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“Dunno! It’s just tradition!”
We all stare at her blankly, then, in one giant rumble of sound, burst into contagious laughter. Helga Bee and Gerta flinch at our hilarity but grin widely as if they told a joke on purpose.
“And you want us to find a bunny and play this moon game?” Niles stretches his arms, smiling as he yawns.
“No! Do you knuckleheads think I’m nuts?”
Dessin stares without blinking.
“Have a fun day together! Play a game! Must I spell it out for the supposed geniuses?”
“Only one genius, actually.” Warrose nods his head to Dessin.
Skylenna coughs out a laugh. “Thanks for the suggestion. But—”
“Helga Bee, can those swings be lowered a bit?” Dessin asks with a change in tone, pointing to the trapeze bars forty feet in the air.
“Sure can!”
“What’s going on?” Skylenna asks.
“One person swings at a time, the rest lock arms on the stage and catch the swinger as they come down. The most creative way of swinging and falling wins.” Dessin huddles us together.
“Did the fumes of the dead body you just cooked kill your fucking brain cells?” Warrose lets out a breath of nervous laughter.
“I’m with Warrose on this one.” My eyes meet the piercing hazel stare across from me. He narrows them in suspicion, like what could he have done to win my agreement on something.
I’m over the snide remarks he made in the commissary. I get it. He’s an oblivious idiot who has no way of understanding the pressure to maintain a specific body type. It’s fine. It’s not as though we’re friends anyway. We’re sort of stuck together like stepsiblings. Family, out of pure coincidence and lack of freedom.
“As reluctant as I am to say this, I agree with Helga Bee. We need something just for us. A fun day. Let’s make some good memories in this shitshow, yes?” Dessin rubs the back of Skylenna’s neck as she grins up at him.
“Really?” she squeaks, practically levitating with excitement.
“Yeah. I’m not a grumpy asshole all the time.”
“Only like ninety-nine-point-eleven percent!” Niles chirps.
We lock eyes like children. Niles grabs my hands as we start bouncing around with glee. He yanks me toward the ladder, looking up at the swings lowering halfway to the ground.
“Ruthie should go first since she only weighs four and a half pounds!”
“Never comment on a woman’s weight, Niles,” Marilynn tsks.
“Right. Sorry. Ruthie should go first since she has the worst attitude!” he corrects himself.
I snicker, slapping the unharmed skin on his arm. He assists me on my first step up the ladder like the unrefined, prickly (almost) gentleman he is.
“The cost of failing is being a little loser, Ruthie!” Niles shouts up at me with a self-satisfied giggle.
He skips over to the others where I hear Skylenna say, “Since Chekiss isn’t here…” Pop! She swats him on the back of the head. The group cracks up.
As I reach the swing, I look down at my friends linking arms, forming a human net. Now that I’m up here, this feels stupid for no damn reason. Nerves bubble under my skin, making me laugh loudly to release the building elation. I bounce on my heels, grinning like an idiot down at them. They peer back up at me, mirroring my exact expression. Except Dessin, which makes me grin harder.
“This is so stupid!” I yell down with another laugh. “What if I break both my legs?”
“You could also break your neck!” Warrose adds with a deviously handsome smile.
“But she’s worried about her legs because she thinks she’s a fast runner, you see,” Niles explains in what he believes is an appropriate volume. “Run around a tree a few times, and she’s suddenly a speedy gazelle!”
