Going Au Naturel (Chapter 5)

The next day, which happened to be a sunny Tuesday, the girls decided to call off their bet. So when they arrived to school, they were back to the way they were. When their lunch period had started, they were soon approached by the Cow Belles in the cafeteria.
"Well, well, well," Mauricia started.
"Looky here," Pamela finished.
"The girls didn't commit."
"When the bet was supposed to last for a week."
"But it's been four days."
"And you're wearing makeup."
"Which was clearly prohibited."
"Ooh, that's a big word."
"I've been reading the dictionary, also."
"My sister!"
"You guys make me sick, you know that?" said Skye.
"Whatever, loser," responded Mauricia.
"She is not a loser," Madeline turned around.
"You're right," said Pamela. "You are all losers."
"And now you need to pay up," Mauricia added.
"Since you didn't obviously win the bet."
"Now we get free shoes."
"Shoes!"
"My parents are going to kill me," muttered Madeline.
"So did you guys take a realization?" asked Mauricia.
"That you are all as fake as Santa Claus?" Pamela added.
"Saint Nick?"
"Kris Kringle?"
"Yeah, we know who Santa Claus is," said Andrea.
"But did you realize how fabulous we are compared to you?" asked Mauricia.
"No, we didn't realize," Madeline replied, standing up and facing the Cow Belles. "Because there is nothing to realize. We didn't say you two were fake. I said you two were fake. But it was my mistake because I didn't have the right definition with me. You see, fake is the opposite of real. Being real is to be yourself. Makeup and hairstyles make us who we are. We don't need it but we live it. So we are not trying to be people we're not; we're trying to be the people that we are. And we are pretty amazing."
"Wow, I never thought about it like that," said Pamela softly.
"I totally get it now," said Mauricia.
"So," Madeline continued, "can we put that bet behind us and just be ourselves?"
"What do you think, Mauricia?" Pamela asked.
"I'll say my answer if you say your answer," she responded.
"Okay."
"One, two, three..."
"No!" they said simultaneously. They began to giggle while bringing blank expressions upon the quintet's faces.
"We are so slick," said Pamela.
"Yes, we are," Mauricia nodded.
"You're not getting off that easily."
"A bet's a bet."
"So we want our shoes."
"And we want them by Friday."
"Maddie, can I borrow some money?" whispered Lizzie to her.
Madeline glared at Lizzie's question.
"You know what?" she said, looking at the Cow Belles and crossing her arms. "I knew this was going to happen. You girls haven't changed since kindergarten so there was no way you two were going to crack today."
"We're just too strong," said Pamela.
"Oh, I agree. You two are so very strong that I convinced my friend, Calvin Layfield, who is a pretty good journalist, to publish a couple of pictures of you two to go with your fashion show story in the newspaper."
The Cow Belles' faces went from pleasured to disgusted.
"What pictures?" Mauricia asked menacingly.
"Oh, you know," said Madeline, "the ones that you posted on Facebook from your slumber party last year."
The Cow Belles gasped.
"Well, tell your friend to not use them!" demanded Pamela.
"Oh, I'm afraid the damage is done, my friend," smiled Madeline. "I recommended the pictures last week so they are already in today's newspaper, which a bunch of people are reading right now."
The Cow Belles turned around and spotted many students reading the school newspaper at their tables. The ones who obviously saw the pictures, which were ninety percent of those students, saw the two girls and instantly started pointing and laughing.
"And Pamela..." Madeline continued.
The Cow Belles turned back around with flushed faces.
"What a zit! Have you been watering that thing?"
Pamela groaned and walked away from the girls. Mauricia groaned as well and stomped away from the girls, following her best friend.
Madeline sat down on the bench and said, "That's how you do it, girls!"
The girls laughed and cheered.
"Did you see the looks on their faces?" inquired Lizzie. "Can you spell 'priceless'?"
"That was quite evil of you, Maddie," said Andrea.
"I know," Madeline responded. "I'm sinister."
"They really did had some monster pimples on their faces back then," said Skye. "Facebook, you are a blessing."
"I felt like you shouldn't have done that," confessed Debra.
"Really?" Madeline responded.
"Yeah, it was a little too much."
"Oh, that does sound like something you would say. You don't feel any good about it?"
"No."
"No?"
"Okay, I'm lying. That felt so good! I just didn't want to break out from my aura."
