clothes as well. Standing there, she was drawn to the rack of dresses. She liked dresses when they weren't overly feminine, and this one in particular that her eyes had been drawn to was not feminine in the slightest. It was just a plain blue dress, nothing fancy or obtuse about it whatsoever. "I think I'll get this," Mae said, pulling the dress from the rack, "I like this. I don't particularly like the color blue, but I do like this dress." "Remember the skirt length has to be long enough to cover your knees," Allie said. "I'm barely 3 feet tall, I think I'll be alright," Mae said sarcastically, making the girls laugh. "That would look good on you," Trisha said from just outside the aisle; the girls all turned to see her and smiled. Trisha walked into the clothing section, her father just behind her. She stopped as she approached the girls and she reached out, gently touching the dress, adding, "Yeah, this is nice. Good material. You'd look pretty. It's not flashy or anything." "Hi Mr. Davies," Allie and Chaz said in unison, as he smiled and waved at them. "You're the dress expert, so I'll trust you," Mae said to Trisha as she slung it over her arm and went back to looking at the other dresses hanging up, Trisha by her side while Allie and Chaz bothered David with their incessant questions about his job at the nearby aeronautical space company; Mae smiled as she and Trisha continued looking through dresses and added, "Are you excited?" "More like nervous," Trisha replied. "Come on! We've been talking forever about being in later grades, and now we're finally in 4th grade! Aren't you the least bit excited?" Mae asked. Trisha couldn't help but smirk at her infectious enthusiasm. Trisha and Mae had met first, in 1st grade, when Mae had moved to town. It wouldn't be until 2nd grade that they'd meet Allie and Chaz, but for that whole first year, it was just Trisha and Mae. At the time, Trisha's mother didn't really mind. She was grateful for her daughter to have friends outside of the church, because it made her seem more normal to the other parents, but as the years had begun to pass, she started to become concerned about the girls outside influence on her daughter, particularly Mae, who she considered somewhat of a heathen. But Trisha and Mae had been best friends for 3 years now, and it didn't look to change anytime soon. "I got gel pens," Trisha said. "Really? Your dad let you do that?" "He's always pretty lenient with me," Trisha said. "That's really cool," Mae said, pulling another dress off the rack and holding it against herself, this one a dark brown with a belt, asking, "What about this one?" "That one looks good," Trisha said, "...I guess I'm excited, but I'm also nervous. I like learning new things, but I hate having to get older to do it. Remember in 1st grade when our homework was nothing more than writing about what animal we would be if we could be an animal? I much prefer that than what we'll face this year." "I mean...I kind of understand," Mae said, "but it's also cool, isn't it? Like...to think that we'll eventually be able to drive and stuff? Doesn't that sound exciting?" "That's not even close to where we are though!" Trisha said, laughing, "That's still years away!" "I know but it's coming up and it's exciting!" Mae replied, the both of them cracking up now. It was always a weird feeling, reaching the end of summer, and doing back to school shopping, but at least they did it together, and they had a good time doing it, which was more than most kids could say. *** That evening, each girl prepared for the coming school day differently. After dinner, Mae took a bath, then got her things together so she could watch TV for the rest of the night. Allie, now back in the trailer park, was happy when her dad brought home pizza for dinner. The two of them ate together and played a racing game afterwards. Only then, right before bed, did she prepare for the next day. Chaz was already prepared except for her clothes, so no sooner after she and her sister got home did their mother take them out to eat, while Trisha picked out an outfit - something her mother would approve of - and do some reading and bible study. Then she too took a bath and climbed into bed. That last day of summer...such a weird feeling. Giddy, tense and nervous, simultaneously excited for the coming school year but also afraid of what it could hold. New teachers, new friends, new possibilities. Nobody really knew how different things would be, but at the same time that unease birthed into excitement. By the end of the year, however, each girl would regret feeling excited for the new year, each for a different reason. Before she climbed into bed that night, Trisha said her prayers like she always did. She knew nobody else prayed, so she prayed for her friends as well. It was only 4th grade, but it was going to change everything. |
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FANNYPACK follows 4 girls - Chaz, Allie, Trisha and Mae - in the 90s as they deal with adolescence and friendship. Archives
December 2022
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