Over the course of two weeks, Susan and her friends fell into a comfortable schedule. They always sat at the same table at lunch, Marie and Georges taking it upon themselves to make sure Susan ate. After school, Susan stayed in the library to finish off her homework while the Hamiltons picked up their younger siblings, the Lafayettes helped out in the bakery and Fanny Squared (a fancy term that Marie came up with) both went home.
Susan always had a habit of doing all her homework on Fridays so she could have a free weekend. By 4:30 pm the next Friday she was sitting in the library, staring idly at the clock and waiting for her mother to finish working. Her trance was interrupted by a knock on the door, followed by Marie-Antoinette entering the stuffy room.
"Hey, Susan, what's up?"
"Nothing much. What are you doing here so late?" Susan asked.
"I live across the road and my dad doesn't leave until five." Marie rattled off, sitting down opposite Susan. "I wanted to ask if you wanted to come to my sleepover tomorrow?"
Susan sat up straight. Nobody has ever invited her to a sleepover before. "Who else would be there?"
Marie thought for a moment. "Fanny Squared, Angie and Theodosia. My brother would probably crash to steal food too."
"I'll have to ask my mum."
"Ask me what?" Her mother emerged from behind a bookshelf. A slight frown crossed her face when she spotted the French girl. "Marie-Antoinette. I hope you didn't burn anything again."
"Not this time, Madame Reynolds." Marie laughed nervously.
"Marie came over to invite me for a sleepover at her place with a few friends." Susan intervened. "Can I go?"
"Will there be boys?" Maria questioned.
"Does Georges de Lafayette count?"
Maria sighed. "Fine. You can go. I'll drop you off tomorrow."
Susan smiled brightly. "Thanks mum! You're the best!"
Rolling her eyes, Maria gave her daughter a small smile. "I know."
"So I'll see you tomorrow?" Susan turned back to Marie.
"Yep! 6 pm."
Just as Marie turned to leave, Susan caught her by the arm. "Oh, by the way, do you want me to bring anything? Like snacks or…"
"I live above a bakery, remember? Don't worry about it. I'll see you tomorrow." And with that, she was gone. Susan settled back into her chair, looking forward to tomorrow night.
Saturday evening rolled around. Maria pulled the car to a stop in front of the Lafayette bakery. Susan hopped out, a duffel bag slung over her shoulder. Maria joined her on the sidewalk, placing a hand on her back.
"Ready for your first sleepover?" She asked.
"I'm a little nervous," Susan confessed. "What if I mess up?"
"Susan, it's a sleepover. It's supposed to be fun." Maria chuckled. "Think of it as our movie nights, just with more people and less Heathers. Alright?"
"Alright."
A bell rang through the bakery once the Reynolds women entered. Marie-Antoinette bounded over almost immediately and pulled Susan into a hug.
"I'm so happy you came! Everyone else is already here- don't worry, you're not late! Fanny lives a block away, Theo always comes early, Frances came over in the morning and Angie showed up a few minutes ago. Come on, let's go upstairs! I have the whole night planned out! We'll watch movies, eat snacks, do each other's hair- oh I've been dying to braid your hair! We'll have a pillow fight, tell horror stories, share secrets- it's your first sleepover, right? You're going to love it!"
"Marie, let the poor girl breathe." Adrienne de Lafayette, Marie's mother, emerged from the kitchen. "Bonsoir, Madame Reynolds. How are you?"
"I'm great, thank you. And thanks for having my Susan over tonight. She's been talking about this all day." Maria chuckled.
"Mum!" Susan mumbled indignantly.
Adrienne laughed. "Girls are so precious, aren't they?"
"Mama? Can we go now?" Marie practically bounced with excitement.
"Susan, come over here for a second," Maria said, slightly crouching to be on level with her daughter. She lowered her voice to a whisper. "If anything happens, and I mean anything that makes you feel unsafe, call me right away. Remember what I told you, always trust your gut. Never stay quiet if something makes you uncomfortable, okay?"