"We were all breaking out during that bet," commented Lizzie. "That's for sure."
"I never got to go out with Kevin Christie again," Andrea pouted.
"Hey, you will find other boys," said Madeline. "At least he saw your true colors... I didn't mean it like that."
Andrea crushed her lips together as the girls laughed.
"I think she's trying to say," said Debra, "is that if a boy can't like what's under, he doesn't deserve what's over."
"I would've said that so differently," Madeline commented.
"Either way, Kevin is not for you."
"I can't believe we freaked out over not wearing our makeup," giggled Lizzie.
"Yeah, that was crazy," said Skye.
"You can't come between a girl and her makeup," said Madeline.
"You got that right, sister," Andrea agreed.
"Girls, even though we live in makeup, we're pretty beautiful with and without it."
"I agree," said Debra.
The rest of the girls nodded and agreed.
"So have you guys seen Living Single?" asked Debra.
"Let it go, old person," said Andrea, before sipping her open can of orange soda.

Going Au Naturel (Chapter 4)

On a Monday morning, before class even started, Andrea laid down her shimmery, gold binder on her desk and began setting it up for world history. After getting out a fuzzy, cheetah pen from her pencil bag, a girl with light brown hair and a green, polka-dotted tank top approached her.
"Hey," the girl greeted.
Andrea turned her body around in her chair. "Oh, hey, Kendra," she smiled. "What's up?"
"I got some news."
"Spill it."
"Do you still talk to Kevin?"
"Now and then."
"Well, I heard him talking and it turns out that he has a crush on you."
"Shut the back door!"
"It's true!"
"Is that it?"
"No. I've also heard that he is going to ask you out... again!"
"Shut the kitchen window!"
"It's true!"
"When is he going to ask me out?"
"Today."
"Right now?"
"Yes!"
"Turn the bathroom light off!"
"Keeping it on!"
Andrea stood up. "Should I just go up to him? You know, talk a little until he spills it out?"
"Go for it, girl."
Andrea tilted her body to look over Kendra. She noticed that her friend, Kevin, had just entered the classroom. She straightened her body to face Kendra. "Oh, he has arrived. How do I look?" She combed her naturally curly hair with her fingers.
"Is it that your real skin color?"
"Shut up, Kendra."
She passed Kendra and walked towards Kevin, who had just laid down his notebooks on his desk.
"Hey, Kevin," she stopped and smiled.
Kevin turned around and instantly flinched, widening his eyes. "Whoa," he said, breathlessly. "What happened to your... everything?"
Andrea smiled awkwardly. "Well, this may sound stupid but I made a bet with some girls. And now, I can't wear makeup for a few days so I can win."
He chuckled, awkwardly as well. "You don't say."
"So how's your day?"
"It's been well. Just chillin'."
"Me, too."
He nodded, making Andrea nod.
Suddenly, the school rang, making most of the teenagers in the classroom sit in their seats.
"Oh, the bell rung," said Kevin. "Guess we have to sit down now. Don't want the teacher to shout at us when he gets here."
Andrea erased her smile. "Oh, okay," she chuckled a bit. "Before I sit, is there anything you want to tell me? You know, just in case?"
Kevin's eyes moved away from Andrea's face. "No," he chuckled awkwardly. "No, no."
Kevin sat down in his seat before Andrea turned and went to her seat with a puzzled look on her face.

Later that day, Andrea asked Madeline if she could come over her house to talk. Madeline, of course, agreed but decided to invite the other girls over for their advice. So when all of the girls had arrived, Andrea was already infuriated.
"How could he change his mind like that?" she said, pacing back and forth in Madeline's bedroom. "I was so excited."
"I am so sorry, Andrea," said Madeline.
"I was looking forward to being in a relationship with Kevin Christie. But if he is going to act like that, then just forget about it."
"I totally agree."
"You know, people can't look the same all the time. You can't switch your brain off and on about a person you know you like."
"Totally, you are beautiful with or without her makeup."
"Well, I'm getting tired of it."
"What?"
"I love my makeup. I love my tan! I've had that tan for over twelve years. It is who I am. It is what makes me happy."
"What are you trying to say, Andy?" asked Lizzie.
"I'm trying to say... that I don't want to win this bet."
Madeline stood up from sitting on the bed. "What?"
