"Elsa, you need to hurry up!" Her mother called for the third time. "You'll be late, honey, it's quarter to seven now!"
"I'm nearly ready," Elsa yelled back down the stairs.
In truth, she was still half-dressed: she'd been reading the new book Annie had got her for her birthday, and lost track of time. She'd managed to whack her elbow hurrying to jump in the shower and ladder a pair of tights pulling them on too fast. Since then, she'd slowed down slightly and at least had now managed to dress herself in the new dress Kelly had dragged her out to buy the week before.
She finally pulled up the zip on the back before heading towards the mirror, trying to remind herself not to rush so much with the mascara that she jabbed herself in the eye. She'd always been uncoordinated, but she swore it was worse since the Yeerks. At first it had taken her a very long time to do even the simplest everyday routines, but she'd got better over the years since the war, and figured she was probably almost back to her usual levels of clumsiness.
Trying to be quick without making any mistakes, Elsa managed to put on some makeup, brush her hair and slip on a pair of earrings and a necklace. She hurried over to the wardrobe, digging around in the shoe graveyard at the bottom to find one half of a pair of flats, and then eventually the other shoe, squashed in a corner. She grabbed her jacket and a handbag, shoving her cell phone, debit card and a lipstick into it before pelting for the door.
"Coming!" she shouted, running along the landing and then helter-skelter down the stairs, skidding to a halt along the wood-floored hallway at the bottom where her Mom waited, raising her eyebrows at Elsa's hurried appearance.
"Come on," her mother said, smiling amusedly.
The two of them headed out to her mother's pick-up, Elsa sliding into the front passenger seat.
"Thanks for driving me," Elsa said once they had set off, trundling down the driveway past the horse paddocks on either side.
"No problem, sweetie. You might want to text Kelly and tell her you'll be late. We won't be there until at least quarter past, even if the traffic's good."
"Yeah, I know," Elsa murmured. "I'm sorry."
Her cell phone soon pinged with a returning text:
Late? You? Big surprise.
Elsa snorted, reading the text out for her mother's benefit. "Kel knows me, you see, Mom."
Don't worry. We've got a surprise for you, too, when you get here.
That was less expected, and Elsa frowned. Kelly had already gotten her a present, and organised the meal out, what else could there be?
"You've got some lovely friends, Elsa."
"Yeah, I know," Elsa replied with a soft smile. "They're great."
There was a short silence. "You know the other day, Elsa, the… the Yeerk you were telling me about…"
"Kalran?" Elsa reminded her, cautiously. Her mother had seemed a little uncertain about the concept of a good Yeerk, and the conversation had been somewhat awkward.
"Yes. Do you mind if… can I meet her? I thought about what you said that day, I did some research about their peace movement and I… I'd like to thank her. And the other one."
"Ilkiss?" Elsa smiled slightly: her Mom was terrible with Yeerk names. Which was probably a good thing, she thought with a shudder: it meant her Mom had never got familiar with them the way Elsa herself had, a reminder that Elsa had managed to keep her family safe. "Sure. I'll ask them."
"They're coming tonight?"
"Not that I'm aware of. Wouldn't mind if they were, though, but think it's just me and Kelly and the others."
It wasn't long before they arrived at the restaurant and Elsa turned to give her Mom a hug. "Love you, Mom."
"I love you, too," her mother returned. "Kelly's bringing you back and staying over, right? You want me to get the airbed set up in your room?"
"Yeah. Sorry. I was gonna do it, but…"
Her mother smiled. "You got distracted. Don't worry, it's your birthday, you don't need to be doing that."
"Don't worry about tidying," Elsa said, probably fruitlessly. Her Mom was pretty houseproud. "Kelly knows me."
Her mother sighed. "The amount of mess you can create in only a few minutes never ceases to amaze me, Elsa."
"Sorry. It's a shame it isn't an Olympic sport."
Her mother shook her head, chuckling. "Go on, gold medallist, you're late enough as it is."
It took Elsa a second to locate the group when she walked into the restaurant, despite the 'Happy Birthday' balloons lining the table. Kelly stood up and waved to her before she was certain it was them: there seemed to be more people than she was expecting. Smiling back at Kelly, Elsa headed towards the group. As she drew closer, she frowned at the back of one head that looked familiar… but it couldn't be…
Elsa's thoughts were confirmed as that person turned around, a little shyly, to face her. Elsa's eyes widened for a second, before a delighted smile spread across her face. "Jasmine!" she almost squealed with joy, hurrying across to pull her friend into a hug. "I… you're here!"
