Out of the Blue by Sarah Ellis Page A

you doing, Mum?”
    â€œI’m just washing the glass shades. They get all this greasy dust on them up there on the ceiling.”
    Megan pulled herself up onto the counter. “Mum, how tall is Natalie?”
    Mum turned around smiling. “Oh, she’s just exactly the same height I am. We stood back to back and there was not a smidge of difference. She’s slimmer, though.”
    Megan slid off the counter. This was hopeless. What had gotten into Mum? The question about Natalie’s height had been sarcastic. How tall is Natalie, like, is she going to walk into the house and see the tops of the light fixtures? Get it? Not only did Mum not get it, but she gave that sick oh,-good,-Megan-is-taking-an-interest-in-Natalie smile. The voice in Megan’s head took off. Who cares how slim Natalie is? Tell me about something interesting, like the life cycle of a newt.
    She noticed Mum’s “To File” folder on the kitchen counter. Oh yes, important to get all the filing done before Natalie arrived. She suddenly remembered the tall-ships brochure and flipped through the file. It was still there. She pulled it out.
    â€œHey, Mum, what’s this?”
    â€œWhat?” Mum turned from the sink and glanced at the brochure. “Oh, some program to send inner-city kids on a sailing expedition. I think I sent them a donation. Why?”
    â€œNothing.” Megan tossed the paper back into the file. That was the end of that story.
    Megan wandered back to her room. This whole thing was turning Mum strange. All week she had been either polishing doorknobs or discussing the menu for dinner. In the middle of a normal conversation she would suddenly say, “Which do you think is better with chicken — rice or mashed potatoes?” Not a word about her religious studies term paper or her psychology midterm. Megan thought about what would happen if she started to ignore her homework.
    It would be good to get this dinner over with. Surely they wouldn’t have to keep seeing this Natalie over and over again. She would, Megan hoped, come and enjoy the rice (or mashed potatoes), be impressed by how clean the cutlery drawer was, tour the house with Betsy (big thrill), and then leave. And then they could get back to normal.
    On Sunday, dinner preparations were complete by one o’clock in the afternoon. Natalie was due to arrive at six. Open-heart surgery could have been performed in any room of the house, they were so clean. The table was set. There was a bowl of deluxe mixed nuts on the coffee table, with the phone book balanced on top to keep Bumper from discovering them. The parts of the salad were in plastic bags in the refrigerator. There was a tape in the tape deck. Mum was wearing a dress. Betsy was wearing her Brownie uniform. The only thing left for Mum to do was change her mind.
    â€œDo you think this necklace is too dressy?”
    â€œI wonder if we need another cooked vegetable?”
    â€œI sure hope Jim remembers to bring home club soda. Maybe I should go down to the corner and get some, just in case.”
    Megan had to escape. She took her bike down to the library to check out the videos. On a wet Sunday afternoon the only videos left were ones that are good for you. But even Safety in the Home looked interesting when the alternative was Mum. She was in the basement learning about smoke alarms when the doorbell rang. Six on the dot. Suddenly her heart began to pound. What was going on? Dinner with a stranger, that’s all it was. She gave Bumper a vigorous scratch around the ears and then headed firmly upstairs.
    By the time she got to the front hall, it was already packed: Mum, Dad, and Betsy all crowded around. There was hugging, more crying on Mum’s part, Natalie’s dripping umbrella to be taken care of, her coat to be hung up. After being introduced Megan climbed halfway up the stairs to be out of the way. She stared. Natalie was wearing a short skirt and one