Wednesday

It was 11 a.m. on Wednesday. We - Margo, Lila, Gracie, Morgan, sierra, laurel, Jessica, Kate, Lizzie, Karen, Natalie, Hannah, Nancy, Alina, Amanda, Pansy, Caitlin, Victoria and myself - were all over at Candice's for the weekend. It was still snowing and the morning news had said that our school was closed and would be until Monday. We entered the front entryway and put our bags on the low, dark wooden bench to our right. Candice closed and locked the tall, dark wood front door behind us. She then opened up the bench and stuck her umbrella inside it where other umbrellas were piled on top of each other. We walked out of the doorway and into the entryway. To our right and left were 2 huge, blue and white china vases. One had giant flowers in it and the other had giant cattails. The vases were in front of 2 tall white rectangular posts.

"Wow you have a big house," Margo commented.

"Yeah well," Candice said.

"It's bigger than mine," Lila said.

"And my dad's up in New York," Gracie said.

"How high is this ceiling?" Morgan asked.

"28 feet."

"Wooow."

We walked past the vases and the posts. To the right of us was a white living room. In the living room were Candice's sisters Shannon and Kimberly. Shannon was sitting on one of the white couches reading a magazine. Kimberly and her friends Claire, Ruthie and Ashley were sitting on the white carpet, talking. Ruthie was my sister. Claire was Margo's sister. Ashley was Morgan's sister. They were all 13. Shannon was 19. Candice was our age, 17. A fire was burning in the fireplace making the whole room warm.

"Hey Candice," Shannon said, looking up from her magazine.

"Hey. It's snowing outside," Candice replied.

"Yeah, I know."

"Oh."

"Schools are closed until Monday at least," Shannon informed us.

"So I heard."

"Oh."

"Is it ok if they stay for the weekend?" Candice asked, indicating us.

"Yeah. Mom and Dad are out of town for the weekend so that should be fine."

"Again?"

"Yes, again."

"Oh. Claire, Ashley and Ruthie are also staying over, if you don't mind."

"No, that's fine."

"Ok. Help yourself to anything that's in the kitchen while you're here."

"Ok."

We walked to the white stairs that were directly in front of us and climbed them. Once upstairs, we went down the hall to Candice's room.