The wave of delight, however, was quickly followed by guilt: Elsa hadn't invited Jaz to the party, she hadn't even been brave enough to tell her about it. She'd wanted to invite her, she was a good friend, but she hadn't imagined the reaction of the others would have been anything good. Fear followed that thought rapidly: if Elsa hadn't invited her, then how had she got here, and what on Earth would the others do?
"I'm sorry I didn't invite you," Elsa murmured, pulling back guiltily. "It… it wasn't that I didn't want you here, I just…" she trailed off, glancing around at the rest of the table.
"It's okay," Jasmine said quickly, and Elsa returned her eyes to her. "I understand."
"How did you know…?"
Jasmine's eyes slid over to Kelly.
"I invited her," Kelly confirmed, smiling at them. "It's your party, Elsa, your friends should be welcome to come to it."
Elsa's eyes widened in shock. Kelly had no love for voluntaries, she knew that, and she was utterly taken aback that it had been her idea. How the hell had she even got in touch with Jasmine? And how had she convinced her to come? That couldn't have been easy, Jasmine was shy enough about fairly ordinary things, but this?
"I… wow… oh, Kel…" Elsa hurried over to give her oldest friend an even more massive hug. "You… you're… I don't know what to say…"
"You don't have to say anything," Kelly said, looking embarrassed. "Sit down, we're all hungry. We've only been waiting about, what, three hours?" She gestured to a seat between her and Jasmine, with a large helium-filled balloon tied to the back.
"Half an hour," Elsa muttered, sliding into the seat. She hardly dared glance around the rest of the table: Kelly would have had to do a lot of convincing to get the original guests to put up with Jasmine.
Her thoughts were confirmed by the set look on Sara's face and the stormy anger of Huan's. Elsa was pretty surprised they'd both turned up at all. Some of her other friends, those who had never been hosts, were looking slightly confused. Elsa winced: Kel had had the best of intentions, and Elsa was still filled with warmth at the thought of the sacrifice and effort her friend had put in to please her, but this was like a pile of gunpowder barrels stacked together. It would only take a tiny spark for it to get very awkward indeed.
But Elsa knew how difficult Kelly's feelings about this must be, especially if she'd had to convince other involuntaries who were less than impressed. She was still stunned at what her friend had done, and under the table reached to squeeze her hand. "Thanks, Kel," she said sincerely, meeting her eyes.
Kelly smiled. "It's really not a problem."
Elsa nodded, letting her eyes move away again to finish circling the table. As she did so, her eyes met those of another person she hadn't been expecting.
"Kal!"
Kalran smiled at her, a little nervously. "I hope you don't mind me being here." She glanced meaningfully at Jasmine.
"No, course not. You're always welcome to join us," Elsa said quickly, glad Jaz had had some company she trusted. She was feeling increasingly guilty about arriving so late: Jasmine must have found it incredibly awkward trying to make conversation with this group of people. She let her eyes move back to Jaz, smiling at her again. "Thanks for coming. I'm really glad you're here."
Jasmine smiled back, meeting Elsa's eyes with a shyness Elsa hadn't seen in quite some time. "This is for you." She extended a neatly wrapped parcel nervously towards her.
"Oh, wow, thank you!" Elsa said enthusiastically, taking it. "You didn't need to get me a present!" She looked round the table. "Can I open it now?"
"It's your birthday," Alma said, smiling. "You can do what you want."
"Maybe you should choose some food first," Kelly cut in. "Everyone else has been waiting to order for about quarter of an hour. And I, at least, am starving."
"Sorry," Jasmine murmured hastily, her eyes on the ground.
"What? No, you don't need to say that," Kelly said quickly. Elsa was amazed at how genuinely friendly her voice sounded. "I've known Elsa a long time, she's ridiculously distractible, that's all." Kelly shoved a menu under her nose. "Five minutes, Elsa. We got some Prosecco for the table, you want some?"