"You heard me: I can't do this anymore."
"Yes, you can!"
"No, I can't. I'm a pale freak!"
"You're pale but not a freak," said Debra.
"Either way, I don't like being pale. I like being tan. I love being tan. I am Latina!"
"Latina people don't need to be tan," Madeline said softly. "They embrace their inner beauty."
"Well, my inner beauty is telling me that this bet can take a rocket ship off to the sun!"
"You can't quit. We can't quit. Four more days and we win."
"Madeline, it has been three days of us doing this bet. There are seven days in a week. Three times two is six plus another day is seven. Do you know how long that seems?"
"When you stretch it out mathematically like that, then yes, it does seem long," Skye stated.
"You and your talking," Andrea growled. "Don't you miss Tabitha?"
"Hey! Only I can say her name. One who misses must be the one who declares."
"What are you talking about?"
Skye paused. "I miss my pink streak. I'm quitting this bet!"
"Hang on for just one minute," Madeline shouted. "You two cannot walk away from this bet."
"Why not?" questioned Andrea, walking closer to Madeline. "We're people and people walk."
"Listen, I am not buying the Cow Belles shoes. Plus, we don't need makeup and tans and hair dye to be beautiful. Everybody's born beautiful."
"I agree with Maddie," said Debra. "We're beautiful just the way we are."
Lizzie squinted her eyes at Debra. "Ugh, Debbie..."
"What is it, Lizzie?"
"That pimple is off-the-charts."
"Pimple?!" She stood up from Madeline's black-and-white, polka-dotted chair. She bolted out of the bedroom, finding the bathroom.
"Debbie, people get pimples all the time," shouted Madeline. "It's not a big deal."
"I know it's not a big deal," said Debra, coming back into the bedroom. "But I have been drinking too water to even get pimples! I need my foundation."
"You don't need anything."
"You want to make a bet, sis'?" Debra growled evilly.
"Oh, crap."
"Maddie, let's just let it go since no one wants to be apart of this anymore," Lizzie insisted.
"But we have to prove our point."
"Okay, the point was that we were not fake," said Andrea. "So we skimmed everything that was 'supposedly' making us seem fake. But we are not using makeup and hair to be beautiful. We are using it as a way to express ourselves. It is what makes us different from everybody else. We know we don't need it but it's who we are. Does it really make us fake if we're trying to be who we want to be?"
Madeline sighed. "No. No, I see your point. But we promised that we would hold on. Can't we just hold on for the next four days?"
As Madeline continued to ramble, Skye dug into her jeans' pocket and pulled out a small mirror. She walked towards Madeline, with no hesitation, and held up the mirror in front of Madeline's face.
"But I'm sure we can-- Holy crap!" Madeline responded as she looked at her own reflection, seeing her pimples and dark marks. "Good lord! Turn the camera off," she pointed towards the camera on the tripod. "Turn it off!"
Startled by Madeline's yelling, Lizzie hopped out of her seat and ran over to the video camera to press the 'Stop' button.

Going Au Naturel (Chapter 3)

The weekend came and the girls' bet had already started. Once they woke up, they instantly remembered what they had to do. In the morning, they made sure that they had no makeup on, no hair extensions or anything that involved beauty and putting it on.
Later that Saturday, Madeline called her friends and invited them over just to hang out. All of the girls agreed and after Madeline put her signature, preppy clothes on, Lizzie was the first to arrive.
Madeline opened her door as she heard the doorbell ring. "Hey, Doll," she greeted.
"Hey, Maddie," Lizzie greeted back, angling her cellphone at her as she was taping a video before arriving.
They stared at each other for a while.
"Wow," Lizzie giggled. "I haven't seen you without makeup for a long time."
"Same to you. Well, come on in."
Lizzie walked into the house as Madeline closed the door behind her. They both walked upstairs to the bedroom.
"When did you get up?" asked Lizzie.
"Eight O'clock, so I've been makeup free for five hours."
"Oh. Four hours. Woke up at nine."
"Ugh, you're always waking up so late."
Lizzie giggled. "But you look good without makeup on."
"Thanks. So do you."
"Thank you. I feel so free."
"Me, too."
They both nodded as they entered Madeline's bedroom. A second after, the doorbell rang again.
"Ugh," groaned Madeline, "we just walked upstairs. But it's okay; it's probably Andrea."
