Pretending Forever

Chapter 4

Mattie kept flicking the coins as she said "I wanted to ask you about Lilly."

A little confused, I mumbled "Yeah, sure." This had never happened before, but I thought I understood. You're a little anxious around your new friend, and you want to ask her sister about her so you don't mess up and say or do something totally stupid. She flicked one last quarter, and then put her hands in her lap. 

"So..." she started, and then fidgeted, looking up at me. I smiled at her, trying to say It's ok, you can ask anything with just a smile. "I like Lilly." She smiled a little, and another memory flashed in my mind, but in an instant, I lost it again. 

"Me, too. She's a wonderful person. Imagine having her as a sister." 

Mattie made a face I couldn't decipher. "Oh. I... Uh... Well... I, um... I... I like Lilly." Oh. So that's why she was so nervous. Mattie glanced up at me, trying to catch my reaction. "I was... Um, I was wondering if she..." She took a deep breath and looked straight at me.

I smiled at her, and noticed she was shaking, almost on the verge of tears. I put my arm around her and hugged her, then I put my hands on her shoulders and looked right into her shimmering hazel eyes. "I don't know, Mattie. I'm sorry. But I'm sure she'll love you either way. It's ok." I added when I noticed her lip quivering. "Come 'ere." I hugged her to my chest as she started crying. "Oh, sweetie. It's gonna be ok. We love you."

"Thank you." She sobbed.

"Of course! It's gonna be ok." I felt her soft breaths, and her tears soaking my shirt.

"Chloe?" She said my name like it hurt, though I wasn't sure why. "Thank you. No one ever gets my name right. They always think it's Maddy or Maddie. But it's not short for Madeline, it's Ma-" She was cut off by the garage door rumbling. She glanced down at our tear-dampened shirts, and wiped the tears from her cheek. "Aw, crud." She mumbled. "What am I going to do?"

"Hey, go change into your pajamas. We usually eat pizza in our pajamas anyway. Oh! An old friend of mine was an actress. I have some makeup." I offered. "You'll be fresh as a daisy in no time."

Mattie disappeared into Lilly's room, and by the time she emerged, we had just enough time to splash her face with cold water and pat on some foundation before Lilly bounded up the stairs, announcing the arrival of the pizza.

As we settled into the couch, there was something I couldn't shake. Something in Mattie's face had triggered those memories, and I had to find out what it was.