"Always," Elsa grinned. She studied the menu as Kelly poured a glass for her and offered top-ups to the others. Elsa chose her main pretty quickly: she was a massive fan of calzone pizza. She loved garlic bread, too, but garlic bread to start as well as a pizza was probably too much bread, even for her. "Would it offend you if I got calamari?" she joked, looking at Kalran.
She realised belatedly that Kelly might not have revealed Kal's identity to everyone, and tensed, but as she glanced around the table she realised she needn't have worried. No-one looked shocked, and most of them were smiling.
Kalran frowned, a grin quirking up one side of her mouth. "How exactly are squid in any way similar?"
Elsa shrugged. "Slimy. Tentacley." She closed her menu. "Okay, I've chosen. Can I open my present now, Mom?" she asked teasingly, looking at Kelly.
Without waiting for an answer, Elsa turned her attention to the gift sitting in her lap. It was so carefully wrapped that Elsa restrained herself from her usual mad ripping, and undid the bow carefully before peeling the paper apart.
"Whoa," she said softly. A mass of fabric in a deep, autumnal orangey-gold nestled inside the parcel. Elsa lifted it out very carefully, terrified of knocking prosecco onto it. As she held it up, she revealed a knee-length dress, a crepe fabric on the surface underlain by a smoother, silky underskirt. "Wow. Wow, Jaz, this… this is… you didn't need to get me something like this!" She turned towards her, smiling. "Thanks, it's… wow… where did you get it?"
"The fabric?"
"The dr-" Elsa paused, realising something. "Wait, did you…you made this?"
Jasmine nodded shyly. "I hope you like it."
"I love it!" Elsa turned the dress around, staring.
"It's gorgeous," Kelly commented from beside her. "And it might save me dragging Elsa shopping before her next party, which might just save my sanity."
"I didn't know you could make dresses, Jasmine," Alma commented, her voice friendly, almost coaxing. "Do you make a lot?"
"A few," Jaz said, very quietly. "I take in repairs, mostly, but I've made a few things to sell online."
"I-" Elsa was still amazed at the lengths Jasmine had gone to. It was too much, far too much… she hadn't expected any gift, and if she had she would have been very happy with a book or some chocolate. "Thanks, Jaz, I…" she stood suddenly. "I'll be two minutes. Order for me, Kel, calamari and calzone."
Jasmine looked uncertain, as though worried Elsa was upset, but Elsa hoped to make it up to her in the next few minutes. Taking the dress with her, she hurried to the bathroom and, muttering an unheard 'sorry' to Kelly who'd had to put up with Elsa dragging her feet and moaning the whole way around four shops before finally finding the red dress she was wearing, hurriedly changed in the stall and emerged to look in the mirror. The fit was perfect: how had Jasmine done it?
Elsa hurried back to the table. Jasmine's eyes widened as she approached, clearly surprised, before she began to smile.
"That's a beautiful colour," Kalran commented as Elsa returned to the table. "It looks lovely on you."
"It's really pretty," Kelly agreed. "The fit's perfect."
"Yeah, how did you manage that?" Elsa questioned Jasmine.
"You remember that time I asked you to let Maya measure you, because she'd just got good at using the tape measure and she wanted to show off?" Jasmine asked. "She's been able to use a tape measure for years. There was some bribing with McDonalds involved to get her to pretend to be that excited about it."
"That was only last week," Elsa frowned. "You made all this in a week?"
"I already had the fabric. I just had to make it."
"Jasmine…" Elsa looked at her, shaking her head slowly, amazedly. "You know this is too much, don't you?"
Jasmine shook her head, looking down at her lap. "Not after what I did to you," she said, very quietly. "I want to say sorry."
Elsa tensed: she hadn't expected Jasmine to raise that in front of all these people. "Jaz, we've had this conversation. You didn't do anything."
"You know you owe us all an apology too, don't you?" Huan growled, the first thing he'd said all evening. "Or is Elsa special in some way?"
Elsa whipped around, ready to snap at him, but Kelly got in first.
"Sorry, Huan, I didn't realise you wanted a dress so badly," she said, her voice dripping with sarcasm. "I'm sure Jasmine can sort one out for you."
Huan shook his head, his face full of anger. "I'm sorry, Kelly. I thought I could do this, but I can't sit here all night with her and say nothing." He pushed himself to his feet.
