Covet (Clann)

eyes, I blew out the candles without making any wish at all.

CHAPTER 23
    Mom dished up bowls of the Jell-O “cake” to everyone. She made my portion half the size of everyone else’s, sneaking me a knowing smile and a wink as she set it on the table before me.
    “Ready for your presents, birthday girl?” she said.
    Michelle and Carrie jumped up and started passing me gifts. Usually I liked to take my time opening presents, enjoying the suspense. But this time I ripped through the packages, pretending to be too busy opening them to eat. The mound of gift wrap grew before me, covering my untouched bowl, which Mom carefully made sure to take away along with the paper later and sneak into the trash.
    Dad’s creative excuse for not eating was that he’d eaten earlier and was still full. He kept busy by taking photos of the entire event with Mom’s camera, which I later realized also gave him the perfect excuse to avoid appearing in any of the photos.
    Maybe I should have been taking notes. Watching him at this event was like sitting in on a demonstration in Sneaky Vampire 101.
    I could tell from everyone’s thoughts that Dad had already given Mom and the girls a tour of the place before my arrival. They were bowled over by how much nicer the house was compared to their expectations. Anne had told Carrie and Michelle that she’d nearly gotten into a fight with her mother just to get permission to enter the “lead-filled rat’s nest” tonight. Now they were all having the opposite problem, trying not to show how intimidated they were by Dad’s newest showcase while worrying that I’d become too rich to want to hang out with them anymore.
    I tried not to laugh out loud, but it took some real effort. If they only knew how much I feared they wouldn’t want to be my friend anymore because of my family secrets…
    To help set them at ease, after the presents, I talked Michelle, Carrie, and Mom into joining me in the newly refinished parlor to sing on the karaoke machine Michelle had brought over. We went through several songs from our favorite movie and TV soundtracks, as well as my favorite, “Raise Your Glass,” which I threw myself into at the top of my totally untalented lungs. Like riding four-wheelers at Anne’s party, it was a much-needed chance to forget myself for a while, and it helped everyone else relax and loosen up.
    Well, everyone but my dad, Anne and Ron, that is.
    At some point, Mom left to join Dad in cleaning up the kitchen, and I noticed Anne and Ron were missing. Movement outside the parlor windows drew my eye to the front porch. They were out there talking, the streetlights turning them into featureless silhouettes as Ron braced his hands against the front railing and Anne paced. Unfortunately the windows and front door were all closed, blocking me from hearing their voices or their thoughts.
    What was going on? Were they finally working through their issues?
    Part of me wanted to go outside, see if they needed a mediator. Especially with Anne’s hotheaded temper.
    “Oooh, let’s do this one!” Michelle jabbed a finger at the back of a CD case in Carrie’s hand.
    “What do you say?” Carrie asked, turning to me with a smile. “Ready for one last number before we have to leave?”
    “Leave?” Michelle whined. “But…”
    Carrie held up a hand. “Don’t even start! You know I’ve got to study for that test, and you promised you’d help me with the flash cards.”
    Grumbling, Michelle bent over to start the new song.
    This time, I had to force myself to go through the motions of singing with them. Halfway through the song, the shadows at the window disappeared, and seconds later Anne and Ron came back inside, Ron staying back to shut the door.
    “What’s up?” I whispered to her.
    She shook her head, her lips pressed together, her arms hugging herself for either warmth or comfort. She entered the parlor but didn’t join us at the karaoke machine, choosing to flop into an armchair by the window across from us instead.
    Ron hovered in the parlor’s arched doorway, leaning against the shiny white molding with the worst frown I’d ever seen on his face.
    I focused on Anne’s thoughts. She was already replaying the tail end of the conversation and regretting it.
    You can’t be serious! she’d snapped at him then instantly wished she’d said it in a nicer tone. Savannah doesn’t need to know this stuff any more than I did.
    Well, my parents and I all think you’re