For the second time, at least as a girl, Dani made her entrance. To her relief, the guests welcomed her into their circles as if she had never left. Like before, she received a few more compliments about how much she had grown and how lovely she was. Having had a bit more time to resign herself to this current life, she took it all a bit easier than last time, even managing to smile and say thank you.
Despite her mother’s earlier command, she took her time before rejoining her friends. How could she just pick up where she left off without knowing where she had left off in the first place? Randy’s crush made things even more awkward. Still, avoiding them the whole time would probably be a bad idea, so she forced herself to approach them once more.
“Hey, guys,” she greeted, picking at her skirt. Taking a breath, she met their eyes and blurted out, “Sorry about running off like that. I’m just so embarrassed.”
“Embarrassed? About what?” Craig asked. “Um, not that you have to tell us if you don’t want to.”
Dani straightened up, deciding to go with a bit of honesty. “No, it’s alright. It’s just, I’m not used to dressing like this. It’s just so girly.”
“Well, it works for you,” Randy said. “I mean, you’re a girl, so it’s okay. If anything, it looks much better on you than it would on me.” Craig snorted with laughter, and Randy turned red again. “No, I-I mean…I would never…Ugh…”
Taking pity on the poor boy, Dani mustered up a giggle and smiled. “Guess I can’t argue with that. Thanks. I’m just glad you’re both here.”
From there, conversation grew more relaxed, and Dani was able to chat with her friends like before.
“Uh-oh. Here comes your sister,” Craig whispered.
Looking over her shoulder, Dani saw Kat entering the room with her mom close behind. Clearly, she had been given a talk of her own. One could only guess what had been said. Kat and Mom seemed to be all smiles with the guests, exuding a sunny kind of normality that in no way matched their true nature. Is that how I’m going to be? Dani wondered. All fake smiles and dark secrets?
“It’s not fair that she has to share the same birthday,” Randy grumbled. “For once, I’d like to celebrate your birthday without having to include her.”
Dani felt her heart warm at her friend’s support. That was one more thing that had stayed the same, their overall dislike of Kat. Little did they know just how much reason they had for doing so. “Let’s just go out to the yard and pretend she’s not here.”
So, the three friends moved out to the patio out back. For a while they talked some more, but they soon migrated to the portable basketball hoop that Dani’s father had erected years ago. Craig picked up the ball, and the other two automatically got into position. However, Dani discovered quickly that she could not play basketball in heeled sandals, so she kicked them off and kept going in bare feet. Their game went on for half an hour before there was an interruption.