"No, wait!" Jasmine scurried to her feet, too. "I'm the one who should go."
"Probably, yeah," Sara muttered.
"Stop," Kalran snapped at Sara, in a tone Elsa had never heard from her. It was unpleasantly commanding.
"You can keep that slug-voice to yourself, thank you," Sara snapped back. "You don't tell me what to do."
Kalran nodded, instantly looking regretful. "Sorry, Sara, you're right about that, but you did agree to be here and be civil, please can't you…"
"Yeah, I did," Sara admitted, deflating slightly. Thankfully, she said nothing else.
Jasmine had picked up her handbag, and Elsa shook herself out of her shock.
"Jaz, no, please. I want you here," she said quickly, reaching for her friend's arm. "Huan, I want you here, too, of course I do," she added, glancing across at him. "You're both my friends."
"I don't think it's fair, on everyone else," Jasmine said softly. "We can meet up another time."
"No," Elsa said firmly. "You shouldn't have to be second best. And after Kel's gone to all this effort…"
Jasmine glanced at Kelly, uncertainly. "I'm sorry."
"Not your fault," Kelly said quickly, forcing a smile. "Maybe this was a bad idea."
"It was a lovely idea," Elsa said firmly. She wanted Jasmine to feel welcome. "I've felt so torn, and I… it made me so happy to see you all together."
Huan sighed. "Fine, Elsa. If it means that much to you," he muttered, sinking back into his seat. "Just- tell her not to talk about the war, alright?"
Jasmine still looked on the verge of fleeing, her eyes flickering rapidly around the table.
"Thanks, Huan," Elsa said quickly, nodding to him. She could understand how difficult this must be for the others, most of whom didn't feel the same way she did about voluntary hosts. "Thanks, Sara. Jaz, won't you sit down?"
Jasmine shook her head, looking torn. "I… I just… I want to say…" her eyes dropped to the floor, and she flushed. "I'm really sorry. To all of you. I… I should have done something."
Elsa felt a twist of pain in her gut as she saw tears welling in Jasmine's downcast eyes. Kalran gently reached for Jasmine's hand.
There was a long silence. Risking a glance at the others, she saw they all looked shocked at the apology. Elsa tried to urge them to say something with her eyes: it wasn't fair to leave Jasmine hanging like that.
It was Alma who recovered first. "It's okay," she said, smiling.
The others said nothing, and Jasmine eventually raised her eyes to Elsa. "This isn't going to work," she said softly. "I'm sorry. I should never have agreed to come."
"No, you should," Kelly said, before Elsa could reply. Clearly steeling herself, she met Jasmine's eyes. Jasmine flinched but seemed to force herself to keep the eye contact. "Thanks for saying that, Jasmine. I… I'm not going to pretend it's easy, but I'll try to forgive you. I'm Elsa's best friend, I want us to get along, for her sake."
Elsa felt torn. "You don't have to put yourselves through this for me," she said softly. "Either of you. Any of you."
"I appreciate you saying it, too." Sara's voice was tight with tension. "I can't forgive you, not yet, but you're welcome to stay."
Huan nodded, tensely. "Same. I don't want your birthday to be ruined, Elsa."
Elsa bit her lip quickly, to stop herself pointing out that he'd started the argument.
There was another silence.
"Can you sit down, Jasmine?" Kalran coaxed eventually. "It's alright."
Jasmine shook her head as she sunk back into her seat. "It's not alright," she murmured. "But I'll stay, if you want me to," she added, looking at Elsa.
"Only if you feel up to it," Elsa said quickly, concerned at the dull expression in Jasmine's eyes. She looked like she was tearing herself up with guilt, and Elsa hated to see it.
Jasmine nodded, her eyes still on the floor.
"So, Alma," Kelly said quickly, to cover the moment. "Did you get your project finished?"
Elsa felt another flash of gratitude towards Kelly, as Alma launched into a long description of the portfolio she'd just handed in. Her friend really was amazing. The conversation gradually rebuilt through the arrival and consumption of the starters, but Elsa was very conscious that Jasmine hadn't said a word or touched a single piece of her garlic bread.
"I'm gonna end up stealing that, if you don't eat it soon," Elsa said softly to her, while the others were occupied in various conversations.
"Go ahead," Jasmine said quietly, without looking up.
