Marilyn Kaye - Out of Sight, Out of Mind

Jenna was spared from answering when the door to the apartment opened. "Hi, honey pie!" her mother squealed.

"Hi, Mom." Jenna glanced nervously in the direction where Amanda was sitting.

"Guess what? I bought fifty lottery tickets!"

It was clear to Jenna that her mom must have had a few drinks before making the decision to buy more than her usual one.

"Why, Mom?"

"Honey, I just had this feeling. This is it! This is our week!"

"Sure, Mom." She glanced back at the sofa and knew Amanda was still there. Get out of here, she thought fiercely, but of course Amanda wasn't a mind reader. All Jenna got in return was Amanda's reaction to her mother.

"I'm starving, Jenna, honey. Is there anything to eat?"

"No, Mom. I was waiting for you to come home with some money so I could go to the store. I'll go now."

Her mother's face crumpled. "But I don't have any more money, Jenna. I spent it all on lottery tickets."

Jenna sighed. "It's okay-I think I've got five bucks stashed away. I'll get us something." Then she stiffened as she became aware of something very different coming from Amanda. It wasn't disgust that Amanda was feeling, or even distaste. It was pity. Amanda was feeling sorry for her.

Jenna clenched her fists in rage. Even in her foggy state, her mother could see that something was wrong.

"Honey, you okay?"

What could Jenna say? That she desperately wanted her mother out of the room so she could tell Amanda what she could do with her pity?

Then yet another realization hit her. How could she be reading pity in Amanda's mind? Girls like Amanda Beeson never thought about anyone but

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themselves. It was impossible that Amanda could be feeling sorry for her. So maybe, maybe, she was actually making contact with Tracey!

And then she realized that Amanda was leaving. "Wait!" she cried out.

Her mother looked at her strangely. "What did you say, honey?"

Jenna sighed and tried to hold onto Amanda-Tracey's thoughts as she went out the door. The pity was still there, but another feeling had joined it- something that didn't make sense at all to Jenna. It seemed to her like… fear.

Now what was that all about?

AMANDA DIDN'T PAUSE FOR a breath until Brookside Towers was way out of sight and she felt reasonably safe. She couldn't believe how close she'd come to even more serious trouble back there. The last thing she needed was to feel sorry for Jenna. Becoming Jenna Kelley was no more appealing to her than being Tracey Devon. Jenna certainly didn't have a better life than Tracey. At least Tracey lived in a nice house where there was food in the kitchen. And at least Tracey had a pair of normal parents.

Well, sort of normal. They were normal to the septuplets. But for Tracey… Amanda couldn't quite figure it out. Okay, Tracey was a nerd and she didn't have any friends, but weren't parents supposed to love their kids unconditionally, even if they were pathetic? The more she thought about it, the more she realized that it wasn't the fault of the Devon Seven that Tracey was such a mess. It was her parents' fault.

At that moment she wasn't in any mood to face those parents, even if they couldn't see her. And she decided to take advantage of her invisibility by paying a visit to a place that she'd been trying not to think about.

Had it really been less than a week since she'd been in her own home? It felt like forever. It was funny how she'd forgotten what a pretty house it was. She stood there, at the end of the driveway, and just admired it.

Then she caught her breath. There she was- Amanda Beeson, accompanied by Katie and Britney, walking right by her. Boy, if she only knew what they'd been saying about her in the restroom, Amanda thought. She picked up her pace so that she could enter the house with them.

Her very own mother came into the vestibule to greet them. "Hello, darling. Hi, girls."

Other-Amanda didn't bother with greetings. "Mom, we're starving. Is there anything to eat?"

"Of course there is! I made chocolate-chip cookies for you."

"Yum," Katie and Britney chorused, but Other-Amanda stamped her foot.

"Mom! You know I'm on a diet! Why did you have to go make cookies?"

"Amanda, darling, there's no need for you to be on a diet," her mother protested as she followed them into the kitchen.

"Oh, what would you know?" Other-Amanda muttered.

Jeez, was she rude or what? Amanda thought. But wasn't that what she normally would have said?

"Girls, would you like some milk with those cookies?" Amanda's mother asked, opening the refrigerator and taking out a carton.

"Mom! Could we have some privacy, puh-leeze?"

Amanda could see the annoyance on her mother's face, but the woman didn't say anything. She probably didn't want to embarrass her daughter by scolding her in front of her friends. That was the kind of thoughtful person she was.

As soon as her mother left, Other-Amanda said, "Guys, did I tell you what I did to Tracey Devon in gym class? I told her I saw a bug crawling out of her hair!"

Britney and Katie burst out laughing. After what she'd heard her friends say in the restroom that day, Amanda-Tracey knew they were faking their enthusiasm for Amanda's meanness. They were such hypocrites! And she didn't want to listen to it anymore. She started for the door and then had another thought. She ran up the stairs to her very own room, went into the closet, and grabbed her favorite red ballerina flats. It wasn't really stealing, she told herself. After all, they were hers.

By the time she got back to Tracey's house, it was after six, and since she was still invisible, nobody could see that she was home. But her absence clearly wasn't having any effect on the household. In fact, there was an event going on-a reporter and a film crew were there. The Devon Seven were all wearing identical pink dresses. Tracey's mother had obviously been to the beauty salon, and even Tracey's father had come home early from work.

They were all gathered in the living room, and Amanda hovered in the corner to see what was going on. An attractive woman was standing in front of a camera and speaking.

"The impact of multiple births on a family is enormous, financially and emotionally. Mrs. Devon, what did the arrival of septuplets do to your life?"

Tracey's mother uttered a tinkling little laugh. "Well, as you can imagine, our lifestyle certainly changed. George and I used to go out to dinner frequently and to the theater. We can't do that as often now."

"We're going out tonight," Mr. Devon added, "for the first time since the girls were born."

"Do you go out less now because of the expense?" the reporter asked.

Mrs. Devon looked insulted. "No, we're quite fortunate in that sense. But it's very difficult to find a babysitter when there are seven children in the house."

Eight children, Amanda thought. There are eight children in the house. Maybe Tracey wasn't an adorable little kid and maybe she didn't require a babysitter, but she had to count for something.

Mr. Devon interjected a comment. "Of course, we don't mind giving up our social life. With seven daughters, it's a party in this house all the time!"

Eight daughters! What is the matter with these people? Don't they care about Tracey at all? Have they forgotten her? Amanda was really beginning to get irritated with them.

"Do you ever think about having another child?"

"Heavens no," Mrs. Devon said. "Seven is plenty!"

Now Amanda was fuming, and she couldn't keep quiet. "Eight! You have eight kids!"

There was a shriek from a cameraman, and another man yelled, "Cut! What happened?"

The cameraman's eyes were huge and he was pointing in Amanda's direction. "That-that girl! She just popped up out of nowhere!"