"We need to discuss what happened between you two last night."Matt started to choke on his food, and Julie knew her face blanched. It seemed that Celeste hadn't bought Matt's dumb story about Julie going running.Ugh. Julie didn't want anybody to know about this, least of all Celeste. And Finn, of course. Matt wouldn't tell Finn would he? Was she supposed to tell Finn? Dear Finn, I accidentally sucked face with your brother. Apologies! How are the Venezuelan orphans? She touched her hand to the stone that rested on her chest. The necklace was usually a near-constant reminder of him. Apparently she hadn't paid any attention to that last night.Flat Finn seemed to chastise her from his position at the table. Julie stabbed her eggs and glared at the arrogant cutout. Shut up.Celeste casually drizzled syrup over her plate. "I'm extremely upset with you two."
"It's really not a big deal," Matt mumbled.
"Totally not," Julie agreed and busied herself selecting strawberries from the bowl.
"It is indeed a big deal. Everything has changed between you two, and I don't like it one bit. I heard everything, and I'm extremely displeased."
Julie and Matt both stayed silent. What exactly did Celeste hear? Had there been slurpy kissing sounds? Inadvertent moans of ecstasy? Oh my God, Julie had not been that out of it, had she? It was one silly, insignificant kiss. There had been no lusty heaving. Definitely not.Matt rubbed his eyes.
"Celeste, what are you talking about?"
"What are you talking about?" She looked at them curiously. Annoyingly hopeful, even. "Did something else happen?"
"Nothing. Um... nothing," Julie muttered. "Go ahead."
"I heard that entire terrible argument you two had."
"The argument. Yes, that," Matt said.In the wake of the sleep-in-Matt's-bed incident, she had almost forgotten.
"I'm furious with both of you. But mostly with you, Matt." Celeste jabbed her fork in his direction. "I have never known you to be so malicious. Julie has been nothing but a saint, so don't you ever scream at her like that again. And, Julie, you were frankly not all that nice either. Matt is doing the best that he can with me, and I have not made things easy for him. I love you both, but there will be no more disputes regarding me and Flat Finn. While I am infinitely grateful for all that you have done for me, I'm going to take a more active role in managing myself. It's time. Understand? There will be no more talking behind my back. I may be in junior high school. You two aren't. Act like it." Celeste looked back and forth between them and raised her eyebrows. "Are you still mad at each other? Do you need to kiss and make up?"
Julie shook her head violently. "No. I don't think that's necessary. Matt and I are fine." She looked across the table, finally looking Matt in the eyes. "Right, Matt?"
"Yes. We are." He looked truthful enough.
"Don't ever fight like that again. Ever," Celeste instructed. "The unexpected good news is that I had a remarkably good time at Rachel's. Well, until the end, of course."
"You... You did?" Matt asked.
"Yes. I really did." She helped herself to more pancakes. "Rachel is a very nice girl. She and I actually have some things in common. It's true that she is not the most popular girl at school, and I guess I like that about her. She's in almost all of my classes and scored better on our last history exam than I did. I think I did a nice job of blending in last night. I was even asked to recap one of the first episodes of Pretty Little Liars, which I did to perfection, I might add. Anyway, the night was quite enjoyable until it was time to sleep. The dark does funny things to me, and my head gets besieged with unsettled thoughts. Rachel's mother found me in the bathroom crying, and she was nice enough to offer to tell the other girls that I'd come down with a stomach bug and that's why I left. Anyhow, I have a few things to tell you."
"Go ahead," a stunned Matt said
."First of all, I would like to start walking to and from school by myself. So Julie, that means that you won't need to drive me. I'm ready. Flat Finn won't need to come with me. I still need him, just not all the time."
"Oh. Sure." Julie did her best to look supportive, despite being unnerved somehow.
"The second piece of news is not necessarily information one would typically present at the breakfast table, but now is as good a time as any to say that I got my period yesterday morning."Matt groaned loudly and covered his ears.
"Celeste! Really? You need to tell me about this... development?"
Celeste shot him an annoyed look. "Matthew, it's not a big deal. I simply thought I should let everyone know. And, no, I do not need any information on what it means to be a woman. It's a biological change that has occurred, and I thought it important to inform you."
"Do you, er, think that's why you were so, you know...?" Matt fumbled for words pathetically.
"No," Celeste said. "Nobody gets their period for the first time and has a nervous breakdown next to a Kohler toilet. Men have such stupid ideas about menstruation, don't they, Julie? But it is an indicator that I am maturing, and it brought up other issues for me. Thus the dramatic crying and Flat Finn freak-out. Also, speaking of growing up, I really need a bra. Even though I am not exactly billowing out of my clothes, there is finally something happening there. The silly sports bras Mom bought for me are ugly. Unless you feel like taking me shopping, Matt, I would like to go to the mall with another girl."
"Um... Absolutely. Yes. I mean, if that's what you think should... er, happen. If there is a rush on this... purchase necessity." Poor Matt was really struggling with what to say. "Julie could, I assume, assist in the buying of..."
"We can go to the mall. Sure." Julie tried to shake herself out of her state of shock following Celeste's slew of revelations. She looked cautiously at Matt. "You don't mind my taking her?" Considering that last night she had promised to stay out of things, she was hesitant to help Celeste in any new endeavors.
He averted his gaze, but shook his head. "Of course not. You should."
"Or maybe your mother would prefer to take you when she gets home?" Julie offered.
"I suppose I could ask her. I'll try, although she's not terribly interested in me. And," Celeste continued, "I would like to have Rachel come to the house some day. She wears unattractive wire glasses, and her hair is a frightful mess. I might be able to help her. Plus, she knows nothing about the Phanerozoic eon, and I know quite a bit because Finn was a dinosaur nut when he was younger."