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seemed to be really important to her.
    Kristen extended her hand toward the backseat and shook the air.
    “Sorry for the virtual handshake, but I can’t reach you all the way back there. I’m Kristen.”
    Claire stuck her hand out and shook the air too, but Kristen had already turned her attention back to the other girls.
    “I can’t believe she’s been sitting back there this whole time,” Dylan mumbled. She started to brush her hair again.
    Claire watched as strands of red hair landed on the back of her lime green Izod.
    KRISTEN: DO WE LIKE HER?
    MASSIE:
    Massie let out a sigh and stretched her arm across the backseat, like a boy trying to “get some” off his date during a movie. Obviously Massie wanted her to see her tiny cell phone display. When Claire saw the thumbs-down icon, her blood boiled and her body froze.
    Claire reached for her bag of gummies and poked a hole in the side because she didn’t want anyone to notice her struggling with the knot. She pulled two worms out and held them behind her back. When she was sure no one was looking, she coughed and popped them in her mouth. They tasted like home.
    “’Kay, time to show Massie what we bought her yesterday,” Kristen said. “It’s a get-well gift from all of us.”
    Alicia pulled a rectangular slab of white tissue from her bag and handed it to Massie. Dylan clapped excitedly. Massie tore the paper off and threw it over her shoulder toward the backseat. The crumpled white ball landed two inches away from Claire’s feet.
    “No way! The Alberta Ferretti halter I saw in
Lucky!
” Massie said. “And it’s purple, my new favorite color.”
    “Leesh,” Dylan said as she dove toward the halter. “You left the price on.” She yanked the dangling tag before Massie could see it and tossed it away like a Frisbee. It landed next to the tissue. Claire looked down to see how much the flimsy top cost. When she saw the numbers, she gasped. She’d never really believed that people “gasped” until that moment.
    How can a top thinner than toilet paper be
that
expensive?
she thought. The girls were too busy accepting Massie’s thank-you hugs to notice Claire, who grabbed the tag off the floor and held it up to her face. It said seven hundred and eighty dollars. $780.00!!! She took out her camera and snapped two shots—one wide and one zoom. No one back home would ever believe this.
    Dylan reached for the remote control and flipped through the TV channels. She stopped on
The Daily Grind
.
    “My mom is interviewing cute coma guy from the
Young and the Restless
today,” Dylan said with pride. “Shhh, here it is.” She leaned forward in her seat.
    “Well, Drew, it’s been great talking to you this morning. Thank you so much for stopping by. We’re all praying you recover from that nasty coma soon so you and your mistress, Melanie, can figure out what to do with your wife’s body,” Merri-Lee Marvil said. And then she kissed the chiseled blond actor goodbye.
    When he was out of the shot, she looked straight into the camera and asked, “Do you ever wonder what your dog
really
thinks of your friends? Canine specialist Dr. Gabby will tell you as soon as we get back from the break.”
    Dylan angrily shut off the TV.
    “I can’t believe we missed cute coma guy,” Dylan said. “What’s his last name again?”
    “I think it starts with a
D,
” Kristen said. “Six letters.”
    “Is everything a crossword puzzle with you?” Massie asked.
    “Divine,” Claire said. “His last name is Divine.”
    For one brief moment Kristen must have forgotten that she wasn’t supposed to like Claire because she turned around and spoke directly to her.
    “That’s right,” Kristen said. “Thank God, that would have bothered me all day.”
    “Kristen, don’t you think Dylan should swipe cute coma guy’s phone number from her mom’s PalmPilot?” Massie asked.
    Kristen had to turn away from Claire to answer.
    “Uh, sure,” Kristen said. “Dylan, do you