"Oh, Jaz." Elsa reached to squeeze her friend's shoulder. "Please look at me. Talk to me. I'm not mad at you."
With an effort, Jasmine raised her eyes. "You should be."
"Stop it," Kalran said gently, from Jasmine's other side. "I have to tell myself not to tear myself apart over the past, too. What's done is done." Kalran glanced at Sara, guiltily.
Jasmine turned to her, her expression soft. "You don't need to feel bad," she said gently. "You were so brave."
Kalran smiled. "You don't need to feel bad, either, though I understand why you do."
"You're fine, Jasmine," Kelly, surprisingly, cut in. Elsa had thought she was engaged in talking to Alma, or she wouldn't have started the conversation. "All I'm gonna ask you to do for an apology is to please, for God's sake, change the subject. We had enough of Elsa's birthdays during the war, we don't need to spend another one talking about it." Kelly smiled then, her face friendly. "Look, tell me more about how you made that dress. Where can I get one? You have a website, or something?"
Jasmine jumped, looking surprised. "I can make you one," she said quietly, not quite meeting Kelly's eyes. "If you send me your measurements. You can tell me the colour and style you'd like, if you want to, or I can design something for you."
"Sure," Kelly said easily. "And anything deep blue or purple is good for me. You can surprise me with the rest of it. How much does it cost, roughly?"
Elsa stared at Kelly, speechless. This was far more kindness than she'd ever have expected Kelly to show towards a voluntary host, any voluntary host. She was clearly going out of her way to try and make Jasmine comfortable.
Jasmine blinked and met Kelly's eyes. "You don't need to pay."
"You can't do an apology dress for everyone," Kelly pointed out.
"You don't need to pay," Jasmine repeated.
"Well, if you insist on getting me a free dress that looks anything like that I'm not going to argue too much," Kelly said with a grin.
"You're amazing, Kel," Elsa said suddenly, finding her voice.
"Hey, it's just an extension of my ability to find the best sales," Kelly joked.
Elsa shuddered, glancing exaggeratedly at Jasmine. "I hate sale time. She makes me go to about ten shops before the bookshop, can you believe that?"
"I'll swap. Maya was very stroppy last time we went shopping because I wouldn't buy her high-heeled shoes. She's not ten yet, she's not getting them, however many of her friends' parents think differently. She still thought she could ask me about twenty times."
Elsa shook her head, despairingly. "Who can balance in those things? Can't she just ask for a toy or something?"
Jasmine sighed. "I wish she would. She's growing up so fast. She wants make-up, too." She smiled. "She also wants me to buy half the outfits your sister wears, you know. She really looks up to her."
Elsa rolled her eyes. "She's a really girly girl, too. I don't know how she's my sister, she loves shopping. She'll love this dress."
"Is Maya interested in making clothes, as well?" Kelly asked.
"Yes, she's getting good at using the sewing machine," Jasmine replied. She smiled. "She helped sew your hem, Elsa."
"Nice," Elsa said, looking down at the skirt of her dress. "It's not wonky. It would be if I'd done it."
Jasmine smiled, finally picking up a piece of her garlic bread. "I can't eat all this," she said softly, offering the plate to them.
Elsa, who had agonised over the choice between garlic bread and calamari, didn't need asking twice.
"I'll take one, if you're sure," Kelly smiled.
"Kalran?" Jasmine asked, turning towards the Yeerk, who had been watching the exchange carefully.
"Are you sure?" Kalran said, looking at the plate hungrily. At Jasmine's nod, she carefully lifted one of the smaller pieces onto her own plate, now clear of her own starter.
Alma smiled ruefully. "How are you so skinny, exactly?"
"Careful gene selection," Kalran said with a smile. "How are you, Alma?"
"I'm fine. I'm interning at a great firm right now. Though my line manager is a bit of a nightmare." Alma smiled. "I guess he hasn't turned into a monster and eaten anyone yet, though, so actually probably a pretty good boss from your perspective."
Kalran laughed, and even Jasmine smiled.
Alma noticed, returning the smile warmly. "Must be nice being your own boss."
"Sorry?"
"The dresses, sewing and stuff. Don't you work for yourself?"
"Oh, no, it's only a little bit of work. No, I work at Maya's- my daughter's- school, in the canteen."