"What if it's Debra? Or Skye?"
"Does it really matter, Liz'?"
Madeline exited the bedroom into the hallway to go downstairs to the door. She unlocked the door and opened it to Andrea.
"Hola, Maddie," Andrea greeted, pointing her cellphone at Madeline.
"Hi, Andy," Madeline said. She looked at Andrea up and down, noticing how pasty her skin was. "You're pale," she continued.
"Yeah, I'm not wearing bronzer," said Andrea.
"Oh, I see. Well, come on in."
Madeline closed the door after Andrea stepped in. They both walked together upstairs.
"I really want to win that bet," said Andrea. "A year of no Cow Belles? That's dreamland."
"I know! We are not buying them shoes and that is a promise."
"Actually, me and Lizzie were thinking about just you buying them the shoes."
"Andrea, I am not rich; my parents are rich."
"Okay, keep saying that to yourself."
"You know, it is not hard to go without makeup and a hairdo. This bet is going to be easy as pie."
"Easy-peezy, lemon-squeezy pie."
"Never say that again, okay?"
"Hey, Mads," said Lizzie from a pink wooden chair as the girls entered the bedroom, "I just noticed that you have a camera with a tripod." She pointed towards a video camera stand in the corner of the room by the pink-sheeted bed.
"You're just noticing that?" Madeline inquired.
"That camera's on?" asked Andrea.
"Yep. I had this camera forever and the Belles said that to record ourselves so why not use it?"
"This thing hasn't recorded you undressing or anything, right?"
"Oh, God, no. I did that against the wall behind the camera so it wouldn't see me."
"Oh, that's smart," commented Lizzie.
Madeline smiled and walked toward her closet to open it.
"Maddie has to be lying," whispered Lizzie to Andrea. "We got to watch that camera."
Andrea nodded.
Suddenly, the doorbell rang.
"And boom goes the dynamite," said Madeline.
"I'll get it," said Andrea.
"Thank you, Andrea."
Andrea walked out of the bedroom, heading to the door downstairs.
"What are you looking for?" asked Lizzie.
Madeline pulled out a big, plastic, rectangular bag with a makeup products and supplies inside. "My beauty kit."
"Your emergency beauty kit?"
"No, it's my regular one. But I do think of beauty as an emergency. Like what if a cute guy wants to talk to me?"
"Well, I know you're not going to bring that with you."
Madeline chuckled. "Of course. I don't need it." She then faced the camera on the tripod. "You hear that, Pam and Maury? I don't need it!"
"Ha-ha. Pam and Maury. That's funny."
Madeline threw her beauty bag into the closet.
Seconds afterward, Andrea, Debra and Skye entered the bedroom with their fresh faces.
"Hey, girls," greeted Madeline.
"Hey," Debra and Skye greeted back.
"Maddie, is that white girl really Andrea?" Debra asked.
"Yes, she surprisingly is," answered Madeline.
"Oh, sorry, Andrea."
"Whatever, Debbie," said Andrea with crossed arms.
"I forgot your hair is brown," said Lizzie to Debra.
"Yeah, I dyed it red every day," responded Debra. "But since we can't dye our hair for the bet, I guess I got to live with this. For a week. Yay."
"Sweet camera," Skye commented, looking at Madeline's video camera.
"Thanks," said Madeline. "I got it two years ago. Thought it would be perfect for our bet."
"Cool."
"What would be cool is to decrease the time of the bet," admitted Andrea. "I feel so nude."
"Come on, Andy," said Lizzie. "This bet just started and you can't give up now."
"She's right, Andy," said Madeline. "Lizzie got some terrible circles on her eyes and you don't see her complaining."
"Yeah. What?"
"They're not that bad, Liz'."
"You said 'terrible'. That's more than bad. Or is it the same?"
"You got circles on your eyes, too, Maddie," said Andrea.
"I know," Madeline responded, "and they are going to stay there forever. But that is who we are. And we can be ourselves which makes this bet so easy."
"Yeah, I totally agree," said Skye. "My pink streak is gone but do you hear me crying and whining? No because this is what my hair looks like. Although I do miss it. Just a teeny bit. I called it Tabitha-- "
"Skye--"
"But I don't care."
"As long as none of us caves, we got this in the bag. We're going to get through this and get through it together."
All of the girls agreed energetically. Then their cheers simmered down into confused, awkward looks by just one minute.

