Chapter 61- Myrtle's Lecture

Viki came to pick up Starr after her hour was up, and Starr expressed how much fun therapy was and wanted to come again. She even hugged Rae which Skye didn't like one bit. Kendall and Skye spent the rest of the afternoon in the kitchen experimenting on more makeup products. Rae peeked in and let them know she was going for groceries and would be back in a couple hours. When she did return, neither of them was in the kitchen but their mess was.

Rae sighed heavily and when she heard the sound of the TV, she headed to the TV room.

There's Something About Mary was playing in the background while Skye and Kendall were painting each other's toenails.

"How did you let your hang nail get this bad?" Kendall complained as she painted next to it.

"Excuse me?" Skye said. "I was a little too busy being kidnapped to worry about my toenails!"

"And you didn't bother to clean your feet when you got home? They stink!"

"Oh, shut up! My feet smell fine! At least I don't have bushy eyebrows like you!"

Kendall gritted her teeth and stopped painting Skye's nails. "I had an appointment to get them waxed on Tuesday, but like you, I was too busy being kidnapped to make it."

"Ever heard of tweezers?" Skye asked.

"Erica Kane's daughter does not pluck her own eyebrows."

"Lazy, I see."

Kendall poured the red nail polish down Skye's front. "I am not lazy!"

Rae bit her bottom lip to stop herself from laughing.

Skye held her hands up and groaned. "Oh… Ohhh… you little…" She poured the pink nail polish on Kendall's curly hair.

"Oh, you witch!" Kendall was about to throw the bottle at her when Rae stepped in.

"Girls… girls…" Rae said. "That's enough."

Skye crinkled her nose.

Kendall put the brush back inside the bottle. "We don't want to get into trouble with your mommy…"

Skye looked up at Rae. "Do you mind? I have company."

"Oh, excuse me, I wouldn't want to interrupt your nail polish fight." Rae crossed her arms. "You girls made a huge mess in the kitchen."

Skye shrugged. "So?"

Rae scoffed. "So? Aren't you going to clean it up?"

Skye sighed dramatically. "Do I need to repeat myself? I have company."

"I don't care if you have company," Rae said. "I expect both of you to clean it up. I was going to start dinner, but I guess we're getting take-out instead."

"Then why do we need to clean up?" Skye asked.

"Do you really need to ask that question?" Rae asked.

"I just mean, why can't we clean it up tomorrow when Kendall's not here?"

Rae scoffed. "And just who is we?"

"Uh, you and Grandma and me."

"Your grandmother and I didn't make the mess, Skye. I want to support your new project but not if you expect us to clean up after you."

"Geez," Kendall mumbled. "Your mom's a little lame…"

"Okay, that's it!" Rae raised her voice and walked over to the TV and shut it off.

"Hey!" Skye said offendedly.

"Both of you, to the kitchen right now!" Rae said.

Skye and Kendall exchanged a look.

"Now!" Rae repeated.

They jumped up and headed right to the kitchen in their bare feet. Rae stood there for a few minutes rubbing her temples, then followed them.

"Ugh, this is so annoying," Skye said as she started cleaning the pot. "I think she's just jealous that I have company."

Rae cleared her throat. "Kendall, will you be staying for dinner?"

"Uh, yeah," Skye said. "She's sleeping over."

Rae squeezed her eyes shut and took a deep breath. "Skye, I'd like a word with you in the living room."

"Why?"

"Because I said so."

Skye grumbled as she followed Rae to the living room.

Rae set her hands on her hips. "Skye, I know you went through a lot this week. And I'm so so relieved that you're home. Look at me when I'm talking to you…"

Skye rolled her eyes but still looked towards the wall.

"Skye…"

Skye sighed but looked at her.

"You can't just make a mess of my kitchen—"

"I thought it was our kitchen?"

"—and just leave it that way. I for one am glad that you're making friends with Kendall. And she's welcome here. But I don't appreciate your attitude. I thought you were getting past that."

"So, you're saying you don't want Kendall to sleep over?"

"I didn't say that—"

"Then what's the big deal?" Skye asked. "I need your permission?"

"Permission isn't the right word, but I would like to have a heads up about these things, instead of just being told right in front of her. What if I had an early morning tomorrow or something?"

"Come on, she's staying at the Pine Cone Motel. A sleepover there would be weird…"

"While you're living under my roof, I expect you to clean up after yourself and be more respectful to me. And stop acting like a child."

"Oh, so you don't want me here?" Skye said. "That's because I'm not a child. Well, there's probably a little girl out there who will fit your needs. Why not take Starr off Viki's hands?"

Rae lowered her hands from her hips and her face went sullen. "What? Honey…"

"I'm sure Starr will like that too. Then you can cuddle all day long." Skye turned to head back to the kitchen, but Rae reached for her arm.

"Okay, Skye. Just because I'm counselling Starr right now, doesn't mean she's replacing you whatsoever."

"Whatever…" Skye mumbled.

"She's not. You need to know that. There's no reason to be jealous."

"I'm not jealous… Now I need to go help Kendall clean up…"

Skye headed back to the kitchen where Kendall was tidying up the table.

Skye grunted and started to scrub the pot really hard.

"She's right, you know." Kendall sniggered and nudged her. "You're jealous of an eight-year-old."

Skye furrowed her eyebrows. "Am not."

