that the lady made a lot of hand gestures while she talked and Amber just nodded occasionally. Betty finally saw the lady point at her, and Betty blushed because the lady had known that she had been spying on her. As the lady pointed, she shook her head. Amber then crossed her arms with a serious look on her face. She looked like she was yelling at the lady, the way she was opening her mouth and closing it. Finally, the lady did something that looked like a sigh and then nodded, even though she didnât look that happy about it.
Amber then came outside.
âMona says we can both stay at her house for the night, although she didnât like the fact that you were going to sleep in her house too. She thinks you might be dangerous. Maybe she can just sense the fact that youâre not from âour world.â But donât worry, I reassured her that youâre perfectly harmless,â Amber reported.
âWhoâs Mona?â
âOh yeah. Sheâs in her sixties, but she has a huge temper. Sheâs not a fragile grandma who knits. So donâtâwhatever you doâget on her nerves.â
âHow do you know so much about her?â
Amber looked hesitant.
âJust câmon,â she said, biting her lip, holding the words in.
âI can come inside?â
âYeah. Mona says dinner is almost ready and that we should get in there quick if we want to have it warm,â Amber replied and then they both went into the house, Betty feeling less than welcome.
Amber was rightâMona was a monster. She had icy blue eyes and gray hair tied up in a bun. She had a stubby nose and wrinkled skin like an elephantâs.
During dinner, in her attempts to make Mona trust and like her, Betty just made things worse!
âSo,â Betty said when they were seated around the dinner table. In front of her lay an unfamiliar bowl of soup, and Betty ate it cautiously. âHave you and Amber known each other long?â
âWell, me and Amberââ Mona started.
âJust met!â Amber interrupted, avoiding Monaâs eyes. Betty looked at her quizzically, but said nothing.
âBetty, could you pass the soup?â Mona asked sweetly. Too sweetly. Betty ignored it though and reached for the pot of soup in the middle of the table. Finally! Mona started liking her! She talked, at least! Thatâs a sign! Immersed in her thoughts, Betty spilled the pot of soup. Mona gave her a dirty look, and seemed about to yell. Where Amber wouldâve laughed, she stayed silent. In fact, she said nothing, bent over her soup bowl, staring at the broth as if it contained the secrets of the world.
After the dinner episode, Betty was doing the dishes, Amber sweeping, and Mona clearing the table and wiping it down. However, Betty wasnât good with dishesâshe had slippery fingers and at times could be very clumsy. And after she broke Monaâs favorite dish wasnât the right time to tell the old lady that. Mona was about to burst, but then Amber quietly shook her head. Mona bent over, swept up the pieces, sighed, and went to sit down. Amber took the dishes from Betty and Betty sat down at the table and rubbed her head like sheâd seen her mom do. What had she gotten herself into? She had made Monaâs bad list in one night.
Great.
Amber finished the dishes in silence. Ever since dinner started, Amber hadnât talked. And if Amber didnât talk, none of them talked. Because what did Betty have to say to Mona? And Mona to Betty?
After everything had been put away, Amber and Betty joined Mona in the living room. The living room was a surprisingly large room with mocha-colored walls and brown leather couches. A grand table with carved legs, polished to perfection of course, was in the middle of the room, and a fireplace was set into one of the walls. Betty was surprisedâthe house looked better on the inside than the outside.
Betty sat next to Amber as Mona pulled