Kelly nodded. "You must be busy then, two jobs and a kid."
"And night school," Elsa added. "How's that going? Did you get your results back?"
Jasmine blushed. "Yes. I passed. I don't know how, I was very lucky."
"Wow, congratulations!" Elsa exclaimed, picking her glass of Prosecco up. "I think a toast is in order… it was Math," she added by way of explanation to Kelly, who made a face. They had similar opinions about Math.
Jasmine went an even deeper shade of red. "No, really, I only scraped through."
Kalran made a sound halfway between incredulity and laughter. "Jasmine, I think you did a bit better than that."
"Oh no," Jasmine murmured, blushing even more, though Elsa was surprised that was still possible. "She told you, didn't she?"
"Yes," Kalran admitted, looking warmly at Jasmine. "I don't think she could have kept it to herself, she's so proud."
Elsa's reluctance for Yeerks to stick their noses into their host's business fought a battle with her curiosity and lost. "You did really well, huh?" In concession to Jasmine's embarrassment, she put the wine glass back down. She grinned. "Bet five bucks you got an A."
"It was just luck," Jasmine murmured. "Thank you," she added, as the waiter came to take her plate.
"Thanks," Elsa echoed, waiting until he'd taken her scraped-clean plate too before continuing. "I doubt it was just luck. That's not how exams work. Well done, anyway. You gonna do another course, or wait for a while, or are you done?"
Jasmine looked uncertain. "That was the last of the high school courses," she admitted. "I don't know, really. I'm not really college material, and that's what would be next, probably."
"Jasmine, you would easily manage college." Kalran smiled softly at her. "Don't underestimate yourself."
"Someone who does well at Math can manage anything," Kelly agreed encouragingly. "Though I guess it's hard time-wise, too, with everything else you've got going on. I work part-time in admissions at the college here, answering queries, doing tours of the campus and stuff, and there are loads of part time options and support, especially for parents. I can get you an information pack, if you want."
"Why?" Jasmine met Kelly's eyes again, her face full of confusion.
Elsa was equally as surprised to hear Kelly going so out of her way to be kind. She turned towards her friend and smiled. "Kel, you're amazing."
"It's my job, Elsa. You two look like I've just offered a kidney or something." She shook her head. "Anyway, Jasmine, if you did go, what would you pick for a major?"
"Oh," Jasmine still looked taken aback, but there was a spark in her eye as she thought about the question. "There's so many, I wouldn't know what to pick. Astronomy, maybe, or physics, although I could never do the math in that. Or xenobiology, if they offer that there, yet. Or engineering for spacecraft, but the math is the problem again…"
"Jasmine, you got an A in math while raising a child, working two jobs and helping with the campaign," Kalran pointed out. "I wouldn't let the math put you off."
"Well, I'm not really going to go, anyway," Jasmine said, some of the excitement in her face fading. "I couldn't do any of those, I just find them fascinating. And what would I do with it, anyway, afterwards?"
"Well, loads of stuff," Elsa pointed out. "They're crying out for researchers in basically all those fields. Humanity's trying to catch up with everyone else right now. And you could do it. If you wanted to."
Jasmine opened her mouth, as if to say more, but was interrupted by the arrival of her spaghetti bolognese.
Elsa smiled gluttonously at the massive calzone pizza that was, in turn, placed in front of her. "Yum. Good restaurant choice, Kelly."
"I know," Kelly grinned, starting to dig into her own pizza: Elsa's second favourite, pepperoni.
There was a silence as they all tucked into their food. Elsa was glad to see Jasmine eating, this time: she seemed more relaxed after Alma and Kelly's kindness. It was actually turning into a pretty good evening. Even Huan seemed to have forgotten about Jasmine, busy chatting with the people at his end of the table.
Elsa would have to do the rounds after this, go and talk to some of the others she'd have to shout to talk to if she stayed in her seat, but she felt a bit better about leaving Jasmine, now she was sure Kelly was determined to be friendly, not just civil. It was just lovely to have them both here, talking to each other, and Elsa turned to smile at Kelly.
"Thanks," she whispered, while Jasmine had turned away from them to exchange a comment with Kalran. "This is so amazing of you."
"I know you've been upset, Elsa," Kelly murmured back. "I know you've felt torn, and I know you probably wished you could invite her. You're my best friend. Anyway, she's nicer than I thought she would be."
