Jody's mom carefully examined Nadia through the rear-view mirror, said, "So you're Nathan's cute little cousin. Jody told me all about meeting you yesterday. Too bad he had to leave so quickly. You call me Sam."

"I already- Nice to meet you Sam. Everything's kind of impulsive in our family, sorry."

"So, what's it like in Montana?"

"Cold, and the hills are black."

Sam giggled, "It's nice to see you have his sense humor. Do you live near the black hills?"

"I live closer to Bismarck."

"That's in North Dakota," Jody said.

Nadia stiffened nervously. "I live closer to Bismarck than to the mountains, but I still live in Montana."

"That's nice," Sam said, "So are you ready to go shopping."

Nadia managed a fake smile, "Ready as I'll ever be."

"You have your uncle's permission, I hope."

"He gave me money and everything. You can text him if you like. There shouldn't be any problem."

"We have to pick up a few more friends. That way you'll have some company back there. We're glad to have you this early because I don't have to ride back for you. It'll save us a few minutes. Jody said you might not be ready until after we ate because we decided to pick up an early breakfast."

Jody tapped her mom on the shoulder and asked her if she had to tell Nadia everything. Nadia smiled nervously, scratching the back of her neck. A thin road cut through a hillside community composed mostly of homes with cracking stucco exteriors. There was a house built on the highest ground with faded aluminum siding; two or three major dents were on the front walls along with a plethora of minor ones.

The station wagon pulled on the property's loose stone drive to the crunch of gravel. A skinny girl with brown framed glasses that matched her hair skipped down the walk. There was a book in her left hand and a small yellow purse over her left shoulder. This girl wore a long yellow shirt, dark jeans, and yellow sandals with short heels. After quickly introducing herself to Nadia, she said hello to Jody and Mrs. Fischer. Her name was Amanda. She sat stiffly with her book on her lap and gave Nadia the slightest glance at intervals. The pendant on the tarnished chain had slipped outside Nadia's shirt.

"That's an interesting necklace," Amanda said as the car pulled back onto the main road.

Nadia didn't want to attract attention to it.

"It's nothing special."

"Can I try it on?"

"No."

"I thought you said it was nothing special."

"It isn't, and we'll leave it at that."

"Hey," Jody said, craning her head back against the pressure of her seat belt to see behind her, "It looks exactly like the one Nathan wears. I mean exactly, I thought it was one of a kind?"

"Family heirloom. He left it here. I'm keeping it for a while."

"Oh, that doesn't sound at all like him."

Amanda rolled her eyes, "I thought you said it was nothing special."

Nadia stuffed the pendant back in her shirt as she entertained no further conversation about it.

This tale has been unlawfully obtained from Royal Road. If you discover it on Amazon, kindly report it.

The next stop was a large brick mansion in the middle of a plush estate. Horses grazed in the acreage of a huge pasture. Mature, evenly spaced, maple trees thick with foliage adorned the front yard. The grass around them cut in neat circles by a white-haired old man in blue overalls, who sat staunchly on an oversized riding mower.

Before the station wagon could even come to a complete stop, Jody jumped out and ran to the house entrance. Nadia forced herself to sit still and keep quiet; she wasn't comfortable with the prospect of conversation under false pretenses, and she wasn't quite familiar with how girls communicated with other girls when they were alone. Thankfully, Amanda sank into her book, making Nadia's silence all the easier.

Finally, Sam blew the horn, five minutes later she did so again, and two minutes after that the girls finally came out together. The girl from the estate wore a white knee length skirt with a matching blouse that was light and airy. She was introduced herself as Tish Johnson as she sat beside Amanda and extended a hand to Nadia.

Tish asked how Nadia had received the cuts on her forehead, to which Nadia replied with the story that she slipped and rolled over some loose stone. Nadia remembered Tish and Amanda from school. Both girls were Jody's friends. This was the first time she was actively associating with Jody's inner circle of friends; hanging out with girls made the hairs on the back of Nadia's neck stand at end.

Breakfast at the Sunrise Diner went by quickly, without incident, and with little conversation of any consequence beyond well-coordinated shopping plans. Nadia ate quietly. She sat as if in her own world and paced her eating so she could talk as little as possible. When they filed back into the station wagon, Nadia found herself between Tish and Amanda. The thought of a two-hour drive with only girls, sandwiched between two of Jody's friends, made Nadia tense. Why did they have to drive two hours to some outlets just to shop?

Jody looked back toward her friends.

"I was going to invite Nathan because I knew he wouldn't come. It would've been weird if he did because he would have been the only guy, and we would have had to make him sit up front."

"He wouldn't have come," Tish said. "Why would you suggest something so awkward?"

"It's a good thing we have Nadia then," Amanda said.

"Jody wanted to simulate a date, but her plan failed," Tish said.

Amanda giggled.

"I did not. I just thought offering would be an easy way to apologize."

"What's wrong with wanting to date him? He seems like a total hunk, and you like to hang out with him, a lot," Tish said.

Jody began to brighten. Nadia turned red and scratched the back of her neck again, "Can we talk about something else?"

"You're his cousin right, don't you think he's really cute? Wouldn't you date him if he wasn't your cousin."

Nadia shook her head, still quite crimson, mouth slightly agape, "Ehh! I never thought about it before. It's kind of- disgusting. Can't we talk about something else?"

"Stop teasing Tish," Jody said, "I think you're upsetting her."

"Am I upsetting you?"

"Kind of- in a way. Yes."

"You're not planning on telling your cousin we think he's cute, are you?" Tish asked.

Nadia laughed nervously, "No! Why would I do that?"

"You never tell that kind of stuff to a boy. This is girls only."

Nadia laughed some more, a forced sort of laugh, "Then it's a good thing I'm a girl."

"What in the world do you mean by that?" Jody asked.

"Nothing. I just said it to-" Nadia scratched the back of her neck until she was interrupted with Amanda's interpretation of what she had said.

"Nadia means that girls are better than boys, isn't it obvious?"

"I wouldn't- disagree with that," Nadia said, she had meant to disagree, but changed her words and tone in mid-sentence. Then she looked down at her shorts and whispered under her breath that Amanda's idea wasn't all that obvious from what she was hearing. A few calm minutes passed.

"You have such gorgeous hair, what's your secret?" Amanda asked.

"Nothing, I just kind of let it go- I guess," Nadia admitted

That satisfied Amanda, she opened her book and started reading again; Nadia was surprised Amanda didn't get motion sickness. Tish scanned the faded blue polo shirt and the ill-fitting denim shorts before looking down toward the big flip flops. The shirt was too big and slid over Nadia's shoulder, revealing the lack of a bra strap. It wasn't overly obvious that Nadia wasn't wearing a bra, but Tish could still tell.

"Is that a boy's outfit you have on?"

"Maybe it's a new style," Amanda suggested without turning from her book. "It might be what's hot in Montana."

Nadia liked Amanda's suggestion intensely, but she never got her chance to affirm it because Jody spoke too quickly.

"Her stuff was sent to a foreign country and she couldn't get it back, so she's been forced to wear it."

"I feel for you," Tish said. "I think I would absolutely die if that happened to me."

"It's not that bad, really."

"Don't tell me you're a tomboy,"

"Well- in a way- right now I guess I am," Nadia force a smile, "But I do kind of need clothes that fit?"

"Makeover!" was shouted in unison by the others.

Nadia melted into her seat with a timid laugh.

Behind the station wagon a dull red minivan followed a few cars back. Josh sat in the passenger seat as he calmly signaled the driver to follow his every direction.