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Co
date with a guy on the basketball team whose name was Co
drink?" she asked. She tucked his hand under her arm and led him through the arch that separates
the entrance foyer from the living room.
"Actually, we should probably get going," I said to their retreating backs.
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"Don't worry, we'll make it a quick drink," she said, laughing. She still had her hand on his,
practically stapling it to her arm. My dad followed them, and after a second, I did, too.
"What would you like, dear?" she asked, leading Co
solicitous I thought she might actually help him sit down, but at the last second she let him take
care of that on his own. "Shall I mix you a martini?" She laughed again, like she'd just heard the most amusing joke in the world.
Co
"Doug, honey, will you be a darling and get Co
take people's drink orders, she sure isn't going to hustle into the kitchen to fill them.
"Sure thing," said my dad, smiling.
I headed for one of the wing chairs, but as I attempted to sit, I suddenly realized my dress was
really short. Like, extremely short. Like, you'd-better-not-sit-down-unless-you're-prepared-to-
share-your-thong-with-the-entire-room short. I ended up sort of sliding onto the edge of the chair
and crossing my legs tightly, balancing my weight on my left foot.
Mara turned in my direction. "Lucy, what would you like?"
"I'm fine," I said. She seated herself next to Co
Princesses came in and sat down, something I'd never seen them do in all
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the months I'd lived with them. Had the World Wide Web crashed, leaving them without access
to instant messaging for the evening?
"So, you play basketball?" Mara asked, which answered my question of whether or not my dad
had told her Co
across the room at me. "Aren't you, Lucy?"
Was I really supposed to answer her question? Since she continued to smile at me and didn't say
anything else, I figured I was. "Sure am," I said, giving her a tight smile. She turned back to
Co
"It's unusual to see a girl so obsessed with sports," she said.
Unusual? Obsessed? I felt my hands clenching into fists.
"Yeah, it's really cool," said Co
approach.
"Living with her and her father, I'm actually starting to care about the sport myself," she said. "I must be getting infected with March Madness."
The only March Madness I'd seen Mara infected with was her insane desire to lose five pounds
off her already skeletal frame before bathing-suit season.
"Yeah," said Princess Two, "Lucy makes it seem like basketball is really interesting. I want her to teach me all
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about it." She actually had the audacity to look at me as she said this, neglecting to mention that
in December she'd suggested I might be A) so tall and B) so interested in basketball because of
an undiagnosed hormonal imbalance.
"Drinks are served," said my dad, coming in with a tray. Princess One leaped to her feet;
skipping around the coffee table to grab the Coke for Co
on a glass figurine.
"Thanks," he said, smiling at her.
"Okay," she said, not quite looking at him. Then she went back to the tray, which didn't have any glasses on it now that my dad and Mara had both taken their drinks.
"Lucy, don't you want a drink?" she asked. "I'll get you one."
Co
amused and touched by a child's excellent ma
that look people get when they're pretty sure someone they know well has been replicated by
aliens.
"I'm fine," I said, my teeth clenched. Then in spite of myself I added, "Thank you."
"You're welcome," she said. "If you change your mind, just let me know."
This was all getting to be a little too much for me, and I stood up. "We should go," I said.
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"But Co
My flesh crawled.
"That's okay, Mrs. Norton," said Co
up, too.
"It was nice meeting you," Co
"You too," said my dad. He looked from me to Mara like he wished we weren't dressed quite so
identically. Then he shook Co
"Yes," said Mara, taking his hand and half holding, half shaking it. "Enjoy your di
Now I was glad I hadn't had anything to drink; my empty stomach was the only thing that kept
me from puking all over her.
"I will, Mrs. Norton," he said. "And thanks for the Coke." He looked over to the Princesses. "It was great to meet you girls."
"You too," said Princess One. Princess Two just sighed.
Everyone walked us to the door and waited while I reached intothe closet and grabbed Co
jacket. "Well, bye," I said.
Even with an antique breakfront the size of the
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Titanic against one wall, the entryway is pretty big, but with everyone huddled around us I
practically had to step outside to have enough room to put the jacket on.
"Bye, Lucy," said the Princesses.
"Good-bye, kids," said my dad. "Have fun."
Mara just waved and smiled at us, like a contestant in a beauty contest. When we were in the car
with the doors closed, Co
"Wow," he said, "you have an awesome family."
I was about to tell him my "family" is about as awesome as the Mansons, but as I opened my
mouth to explain what a farce he'd just witnessed, he leaned toward me. "Good to see you, Red,"
he said.
And right then, facing the mighty power of Co
to deliver on the duplicitous nature of pure evil was lost forever.
As Co
date. True, we'd gone out before. But we hadn't been alone. What if we didn't have anything to
talk about over di
silence? But then Co
warning light had suddenly lit up on the dashboard of his SUV. When he finished the story, he
popped in a CD, cranked the volume, and dropped a hand onto my knee. A minute
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later, he took my hand and ran his thumb across the back of it.