Lorna. She seemed determined to get to know me. Usually my shyness pushed would-be friends away.
I showed her my charcoal-covered palm and fingers.
She shrugged, her chin jutting out with determination. “Then shake it with your other hand.”
I did. Her hand was cool, as if she’d been sitting beneath the AC inside her apartment.
She broke into a wide grin as we shook hands, and I couldn’t help but return her smile. Her gaze dropped to my left cheek. “You have a dimple!” Lorna exclaimed, as if this was the most impressive thing she’d ever encountered.
I automatically touched the dimple with my charcoal-covered fingertips.
“It’s cute. I wish I had a dimple. How old are you?”
“Thirteen.”
She nodded like she’d expected that. “I’ll be thirteen in three weeks.”
“Where are you from?” My curiosity got the better of my usual timidity. I had to know if I was right about Boston.
“The Dot.”
I frowned.
Lorna smirked. “Dorchester. That’s in Boston.”
Ah. I was right. I’d seen the movie Good Will Hunting a lot because Willa had a thing for Matt Damon.
“Is it nice there?” I asked.
Lorna wrinkled her nose. “Boston is. Not the area of Dorchester we lived in. It was a shitty neighborhood. A guy got shot outside our apartment a few months ago.” She shrugged like it was no big deal.
I was pretty sure my mouth was hanging open.
“So, how come you’re not playing with those kids down by the pool?” she asked.
I followed her curious gaze to the two girls and two boys squealing and splashing around. The girls were neighbors; the boys lived on our block. And I knew because we were in the same class at middle school. “That’s Summer and Greta. They’re the most popular girls in my class.”
“Yeah, so?”
I blushed, knowing what I was about to say would probably push Lorna away. “I’m not exactly popular.”
Lorna nudged me with her shoulder, giving me a conspiratorial nod. The action was familiar. Like we’d been friends for ages. It was nice. “Popular and not-so-popular kids? Like on TV, huh? Back at my school, we didn’t have cliques like that. You had the kids who were just trying to lie low and get through the year and the kids who were shiesty—already into bad shit and to be avoided at all costs.”
“Did you live in the ghetto?”
She laughed. “The ghetto? Really? Noooo.” She nudged me again as if she thought I was cute. “We were poor, though. Everyone we knew was. Mom said people do stupid shit to forget the crappiness of their life or even stupider shit to cheat their way out of poverty.”
I didn’t know a lot about money, but I knew our apartment complex wasn’t cheap as far as rent costs went because Willa was always complaining about it.
Seeming to read my thoughts, Lorna told me, “We moved in here with our big sister, Skye.”
As if on cue, a woman’s voice rang out from the apartment. “Lorna! The Waterboys!”
Her face lit up. “Come on.” Lorna grabbed my hand, pulling me to my feet, so I had no choice but to follow. I dropped my sketch pad on the top step and let her lead me into the apartment. When was the last time someone held my hand?
A thrill thrummed beneath my skin.
The apartment was the same size as Willa and Nick’s, and there were packing boxes everywhere.
A tall, stunning young woman was swaying with her hands in the air as an unfamiliar song played from the TV. She broke into a gorgeous smile at the sight of us. “Who’s this?”
“This is Jane!” Lorna called over the music. “Jane, this is my big sister, Skye.”
“Nice to meet you,” she said, and seemed to mean it. I waved shyly. Then she leaned over, picked up a remote and pointed it at the TV, and the volume increased.
I watched as Lorna let go of my hand and joined her sister in the middle of the room. It occurred to me that Lorna was tall for her age too, ably spinning her big sister as they shouted lyrics at the top of their lungs about how the other saw the whole of the moon while they only saw the crescent. As unfamiliar as the song was, I immediately liked it.
Realizing I was just watching, Lorna waved me over.
Too timid to join them, I stayed put.
It was Skye who broke away from her little sister and pulled me into the center of the room with them. “Just let go!” she yelled. “You’ll love it!”