* * * * *
When the family car pulled into the driveway, Claudia was in the kitchen getting some lunch, a chicken sandwich with horseradish and lettuce. After her mother had left to pick up Caera so that she could change her clothes, she had decided to make herself a submarine chicken sandwich—her culinary favorite. The table was also spread with other goodies: a bowl of strawberries and cream, cheddar cheese potato chips, three or four Oreo cookies on a plate, homemade rice krispie treats, and more. Claudia had just taken an enormous bite of her sandwich when Caera walked in, her obvious lack of cheer spoiling Claudia's festive mood.
"Hi, Caera. Wanna share my lunch with me?" Claudia began, although it sounded more like, "Hi, Cawah. Wahwah fhare my wunfh wif me?" Caera didn't answer. She slowly trudged upstairs. Four or five minutes later, she came down wearing a blue sundress, her stained yellow one tucked under one arm. She walked past the kitchen where Claudia was just finishing off the strawberries and cream and into the washroom to try to get the stains off her dress. When she re-entered the kitchen, Claudia's cheesy fingers had just disappeared into the sack of potato chips. Caera slumped down into the chair next to Claudia and began munching on a cookie for comfort. It didn't seem to help much.
"Claudia—"
"Yes?"
Caera paused, looking at Claudia as though she had a big secret inside just eating her up.
"Nothing, never mind." Caera said at last.
Claudia shrugged, trying to get rid of the feeling that Caera was excluding her from something important.
"Well, I'm full." Claudia announced contentedly before wiping the cream mustache off her mouth. She began putting the leftovers away, but she decided to leave a rice krispie bar and a few cookies out for Caera, who finished them slowly and quietly for once. After checking on her dress to make sure that the stains were gone, Caera grabbed her books and got into her mother's car to go back to school. At the sound of the car pulling away from the driveway, Claudia went back upstairs to read her book.