"Okay." Susan whispered back. Any other teenager would have rolled their eyes and groaned in exasperation. Susan was different. She understood that her mum didn't follow that advice and this is how she ended up. A single mother living in a dingy apartment on a teacher's salary. She had every right to be worried.
"Off you go now! Have fun, don't break anything. I'll pick you up tomorrow." Maria's demeanor shifted back to happy just as quickly as before. She gave her daughter a quick hug and lightly nudged her towards Marie.
"Maria, you have to come over for a cup of coffee sometime. It's been way too long since we last caught up." The two young girls raced upstairs, the voices of their mothers drowning out behind them.
"Guys! Susan's here!" Marie called out. Fanny was the first to run over and hug Susan, followed by Theodosia. Frances and Angie, who didn't know the girl that well, preferred to stay in the doorway of the bedroom.
The Reynolds girl looked around in awe. The apartment above the bakery was comfortable, draped in warm yellow and beige tones. Georges de Lafayette sat on a couch, a French flag pillow under his arm. Countless family photos hung on the walls, filling up the space. The flat looked very well lived in, clutter piled on shelves and tables. A real contrast to Susan's home, with its bare walls and peeling furniture.
"Susaaaan!" Marie waved a hand in front of her face. "What's up with you? Have you never seen an apartment before?"
"What- no, of course I have. It's just...very different from my place."
"Too plain for your taste, huh? Bet you have pink walls and one of those light-up mirrors." Georges laughed.
Theodosia saw the look on Susan's face, making her frown. That was the face Susan made every time she arrived in a new environment. Her tightly clenched jaw would relax and her eyes looked moments away from glossing over. She was in a weird trancelike state, which often made her forget to mind her words. From the research Theo did on Susan's anxiety issues, she believed the term was 'dissociation'.
"Quite the opposite, actually." Susan was still distracted by the warm family atmosphere, clearly not realizing what she was saying. "We don't have that much stuff back home. We've been trying to save up for a new sofa but the rent went up and we can't afford it."
Theo realized that if she didn't stop Susan right now then the younger girl would say something she would regret. "So, should we watch a movie until the bakery closes?"
"Mama closes up at eight, so we have two hours. Susan, since this is your first sleepover, you get to pick the movie!" The French girl pulled up Netflix on the TV and handed Susan the remote.
Susan was too engrossed in trying to pick a film that she didn't notice the concerned glances behind her. Ever since the day Susan accidentally revealed to her friends that she was used to not eating, they created a group chat so they could discuss her in private. It felt wrong to talk about her behind her back. Sure, this was for her own good, but it still left them with a bad taste in their mouths. They each pulled out their phones after making sure Susan wasn't watching.
Georges: Okay, it was funny at first, but now I'm actually worried.
Frances: Theo, you're her best friend. You must know something.
Theodosia: It's really not my place to say anything, she prefers to only share with the people closest to her. All I can tell you is that her home life isn't that great.
Fanny: Should we do something?
Angie: Not yet. We can't push her to tell us.
Marie-Antoinette: I say we wait. We have to earn her trust. She'll tell us when she's ready.
Philip: Marie's right, you know
Philip: Also, I'm still mad you left me out.
Marie-Antoinette: Mama wouldn't let me have a boy over, sorry.
Theodosia: The thing is, she does trust you guys. She only dissociates when she feels safe and you saw how distracted she was just now.
Philip: I think you should wait for her to tell you everything, but maybe you could nudge her in the right direction. Like, while telling secrets or playing Truth or Dare or whatever you girls do at sleepovers.
Frances: Sounds like a plan to me.
Just as Susan finally chose a movie, her friends put their phones away and shared a determined nod behind her back. They were going to get to the bottom of this, sooner or later.
Little did they know, the truth would come out much sooner than they would expect.