Chapter Two

I relaxed my neck as Jenny brushed out my blonde curls. They weren't ringlets, like Mom and Lauren's, but messy waves that would never be in control.

"How's Rhys?" I asked lazily.

"Good. We're good, for once. I just with Daddy trusted him," she said. I nodded.

"He doesn't trust either of us with any guy," I added.

"Yeah, or Lauren even. You know why though," she said. Mom had gotten pregnant with me at eighteen-she didn't want that for me.

"Lauren isn't about to get in trouble any time soon. She's waiting, remember?" asked Jenny. Lauren was hopelessly in love with my best friend, who looked upon her as he looked upon me-as a sister.

"Poor thing," I said.

"She'll get over it," said Jenny confidently.

"I hope so. He's too old for her," I said. As I spoke, she opened the door without knocking and bounded into the room, handing me her hairbrush as she reached the bed and climbing in front of me so the three of us formed a chain of hair braiding.

"Tess has a boyfriend," she announced.

"Oh?" I said in surprise. I hadn't been informed of this.

"Yeah-Jason Winter," she said.

"Is he cute?" asked Jenny.

"No. Not as cute as Sawyer," she said wistfully.

"Sawyer's practically your brother," I admonished.

"No, he's practically your brother. He's the love of my life," she said dramatically.

"You're fourteen," I reminded her.

"Mom was only eighteen when she married Daddy," said Lauren stubbornly.

"Jenny's not even eighteen yet. Oh, Mom told me that Auntie Brooke and her husband are visiting soon," I said airily.

"Callie!" Lauren said my name in exasperation. "Subject changer!"

"Be quiet. Anyway, I'd love to see Kylie again," I said, referring to Auntie Brooke's little daughter. It was weird, how Brooke was always 'Auntie' and Haley was always 'Aunt'.

Auntie Brooke wasn't really our Aunt. She was Mom's high school best friend and Lauren's godmother. But I carried her name-my full name was Calista Brooklyn Jagielski. Oddly enough, my godparents were Haley and Nathan, but Lauren's middle name was Haley-Lauren Haley Jagielski.

I glanced around the room as my fingers expertly twisted Lauren's thick curls into a French braid. Mom was leaning against the door frame. I knew she loved it when we all bonded. Jenny and I constantly bonded, but sometimes Lauren was left out of it.

"Hey Mom," I said. She waved from the door. After a moment she turned away, and as she did so her shirt lifted slightly and I saw her tattoo, in the middle of her lower back. Twenty-one, my Daddy's old jersey number. When we'd asked where why she'd gotten it, she'd embarrassedly admitted to being drunk.

Jenny twisted an elastic around my long braid, and I crawled backwards so the three of us could sit in a circle.

"How long do you think it will be before I'm old enough for him?" asked Lauren.

"A couple of years maybe. But you'll like someone else by then," I assured her.

"No! He's so tall," she said fondly.

"So's Tess. Weird, because Aunt Haley's so short. But Uncle Nathan is tall," said Jenny. They were both tall-both our parents were tall.

"Lauren!" called Dad from the main floor. "Phone for you!"

"Oh, Tess," she said distractedly, running off to her room.

"She's so young," I said after she'd left, laughing. Jenny giggled.

"She is. You were too though," she pointed out.

"I remember when you were her age I thought you were so old!" I said.

"I feel sorry for her though-Sawyer isn't a commitment kind of guy," she said. I glanced guiltily at her-Sawyer's secret was the only one I'd never told her.

"I guess. She'll find someone else. Like you say, she's young," said Jenny.

"Yeah. Hey, why are we home?" I asked.

"Oh, long story. Sawyer's buried in homework, Rhys is grounded again, the rest of the basketball guys are doing some weird guy bonding thing and football players are so last season," she said. It was a rare thing, the two of us being home on a Saturday evening.

As she left to go brush her teeth, I transferred from her bed to mine. In the old house, we'd shared a bedroom since before my first birthday. When Lauren had come along she'd slept in Mom and Dad's room for almost two years before moving into the smallest room in the house, barely larger than a storage cupboard. Here, in the new house, we all had room for our own rooms. In fact, we had more rooms than that, but Jenny and I were far too used to sharing.

"Hey Daddy," I said, looking up in surprise as he came to sit at the end of my bed.

"Hey sweetie. How was your day?" he asked.

"Okay. I went shopping with Lucy and Stacey at the mall. What did you do?" I asked.

"Oh, your Mom and I went to buy a new kitchen table, and we visited the Scott's. So is Jenny back with Rhys?" he asked. I rolled my eyes.

"So not a snitch," I said.

"Fair enough. So how are you? How are the guys in your life?" he asked.

"Not worth mentioning. I got Sawyer, and sorting out his love life is enough for me," I said. Daddy knew about the Lauren-Sawyer-Jenny triangle.

"Sawyer's a nice boy," said Daddy.

"So not. So I heard Auntie Brooke and Kylie are visiting?" I said. He nodded.

"Yeah, and her husband, in a week. Oh, we have a wedding to attend," he said.

"Who's?"

"Oh, a high school friend. Her name's Theresa, you don't know her. But the Scott's are coming too, so it'll be fun," he said.

"Can I get a new dress?" I asked.

"Yes," he said slowly.

"And shoes?"

"Cal you have a thousand pairs of shoes," I said.

"Yeah, but I need them to go with the dress!" I protested.

"Fine, shoes. But no make up or underthings or hair things or whatever, just the dress and shoes. And take your sisters, and don't let Lauren look older than her age," he warned. I giggled.

"Fine, three new dress and three pairs of shoes," I said, holding out my hand. He reluctantly tipped his master card into it.

"You know you're a pretty good Dad," I said, smiling at him.

"Well, I have had seventeen years of practice," he said wryly.

"I think it's crazy that you and Mom were parents at my age," I said.

"Yeah, I guess. Hey, I got to go. Good night Squirt," he said, kissing my forehead.

"Hate it when you call me that," I said.

"Yes, sweetie, but it works."

Jenny came in as he left.

"Hey, we're going shopping tomorrow. And they suspect you again," I said, holding up the credit card.

"What? You told?" she asked, running to the beds.

"No! I guess you just suck at this," I said. Lunging at me, she began to tickle as I shrieked and writhed and tried to tickle her back.