"Yes, you are. You really think she's going to forget about you and adopt one of her clients?"

"Well, look at you… You're jealous of your teenaged sister."

"I'm not jealous of that spoiled little brat… she might act all perfect now, but I remember how she destroyed my dress at Erica and Dimitri's wedding and nearly burnt the house down. Yet she still gets Erica's full attention and Erica would do absolutely anything for her…"

"Sounds like jealousy to me," Skye said.

FargateFargateFargate

An hour later, Skye and Kendall had finished cleaning the kitchen and went back to the TV room to continue their movie. Myrtle called to let Rae know she was bringing Erica home for dinner, in which Rae warned her that Kendall was there too. Myrtle thought this was a perfect opportunity to bring them closer together. The Chinese food Rae ordered finally arrived and so did Myrtle with Erica.

Myrtle and Erica set the food out on the table while Rae went to get Kendall and Skye. But Kendall froze when they made it to the dining room.

Erica smiled slightly. "Hi Kendall."

"No. Nope! Not gonna happen," Kendall said. "There is no way I'm sitting down to eat with her!"

"You're not," Myrtle said. "You're sitting down to eat with us. Erica just happens to be with us."

After some arguing back and forth, Myrtle won, but Kendall wanted to sit as far away from Erica as possible. It didn't turn out to be that far though since it wasn't a very big table. Myrtle sat at the end with Kendall to her left and Skye next to her. Rae sat across from Kendall, and Erica sat across from Skye.

"Skye and Kendall are working on a project together," Rae said to break the silence.

"What kind of project?" Erica asked.

Kendall scoffed. "This is exactly why I didn't want her to know! It was supposed to be a secret. We should've just kept your lips sealed, Skye."

Skye turned to her angrily. "What are you sick and terrible—"

"Skye, calm down," Rae said.

"Rae knows a secret that I don't?" Erica spoke up. "Well, no one keeps a secret from Erica Kane. Not for long."

"Bianca kept her anorexia from you," Kendall mumbled.

Erica gritted her teeth. "Kendall. That comment was completely out of line."

"Why are you here anyway?" Kendall demanded to know. "You hate Rae Cummings. You're super jealous of her. And shouldn't you be home with your precious Binks?"

"I'm not with Bianca 24/7," Erica said.

"No, but you want to be. You most definitely don't want to be sitting here with me."

Myrtle rubbed her temples.

"You don't care about me," Kendall said. "You never did."

"Look, Kendall, I know I've given you good reason to be jealous of Bianca—"

"I'm not jealous of her!" Kendall insisted. "You want to know what jealousy looks like? Jealousy is you, Erica, who can't stand the fact that Myrtle has a daughter. And jealousy is Skye hanging out the kitchen door all upset that her mom has her arm around a little girl—"

"Hey!" Skye glared at her. "What are you bussing me for?"

Rae sighed and looked over at Skye.

"I'm speaking the truth," Kendall said. "Besides, your mom already knows it."

"You're just trying to change the subject onto someone else," Skye said. "Well, no one's buying it."

"Oh, just admit it," Kendall said. "You know it's true. You want your mommy all to yourself. Even an eight-year-old girl whose parents are in jail is a threat to you—"

"Kendall, that is enough," Myrtle cut in. "Both of you need to stop this nonsense right now."

Skye looked at her in shock. "Both of us? Kendall's the one interrupting this meal."

"Kendall, I know Erica's behaviour towards you in the past has been cruel," Myrtle continued. "But she does love you. And Skye, we have to put a stop to this jealousy towards your mother's patients. In fact, maybe it's time that you move your practice back to the hospital, Rae. Keep your work out of our home because it is setting back Skye's growth."

Skye lowered herself in her chair in embarrassment.

Rae nodded. "You know what? That's probably a good idea."

Myrtle looked over at Erica. "Erica, I believe you owe Kendall an apology."

Erica swallowed hard then cleared her throat. "I'm sorry for what I said in that video presentation."

Kendall scoffed. "Oh, tell me another one."

"Kendall, Skye," Myrtle continued. "You need to get over yourselves because your mothers were sick to death about you! They searched for you high and low for days. They even… Rae don't look at me that way, they need to know… They even stormed the Alcazar mansion to demand answers. A mob boss… they were willing to take on mobsters to find you. So, both of you need to throw behind this rubbish and realize there's no reason to feel insecure or jealous."

"What?" Skye looked over at Rae. "You did that?"

Rae nodded.

Skye's eyes started to well up, but then she asked, "Why didn't you tell me?"

"Because you were doing so well and saw Alan as your hero. I didn't want to take that away even on a small scale."

"You should've told me…"

"Rae very well could've done that," Kendall said. "But I don't believe for one second that Erica would do it."

"I did," Erica said.

Myrtle cleared her throat. "I'm not finished. All of you need to go to therapy. You too, Rae. But especially Skye and Kendall."

Kendall's mouth dropped slightly. "Excuse me? I came over here to hang out with Skye, not to get a lecture."

Skye pursed her lips, still looking at Rae and ignoring Myrtle. "You should've told me."

"Skye…" Rae started to say but Skye fled from the table and headed upstairs.

"Maybe Skye needs therapy," Erica said. "But I certainly don't."

"Shut up, Erica," Rae said and followed after Skye.