As she walked, Kacie stepped around the dandelions growing through the cracks of the sidewalks to keep them from scattering into her neighbor’s yard. Kacie wasn’t sure how many years in a row Miss Grantham had received Pasadena’s Best Garden Award, but it was longer than she could remember. Since she was turning thirteen in three days, she thought more than ten years was a safe bet.

The plastic bangles on her wrists bumped her hips as she walked, making a sound that reminded her of the ladies her mother invited over for book club every month. They sat in mismatched chairs around the dining room table and discussed a book as an afterthought, more interested in the goings on of each others’ spouses and boyfriends and who was considering plastic surgery and where. They laughed and spoke quickly with the confidence of women in the presence of other women who knew the intimate details of each other’s lives.

Kacie liked the sound her bangles made. It made her feel like a woman who could keep secrets.

Copyright 2019 – Laurie Marshall

This piece of fiction is being posted as part of the #100dayproject. Find out more here.