"She's pretty cool," Elsa acknowledged.
Jasmine turned back towards them, then, and Elsa smiled.
"Pasta OK?"
Jasmine nodded. "It's delicious." She paused, glancing between the two of them. "Thank you for inviting me, Kelly. I'm glad I've been able to be with you, Elsa, on your birthday."
"I'm glad it's been okay for you. You must have been nervous about it," Elsa chanced. "It's really sweet of you, to come despite that. And the dress is amazing."
"It really is," Kelly said with a smile.
"Thank you." Jasmine hesitated. "Do you… are you at college, too?"
Kelly nodded, exchanging a quick glance with Elsa. They'd clearly both noticed it was the first time Jasmine had asked Kelly a question.
"Yeah. Politics and History." Kelly smiled. "Managed to avoid math with that one, though we had to take core modules in the first year, and the science ones just about killed me."
Jasmine nodded, but seemed uncertain what else to say, glancing at Elsa as though looking for reassurance.
"You coming out with us, after?" Kelly asked kindly.
"I… I don't know." Jasmine's eyes strayed towards the end of the table where Huan and Sara sat.
"They won't bother you, Jaz," Elsa said quickly. "I won't let them."
"I don't know," Jasmine repeated. "Maybe for a little bit, but I don't want Geltrin to have to come out too late."
Kelly frowned. "Who?" she asked, her voice a little aggressive at the Yeerk name.
At least Jaz hadn't said Akhir's name, Elsa thought, or they'd really be in trouble. Kelly knew whose host Jasmine had been, she even knew they lived together, but she still wouldn't appreciate the reminder.
"Um," Jasmine said inelegantly, clearly realising her mistake. "Just a friend. I don't drive, so he's picking us up."
"I can drive you home, if you want," Kelly offered. "I'm taking Elsa home later, anyway."
Elsa winced: Jaz still hadn't even told Elsa where she lived. She wasn't surprised at all when Jasmine paled and shook her head.
"No. I mean, no, thanks. It's very kind of you, but I'm okay."
Kelly frowned. "You think I'd hurt you, don't you?" She said, after a moment of puzzlement. She'd spent the whole evening putting on a friendly, welcoming front, but that broke for a moment, her face falling. "Jesus, Jasmine, what kind of a monster do you think I am? You've got a little kid, if nothing else. I wouldn't hurt her mother! I wouldn't hurt anyone, any voluntary, I… I'm not like that."
Jasmine shook her head. "It… it isn't really me I'm worried about." Her voice was almost inaudible.
Elsa tensed, looking worriedly at Kelly, which probably only helped her to work it out more quickly.
It still took her a moment, though, before Kelly growled: "Oh. You mean the slimeball, huh? Well… admittedly I might punch her once or twice. I'm not gonna kill her or anything, though."
Jasmine winced, her body curling round itself as though Kelly had just threatened to hit her.
"Kel…" Elsa said warningly.
Surprisingly, Kelly listened. Elsa wasn't sure whether it was her own warning tone or Jasmine's look of pain and terror that had done it: Kelly had surprised her on both counts today, with how much she'd gone through to try and do something nice for Elsa herself and how kind she'd been to Jaz.
"Let's change the subject, huh?" Kelly said kindly, masking the anger that had shown at the mention of Akhir. "Erm… you like music?"
Jasmine nodded, but didn't volunteer anything further, her eyes on the ground again. She'd also abandoned her food. Elsa cursed mentally: it had been going so well, and now she didn't dare leave Jasmine to talk to anyone else, which would be pretty rude to the others and would definitely annoy Huan and Sara.
Kalran reached an arm across Jasmine's shoulders and squeezed tight. "Come on," she said softly. "It's okay. Kelly's just said she wouldn't do her any serious harm, and Elsa hasn't touched her, has she?"
Jasmine shook her head. "I'm sorry. You should never have invited me."
"No, she should," Elsa said instantly. "I'm so pleased you're here."
"I'm happy you came, too," Kelly said softly. "I didn't expect to be, I was just trying to do something for Elsa, but I'm having fun. You can relax. I promise."
"Thank you," Jasmine murmured, her eyes still on the ground. "You're too kind. You both are."