Abigail

Chapter Twelve

Before she knew it, October 22nd came and it was time for the Guests to arrive. Kendra told Trinity and Rachel all about the Guests. Trinity seemed excited, like sharing a room was fun. Rachel understood, though. She told Kendra to remember that it is only temporary and it might help to refer to them as "the Guests" when they aren't listening. That way, it would remind her that they will be gone soon. Besides, they also had an attic. If "the Guests" got annoying, she could always hide out up there.

Abigail was absent again, and Millie was still avoiding her like the plague, so nothing really had changed at school. Kendra's room was spotless and there was now an air mattress on one half of her room. Amy would get Kendra's bed, and Kendra was stuck with the uncomfortable air mattress for three weeks. Twenty-one days. Five hundred and four hours. Thirty thousand two hundred and forty minutes.

Kendra heard something outside. She peeked out her window and saw a rusty grey van in the driveway. They're here! It's Carol and the Guests, she thought. The van doors opened and the Guests stepped out. The girl, Amy, had long blonde hair tied back into a ponytail. She was wearing a white tank-top, short-shorts, and sunglasses like it was summer or something. The boy, Carmine, had blonde hair too, but wore jeans and a sweatshirt. A part of Kendra was hoping that Carmine would be cute, but as far as she could tell, he looked like a nerd who spent his free time reading encyclopedias. Both of them were carrying their backpacks and tons of other bags.

"It's only three weeks," Kendra murmured under her breath. "Why do they need so much stuff?"

Carol looked the same as Kendra remembered, with her brown wavy highlighted hair, bold clothing, and big smile. When her mom went out to greet them, Carol hugged her and the two of them starting talking and laughing.

Kendra's eyes went back to the Guests and Kendra noticed that Carmine was looking up at her window. She immediately let go of her curtain so the Guests wouldn't think that she was a stalker. Not that she cared what they thought.

Kendra's mom called her downstairs to come meet the new guests. Kendra did as she was told, but kept her mouth shut and didn't talk or smile. And that was fine because her mom and Carol did all the talking for them.

"Jim already went ahead to go get started with the house. We still have a ton of work to do. Moving is hard," Carol was talking fast and seemed flustered.

"Well, Carol, if you need any help with unpacking..."

"Oh, no Felicia," Carol interrupted. "You've already helped us so much by letting Carmine and Amy stay here while we finish their rooms. We couldn't ask you to help anymore."

Amy dropped one of her bags down with a loud thud. Her mother glared at her. "Amy, be polite."

Amy rolled her eyes. "It's heavy," she said.

"Kendra can show you to your rooms," said Kendra's mom, giving her a look. "And help you with your bags."

Kendra picked up Amy's bag, but still did not smile. While their moms were still talking down in the kitchen, Kendra led Carmine and Amy up the stairs. First she showed Carmine the guest room, and then she showed Amy her own room.

"So we are, like, sharing a room?" asked Amy.

"Um, yeah. You can have the bed and I'll take the air mattress."

Amy put her bags onto Kendra's old bed and immediately pulled out her phone and began texting. She didn't say anything to Kendra, so Kendra decided to go venture into the attic like Rachel suggested. On the way, she ran into Carmine.

"You're Kendra, right?" he asked. "I know we met a long time ago, but I can't really remember."

"I can't either."

"So, is the school here nice?"

"I guess."

"Do you walk to school?"

"Yes."

"My dad is going to drive me to school. Once I move into the new house, I mean. We live about a half hour away from here."

"I know."

"Oh, okay." Carmine paused a moment when he realized Kendra wasn't interested in small talk. "I'm going to go unpack my stuff now, I guess."

As he turned away, Kendra felt slightly guilty. He was being polite and she was just giving him one word answers in a rude tone. Even though he was one of the Guests, he was their guest, and Kendra knew she needed to be nicer.

"I can help you if you want," she offered.

"That's okay," he replied.

"Okay," Kendra said. She continued up the stairs to the attic. But when she got there, she noticed the door was locked. "Great," she muttered. She heard her mom and Carol still laughing like hyenas in the kitchen, so she decided to go back to her shared room since she had nothing better to do. When she walked in, Amy was putting up posters of models and boy bands. It was as clear that Kendra and Amy had about as much in common as a computer and lip-gloss.

"Hey, do you have any pushpins I can use to hang up my posters?" asked Amy.

"Sure," Kendra mumbled, taking down a few from her own cork board. "Is this enough?"

"Oui, merci."

So Amy spoke French. This could get annoying. Kendra handed her the pushpins and sat down on her air mattress and started to read. Within seven seconds, Amy began talking.

"Why are you reading?" she asked in her perky voice.

"Because I like to read."

"What's your book about?"

"Mermaids and faeries," Kendra answered.

"Oh," Amy said, sounding the least bit interested.

"Do you like to read?" asked Kendra.

"I love to read!"

For a second, Kendra's hopes were raised. Maybe this Amy girl was more like her than she originally thought. Maybe they had something in common after all.

"You know, magazines and stuff like that. Novels bore me to death."

And then again, maybe not.

"Didn't you used to have a best friend that came over here all the time?" Amy asked. "I don't know if you remember the last time we came here."

"Millie?" Kendra wondered. "I met her in second grade."

Amy shook her head. "No, no it was before then. I think she had dark brown or black hair."

"I don't remember," Kendra said.

"It was probably a really long time ago. Or maybe it was someone else." Amy eyed Kendra's walls. "Hey have you ever thought about painting your room? Like maybe pink or purple? These white walls are verrry boring," she said, drawing out the word. "No offense."

How could I possibly be offended by that, thought Kendra, very annoyed. "I happen to like that color. It's called marshmallow, not white."

"Oh," Amy said. "I guess they called it marshmallow to make it sound more exotic. I still think pink would definitely brighten up this space."

"I still think I like my room the way it is," Kendra added.

"Fine," Amy said. Her phone began to ring. "Ooh, it's my BFFs!" Amy answered her phone and began to talk. "Hey Melonie! Hey Hailey! What's up girls?"

Kendra slammed her book shut and left the room. She had a feeling that Amy would be on the phone for a very long time.