Maura checked herself out in the hallway mirror as she anxiously waited by the door. Without giving much detail, her mom had called to tell her that she and Vince would be out late and she had arranged for her to stay the night with the Wiltons. Maura was certainly old enough to stay the night by herself, but she could tell by the anxiety in her mom's voice that she would feel better if she wasn't home alone tonight.
Normally, Maura would be more than happy to spend the night with her best friend, but her mother's urgent phone calls left her feeling on edge and worried about what might be going on. So she distracted herself with thinking about her appearance and picking out pajamas that were cute, but not too babyish, while she waited for Jeremy to come walk her over.
He didn't even make it to the door before he hurried out to meet him. She quickly turned off the lights and set the security alarm before leaving the house.
Jeremy was staring down the street at an ambulance parked in front of the Kitteridge's house. "Crazy night," he remarked.
Maura leaned forward trying to get a better look at the neighbor's house. "What's going on over there?"
"Mrs. Kitteridge fainted," Jeremy explained. "Mom and Dad nearly freaked out when they saw the ambulance there when they stopped by to pick up Joey on their way home."
"Did they tell you anything else about what's going on?" Maura asked as they crossed the street toward the park that separated their streets. She hoped he would have more information.
"Just that your mom called to see if you could stay over. They weren't in the mood to talk. They're too angry with Judith at the moment."
"Angry at Judith?" Maura repeated in disbelief. "Why?"
Jeremy shrugged. "There's a lot going on tonight."
* * * * *
Maura could feel the chill between Judith and her parents as soon as she and Jeremy entered the house. Mrs. Wilton barely greeted her before she started laying out orders.
"Jeremy, I want you to stay upstairs for the rest of the night. Girls, you can camp out in the living room."
Judith pouted silently as her mother handed her a stack of pillows, blankets, and sleeping bags.
"This is not a sleepover for fun. It's only out of necessity," Alma said pointedly to her daughter. "As soon as Maura goes home you are grounded for the rest of the month. Lights out is going to be early tonight."
Maura watched in silent awe as Alma finished laying down the law and marched out of the room. As soon as she was out of sight and out of earshot, Judith dropped the bedding and slumped down onto the couch with her arms crossed defiantly in front of her. Maura hurried to her side and asked quietly, but eagerly. "What happened?"
"That big mouth Karissa had to call me Vince's girlfriend in front of my parents at the art show and now I'm in trouble for breaking their stupid, unfair rules."
"Yikes! I'm sorry," Maura said sympathetically. "If it makes you feel any better Vince is probably going to be grounded for even longer than you for whatever is going on tonight. At least you won't be alone in that."
"That doesn't make me feel any better," Judith deadpanned. "It's just so stupid and unfair. And you know what the dumbest part is? Vince and I weren't even really a couple. We were just pretending to be."
"Wait. What?"
"Yeah," Judith scoffed. "I'm grounded for a relationship that wasn't even real in the first place."
"If you weren't really dating, then why don't you just tell your parents that?"
"It's the principle that matters," Judith insisted.
"Okay," Maura said slowly, shaking her head. She couldn't even pretend to understand her friend's stance on this. "But why were you pretending to be in a relationship with my brother in the first place?"
Judith's temper suddenly cooled and her indignation was replaced by embarassment. "I was trying to fit in," she confessed. "I was tired of listening to you and Meghan talk about guys all the time and I felt like I had nothing to add. Vince and I started talking about that at the concert and the idea took off from there."
"I didn't know you felt that way. Why didn't you just say so?"
"I don't know. I guess I didn't know how."
"I'm sorry. I can stop talking about guys I like - well, the guy I like, if it bothers you.
"No. I don't want you to feel like you can't talk guys and relationships or anything else you want to talk about. I don't want it to be weird," Judith protested. This was difficult. "Maybe we could just try to talk about other things some of the time too and not make such a big deal about who's dating and who's not."
"Yeah. Sure!" Maura agreed cheerfully.
"And maybe keep in mind that the guy you're so in love with is also my gross older brother."
"Hey, I didn't have any problem when it was you supposedly dating my gross older brother. I was happy for you."
"I know and it was kind of weird."
Maura gasped in mock offense before whacking Judith playfully with a pillow.
"Hey!" Judith stiffled a laugh, hoping her parents wouldn't overhear her having a moment of fun.
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