Going Au Naturel (Chapter 2)

The next day, when the last period had ended, the girls met up in a hallway and walked together to leave the school. After they chatted about their day, they were unexpectedly stopped by the Cow Belles as they popped from the end of a hallway and jumped in front of them.
"Hello, girls," said Mauricia.
"Nice to see you again," Pamela added.
"What do you want, Mary-Kate and Ashley?" asked Andrea after sighing.
"Oh, we wanted to talk," said Mauricia.
"Talk about you," said Pamela.
Madeline scoffed. "About what?"
"Remember when you said that we were fake?" asked Mauricia.
"Which we're not," added Pamela.
"Well, we did some research and learned that you guys are total hypocrites."
"We got you."
"What are you talking about?" Lizzie asked, making a face.
"We went online yesterday and searched up all of you," Mauricia confessed.
"We read some info about you," said Pamela, "and studied your weaknesses, your preferences and your necessities."
"How do you know that word?" Skye asked.
"I have a dictionary."
"Anyway," Mauricia continued, "we have learned that we are not the only fake people in the school."
"We're not implying that we are by the way."
"You girls practically wear makeup every day and can't go outside without it."
"You also wear padded bras and dye your hair."
"But you girls wear makeup and everything else," said Madeline.
"And you're judging us for that?" Mauricia inquired. "How crazy is that, Pamela?"
"So crazy," she answered.
"You guys are no different than us and you're calling us fake?"
"I bet you can't go a week without using your 'disguises'."
"You'd last a day."
"Maybe for twenty-three hours."
"Maybe less."
"Maybe never."
"Why do you two take turns talking?" asked Skye.
"Hey, we can go a long period of time without our makeup or other necessities," said Madeline.
"Yeah, when you're in the house," said Mauricia.
Pamela laughed.
"I bet we can actually go a week without our 'disguises', even if we have to go to school," Lizzie insisted.
"So you want to make that bet?" asked Pamela.
The girls looked at each other for reactions. From their glances, they studied that they all had the same reaction: confusion.
"How hard can it be?" Madeline inquired. "We're not fake and we can show you."
The girls agreed.
"Alright, then we have a bet," said Mauricia.
"You have to go through one week," said Pamela, "without makeup, padded bras, hair dye, shaving, plucking, waxing, trimming, straightening, hair extensions, and bronzer."
"I don't wear bronzer," Madeline made a face.
"We know," said Mauricia, "but Andrea does."
"You may be as dark as your friend, Synclaire, over there," said Pamela, "but we know you are as pale as an ashy ghost."
"Crap," Andrea muttered.
"What happens if we win?" asked Debra.
"If you girls win, which is never going to happen," Mauricia started, "we will leave you alone for a whole year."
"Sounds like heaven," Skye commented.
"But if we win, which is going to happen," added Pamela, "you girls have to buy us shoes."
"Lots of shoes," Mauricia grinned.
"Madeline, you're rich, so we're already prepared," Lizzie whispered to her.
"I'm not buying these aliens shoes." said Madeline. "We're going to win."
"So then it's settled," said Pamela.
"The bet starts tomorrow," Mauricia confirmed.
Andrea groaned.
"And you have to do without your needs even if we can't see you," stated Pamela. "So film yourselves when you're at home."
"Or taking a walk," Mauricia included. "Anything outside of school."
"It's a bet," said Madeline.
"Great," said Pamela.
"Can't wait to get those new shoes," Mauricia smiled.
The Cow Belles interlocked arms and walked away from the girls together.
"I hate them so much," Debra confessed.
"Agreed," said Madeline, "but we can do this. We'll show them how we do it."
"At least they didn't say we couldn't use lotion," said Lizzie.
The girls agreed with Lizzie as they started to walk again.

Going Au Naturel (Chapter 1)

"You're just having a granola bar?" asked Madeline to Skye while opening her lunch bag.
Skye unwrapped her bar. "Yeah, it's tasty."
"But don't you want something bigger?" recommended Andrea. "Like a banana? Or a Gatorade? A turkey sandwich?"
"I don't eat chicken."
"Well, excuse me."
"Granola bars give me that extra energy."
"Yeah, in the morning," said Madeline. "But it's lunchtime."
"Well, this was all I brought. So if it's meant to be eaten, then eat it."
