Firefly Lane (Firefly Lane 1)

"Did you give her permission to do that to her hair, Margie?" Dad said from the living room.

"Ill handle this, Bud," Mom said, frowning at Kate as she crossed the room. "The girl across the street do this to you?"

Kate nodded, trying to hold on to the memory of feeling pretty.

"Do you like it?"

"Yes. "

"Well. Me, too, then. I remember when your Aunt Georgia dyed my hair red. Grandma Peet was livid. " She smiled. "But you should have asked. Youre still young, Kathleen, no matter what you girls want to be true. Now, what have you done to your eyebrows?"

"Tully shaved them. Just to give them shape. "

Mom tried not to smile. "I see. Well, plucking is really the way to go. I should have taught you how already, but I thought you were too young. " She looked around for her cigarettes. Finding them on the table, she flipped one out and lit up. "After dinner, Ill show you how. And I suppose a little lip gloss and mascara would be all right for school. Ill show you how to make it look more natural. "

Kate hugged her mom. "I love you. "

"I love you, too. Now get started on the cornbread. And Katie, Im glad you made a friend, but no more breaking the rules, okay? Thats how young girls get into trouble. "

Kate couldnt help thinking of the high school party Tully had gone to. "Okay, Mom. "

Within a week, Kate became cool by association. Kids raved over her new look and didnt turn away from her in the halls. Being a friend of Tully Harts meant she was okay.

Even her parents noticed the difference. At dinner, Kate wasnt her usual quiet self. Instead, she couldnt shut up. Story after story spilled out of her. Who was dating whom, who won at tetherball, who got detention for wearing a MAKE LOVE, NOT WAR T-shirt to school, where Tully got her hair cut (in Seattle by a guy named Gene Juarez—how cool was that?), and what movie was playing at the drive-in this weekend. She was still talking about Tully after dinner, while she and Mom did the dishes.

"I cant wait for you to meet her. Shes super cool. Everyone likes her, even the heads. "

"Heads?"

"Druggies? Stoners?"

"Oh. " Mom took the glass meatloaf pan from her and dried it. "Ive . . . asked around about this girl, Katie. She tries to buy cigarettes from Alma at the drugstore. "

"Shes probably buying them for her mom. "

Mom set the dry pan down on the speckled Formica counter. "Just do me a favor, Katie. You think for yourself around Tully Hart. I wouldnt want you to follow her into trouble. "

Kate threw the crocheted dishrag in the soapy water. "I cant believe you. What about all your take-a-risk speeches? For years you tell me to make friends, and the second I find someone, you call her a slut. "

"I hardly called her a—"

Kate stormed out of the kitchen. With each step she expected her mother to call her back and ground her, but silence followed her dramatic exit.

Upstairs, she went into her room and slammed the door for effect. Then she sat down on her bed and waited. When Mom came in shed be sorry; for once Kate had been the strong one.

But Mom didnt show, and by ten oclock, Kate was starting to feel sort of bad. Had she hurt her moms feelings? She got up, paced the small room.

There was a knock at the door.

She raced over to the bed and climbed in, trying to look bored. "Yeah?"

The door opened slowly. Mom stood there, wearing the floor-length red velour robe theyd gotten her for Christmas last year. "May I come in?"

"Like I could stop you. "

"You could," Mom said quietly. "May I come in?"

Kate shrugged, but scooted to the left to make room for her mom.