Sleepover

Kendra lies awake late at night with Nicole, giggling and talking about nonsense.

A bony finger poked Kendra's ribcage. She suppressed a giggle, and retaliated by poking the ribs of the skinny girl lying beside her. She heard the tiniest squeak -- a giggle caught just a moment too late.

''Shh! Dad and the b***h are right next to us. If he hears, he'll throw a fit.'' Despite the warning, Nicole spoke flippantly, her voice at a regular level. Kendra snorted quietly, covering up the stir of unease she felt whenever Nicole referred to her father's wife like that. Nicole never swore, except for when she was talking about Barbara.

 

A moment later, Kendra felt another jab to her side. This means war, she thought, and rolled over to pounce on the blonde. Nicole swallowed a shriek and struggled to push Kendra off, kicking her legs and getting the blankets tangled up around them. She flailed spectacularly, but her attempts to escape were futile. Kendra was substantially heavier and could rely on weight alone to win.

 

They scuffled on the mattress for a few moments before Nicole yelped ''Uncle'' quietly, and Kendra triumphantly sat up. ''Ha, I win!'' she gloated, keeping her voice low.

 

"You wish," Nicole retorted.

 

"On the first star I saw tonight," Kendra shot back.

 

"You," Nicole said, sniffing haughtily, "are a child."

 

Kendra grabbed a pillow and landed it squarely on Nicole's head in response.

 

Nicole was about to retaliate when they heard the low rumble of Steven's voice from the next room. Her eyes narrowed in the darkness. ''Quick!'' she whispered, ''lie down!"

 

They flung themselves down and pulled the blankets high up around their ears, heads close and staring into each others' faces, silently daring the other to make a sound while trying to suppress their own giggles. Nicole kicked her legs to straighten the blankets mere seconds before they heard the handle on the door begin to turn.

 

The door creaked open and a thin strip of yellow light from the hall lamp stretched across the bed. Kendra realized that she was holding her breath and quickly let it out, careful to take slow, easy breaths. Steven expected them to be asleep, not dead, and sleeping people definitely breathe.

 

"Looks like they're both out like lights," Nicole's father said to someone over his shoulder.

 

"I could have sworn I heard voices,” came Barbara's voice.

 

Kendra heard Nicole mutter in the quietest voice she could muster, "B***h."

 

"C'mon, Rara, they're asleep."

 

Kendra heard muffled sounds and made a disgusted face. If there was one thing she definitely could do without, it was hearing her best friend's dad and stepmother kissing. Nicole's face had fallen into harsh lines, her mouth pursed. The door clicked shut. Her thin frame, a white silhouette in the dark, sat up. "I hate her. I hate her!" she raged, but kept her voice very low. She wasn't flippant now.

 

Kendra softly rested a hand on Nicole's back, feeling the ridges of her spine beneath tightly stretched skin. "It's okay, Nic. It's probably just that we've got school tomorrow and they don't want us tired."

 

A derisive snort was all she received in reply, but within moments, Nicole was comfortably lying back on the bed.

 

"Did you see Mark Hall today?" she asked, as if she hadn't been ready to murder her stepmother just moments before. "My god, he looked F-I-N-E."

 

Kendra giggled, relieved that the anger had passed and Nicole was back to being herself. "If by fine you mean hot, I so did. I swear, if he asked me to marry him tomorrow..."

 

"Then I'd kill you, steal your hair and marry him in your place," Nicole finished. “I heard Lindsey say he's planning on breaking up with Andrea this week."

 

"Really?" Kendra asked, feeling wistful. "Maybe he will!" Kendra had had a crush on Mark Hall since third grade.

 

This time it was an elbow that nudged her side. "Maybe he'll ask you out!’’

 

Kendra looked away, wistfulness quickly disappearing. "Nah. He goes for skinny cheerleaders, remember?" Kendra was many things, but skinny and cheerleading were two things she just wasn’t. She pictured Mark Hall’s dreamy face, and she sighed. Nicole murmured something under her breath. "What was that?"

 

Nicole cleared her throat, almost awkwardly, Kendra thought. "Nothing, just wondering who Andrea will go out with next. You know those skinny cheerleader types... they never go single for more than a week." She giggled.

 

Kendra considered it. "She's dated pretty much every guy in our grade by now. The way she goes through them, she'll have to start going out with girls."

 

"Do you think?" The words came out in a rush. Immediately, Nicole made an odd sound, as if she were trying to forcibly pull the words back in.

 

Kendra cast a sidelong glance at her friend. She couldn't see Nicole's face. "Um, probably not. Why?"

 

"No reason."

 

But Kendra knew there was a reason. She'd seen the way Nicole's eyes lingered a little too long on some of the other girls. She hardly gave the guys a second glance... at least, not in that way. It always sounded just a little bit forced, just a little fake, when Nicole talked about boys.  She didn't know why Nicole was so secretive or how her friend didn't see just how obvious she was, but Kendra had decided a long time ago that whenever Nicole was ready to talk, she would be the first one there to listen.

Reviews

[Jean]

Definitely moves the plots along.
The characters are so real!
The only thing you're a bit low on is imagery. But you have enough that it doesn't ruin the writing. Maybe a sentence or two describing the bedroom?
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