"Like chicken," said Andrea.
"Shut up," Skye scowled.
"Speaking of chicken, the Cow Belles have already arrived," Madeline said with her head turned.
The girls looked in the same direction to gaze at two girls far from their table: one Caucasian, one African-American. They were dressed similar to one another and talking to a short, blonde girl in a pink jacket.
"Why do we call them the Cow Belles again?" asked Lizzie.
"Because one is black and the other is white," Andrea answered.
"I thought Pamela was Polish," said Debra.
"And isn't Mauricia half-Chilean?" asked Lizzie.
"Wow, I love my racist friends," Skye joked.
"Hey, we're not racist," said Madeline, turning around. "We just don't know."
"What are they talking about?" asked Debra, still looking.
"What don't they talk about?" said Madeline. "They could be saying her jacket's not cute; they could be saying her hair is too flat; they could be saying her chest is not big."
The girls then witnessed the blonde girl crying into the palms of her hands and running out of the cafeteria.
"Or it could be all of the above," said Lizzie.
"That poor girl," Debra put her hand on her chest.
"Please, she owed me money," Andrea rolled her eyes.
"Andrea, what a terrible thing to say!"
"I say terrible things all the time. Do I mean them sometimes? No. Do I still say them? Yes."
"I know I feel bad," admitted Madeline.
"Those girls need a talking to," said Debra.
"Like they would listen," said Lizzie.
Andrea started to notice the Cow Belles walking more closer and closer to the girls' table. "Where are they going?" she asked.
"Don't come here, don't come here, don't come here..." Skye muttered.
The Cow Belles kept walking until they were inches away from the table.
"Well, hello girls," said the Caucasian girl with brown hair and green eyes.
"Dang it," Skye whispered to herself.
"We've noticed you girls staring at us," noted the African-American girl with black hair and hazel eyes.  
"So what, Mauricia?" Madeline sassed.
"So staring is rude. Sometimes you got to keep your eyes to yourselves. Ain't that right, Pamela?"
"Right," Pamela replied. "We don't be looking at you."
"Maybe that's because you're intimidated by us," Andrea responded.
"Intimidated?" Mauricia repeated. "We're the most fabulous girls in the school. You're intimidated by us."
"Yeah," said Pamela, "saying that we're intimidated by you is like saying that rabbits don't like carrots."
"That's a lie."
"A straight-up lie."
"So is that all why you two came over here?" asked Madeline, rolling her eyes.
"Pretty much," said Mauricia. "You just need to treat us with some respect."
"You couldn't spell 'respect' if you two were singing an Aretha Franklin song," said Lizzie.
Lizzie and Madeline high-fived.
"And you couldn't spell 'Louboutins' if they were nailed to your feet," said Pamela.
"Oh!" Mauricia uttered before high-fiving Pamela.
Lizzie scrunched her eyebrow. "Well, that's clever. You still talked to that girl rudely."
"Oh, you mean Jamie?" asked Pamela.
"Jamie owes me twelve dollars," mumbled Andrea.
"We were just talking to Jamie," continued Pamela, "and giving her advice."
"Advice that she needed right away," Mauricia added.
"So we basically was helping her, which is nice of us by the way."
"So nice."
"I don't care what you told that Jamie girl," said Debra. "She left crying and you should apologize to her."
"Oh, mind your business, Synclaire," said Pamela.
"Synclaire?" Debra mouthed to herself.
"Look, Pamela and Mauricia," Madeline started, "you two have no business coming up to us like this. If you don't want to talk, then don't talk. Plus, this area is only for real people and you two are fake. So goodbye."
"Oh, we're fake?" questioned Mauricia.
"Dolls are fake; Santa's fake; gold from China is fake," Pamela listed. "Do we look like gold from China?"
"No, but you look like trash from China," replied Skye. "Actually, trash from any country."
The girls laughed with the Cow Belles just glaring at them.
"Oh, we are not fake," said Mauricia. "We'll tell you that."
"We're passed fake," said Pamela. "But we'll show you fake."
"We'll show you fake like never before."
The Cow Belles walked away from the girls arm-in-arm, mimicking each other's sashay.
"I can't believe those girls," said Skye.
"They make me sick," said Andrea. "I don't know why they bother."
"Who's Synclaire?" Debra asked.
The girls looked at her, all with confused expressions.