Free Maine Squeeze by Catherine Clark

bath?”
    â€œNo, not quite.” I laughed. “Feel free to go check it out, though, third door on your right. But I was talking about this.” I handed her the poster board. “It’s a list of house rules, which my parents wrote up and made me agree to. It’s important to them, so if you could look at it and make sure you’re okay with the ground rules, that’d be great.”
    â€œGround rules?” she said, beginning to scan the list.
    â€œYeah. If you don’t mind. Just review them. I know it sounds dumb, but—”
    â€œNo, it’s fine. I know how parents can be.”
    â€œI’m going downstairs. Come on down when you’re ready,” I said.
    As I started down the stairs, I heard Haley’s voice. She didn’t sound happy.
    â€œYou guys asked her to live here? Without asking me about it first? Without even letting me meet her?”
    I gulped. Oh, no. Why hadn’t I thought of that? Of course Haley would have to approve of the plan, too. And there was nothing Haley hated more than being out of the loop.
    â€œBut she’s really nice,” Erica said.
    â€œSo what? You know, you don’t even live here!” Haley cried. “How can you make decisions that affect the rest of us?”
    â€œI’m so sorry,” I said as I walked into the kitchen. “We shouldn’t have asked her without asking you.”
    Haley just glared at me.
    â€œCome on, Haley—I’m sorry. We got carried away—we just felt so bad because she didn’t have a place to live. She’s been sleeping on Trudy and Robert’s living room floor,” I explained.
    â€œBut we all agreed that we’d decide who was in the group together. We’re fine with just the three of us, aren’t we? It’s not like we need a fourth person so we can pay less rent. We have no rent! And then you always have a place to sleep when you stay over,” she said to Erica.
    Erica shrugged. “I can sleep on the sofa.”
    Haley rolled her eyes. “Come on.”
    â€œNothing’s final yet,” I told Haley. “Meet Blair first, okay? If for some reason you don’t like her,” I said in a soft voice, “we’ll just tell her that we changed our minds.”
    â€œWe can’t do that,” Sam said. “That’ll come off really rude. We already offered it to her. And she really needs a place.”
    â€œWhat’s she doing up there, anyway? Moving in already?” Haley asked.
    â€œI’ll go get her,” I said. I headed for the stairs, but before I could go up them, I saw Blair heading down. “Hey, Haley’s home—you’ve got to meet her.”
    â€œOh, sure. Great. Love to,” she said with a smile.
    â€œSo what did you think of the rules?” I asked as she reached the bottom of the stairs. “Are you going to be okay with them?”
    Blair handed the poster board back to me. “They’re exactly the kind of rules my father would write up for me. In fact, I think he has, already. So it’s no problem. I’m ready to sign on, if you guys are.”
    â€œUm … well, let’s see. Blair, this is Haley. Haley, Blair.”
    â€œCool name.” Blair smiled at Haley.
    â€œThanks.” Haley wouldn’t quite look at her, at first.
    I went to the fridge and got out a pitcher of lemonade. I sliced a few fresh wedges of lemon and tossed them into the pitcher. “So, let’s go outside and talk. We still have some time before we have to get back to work.”
    â€œWhere are you working?” Blair asked Haley as we filed out onto the porch.
    On the way, Samantha grabbed four wineglasses from the cupboard. “Just to make it fun,” she said to me.
    â€œOr, are you working, I guess I should ask,” Blair said to Haley as she settled into a chair. “Not everyone has to.”
    â€œOh, I have to, all right,” Haley said.