"You can't promise anything - "
"Goodbye, Matthew. Have fun at your meeting." Julie hung up before he could protest. For crying out loud, she was perfectly capable of picking up someone at school - with or without a cardboard boy in the back seat.
She ran upstairs and changed into a breezy knee-length tank dress and pinned her hair up. A quick touch-up to her makeup that had begun to smear in the heat, and she headed out the front door to get Celeste. She stopped on the front steps and spun around.
Flat Finn stood poised expectantly in the living room. Julie approached the figure. God, this was messed up. "Come on, dude. We're off to get your pal. Now, normally people are not allowed to ride in the way back, so keep your head down, and maybe we won't get arrested."
She lifted up the cutout boy and tucked his waist under her arm. Figuring out how to open the front door without smashing Flat Finn was a bit of a challenge, and she had to set him on the front porch while she locked the door. She lifted the trunk open, got Flat Finn into the car, and covered him with the large blue blanket that was waiting there to conceal Celeste's secret.
The old Volvo was blistering hot, and Julie wondered why a family that clearly had money would not bother to maintain what could be a perfectly-running car. Granted, it was a Volvo and would probably run forever no matter what. And they only had one car, too, which seemed odd since two busy professionals and a student could certainly get use out of two vehicles. Apparently, people with money did funny things sometimes.
She was pleased to note that Flat Finn had not left the gas tank empty. "Thank you, FF. I appreciate the consideration."
Julie found Celeste's school easily. She pulled into the arched driveway and idled behind a Lexus sedan. Students were just beginning to pour out of the front doors, and Julie scanned groups of girls, looking for Celeste. The middle school students milled around in easily identifiable social cliques, and Julie remembered exactly how it felt to be thirteen. It was such a strange age, that screwed up, early-teen time when you vacillate between desperately wanting to be a full-fledged adult and still feeling like a little kid. The torture of trying to figure out how to dress and get your eyeliner exactly like they do in music videos, which singers were cool and which singers you shouldn't be caught dead listening to, what to do to get boys to like you and what to do if they did. Ugh. Thank God Julie that was done with that.
A girl in a miniskirt and a ponytail stepped aside, and Julie saw Celeste. Julie dropped her head to the steering wheel, hitting her head lightly a few times. Why was Celeste wearing a pastel plaid shirt and pale blue-pleated pants? Julie lifted her head and sighed, wanting nothing more than to leap from the car and yank the dorky backpack off the girl's shoulders. This kid stood out for all the wrong reasons. Like it or not, other kids cared about how you looked, and Celeste looked... Wrong. Gorgeous underneath the horrible clothing and totally unstyled hair, but still wrong.
But worse than how she looked was the undeniable fact that she was alone and quite obviously invisible to her peers. Julie cringed as a boy passed by Celeste, failing to notice or care that he bumped into her elbow as he joined up with a cluster of trendy T-shirt-wearing guys.
Julie beeped the horn and waved, finally getting Celeste's attention. Celeste scanned the cars and then headed toward the Volvo. She stopped by the passenger door, her eyes wide and her face expressionless.
"Hey, kiddo. Hop in," Julie said warmly.
Celeste stood still, waiting a moment before she spoke. "Why are you here?" There was a noticeable shake in her voice that Julie couldn't miss.
"Matt asked me to pick you up today. He is really sorry. I guess he had something important to do at school. Celeste? It's OK. Flat Finn is with me. He helped get me here because Matt's directions were dreadful."
Celeste opened the door and slipped into the seat. "Oh. This is fine." She turned to Julie. "This really is fine."
"Good." Julie pulled the car out to the main road. "So what should we do?"
"What do you mean do? We go home after school."
"Let's do something. Come on!"
"Like what?"
"I don't know." Julie turned up the radio and tapped her fingers on the wheel. "I don't even know what street I'm on right now. Maybe we'll get lost and spend the next few hours trying to navigate our way home. We'll listen to old-school Kelly Clarkson power songs and sing until we lose our voices."
"That is not a good plan." Celeste turned and peered into the back of the car. She inhaled deeply, then slowly let the air escape from her lips. "I always just go home."
Julie took a left turn onto another main road and drove for a few minutes. "Aha!" She pulled the car into the parking lot of a supermarket. "Let's make dinner tonight. I want to thank your parents for letting me stay at your house. Do you like Italian? I make a mean manicotti."
"Oh." Celeste thought for a moment. "That could be acceptable."
"Acceptable? It's going to be more than acceptable. Homemade tomato sauce with fresh basil? Ricotta and spinach stuffing? And my secret touch? Cheesy white sauce drizzled over the top. And we can all discuss Italian Gothic architecture or ancient Rome during dinner. I know how you guys like theme nights."
"Or the Italian Renaissance. Dad likes the Renaissance."
"You got it." Julie parked the car and started to get out. But Celeste didn't move. "Celeste? You coming?"
"Me? No. I should wait in the car. That's what I do."
"You don't go into stores?"
"No."
"Not ever?"