Sol shakes his head. “No more trips into town for the time being. For any of you.”
“What?” Violet asks. “But how will we make money? How will we eat?”
“We’ll figure something else out,” he says. “But I’m not arguing about this. No one leaves the hollow until I say so. Understood?”
Lily and I nod in agreement, even as the dread of what that will mean for our aching bellies fills the room. Violet glares at me with cold fury before she, too, nods in agreement.
“Good,” Sol says. “Because thiswill nothappen again.”
IRIS
Theatmosphere in the cabin is tense after Sol’s declaration that no one is allowed to go into town. Violet is angry (at me, not Sol, of course), Lily is stressed, and the rest of us grow irritable as the food supply dwindles.
Sol is quieter than usual. He holds fewer Growth Sessions, and he stops frequently to look out the front window, as if anticipating the arrival of another cop car at any moment.
Poppy seems to be the most affected by the tension, so it doesn’t surprise me when she takes it upon herself one night to try and cheer everyone up. She volunteers to make dinner, which mostly consists of carefully rationed portions of canned chili. When we’ve all finished eating, Lily offers to clean up while Poppy ushers us all into the living room.
“Y’all sit down,” she says, shoving me toward the couch. “We’re gonna play some games.”
“Games?”Rose asks. “Like board games? Oh, donotlet me play Monopoly with any of you. You’ll hate me forever after that.”
“We ain’t got any board games here,” Violet says, scowling at Poppy. “They’re a waste of time. And so is this.” She starts to move toward the hall, but Poppy catches her arm.
“Wait. Give it a chance,” she pleads. “It’ll be fun. And, uh, bring us closer. We’re a stronger garden when we grow together, right, Sol?” She turns her dark eyes on Sol, who is sitting at the opposite end of the couch from me.
He chuckles. It’s a small sound, but it’s the most humor we’ve heard from him in nearly a week, and it seems to ease the pressure in the room—even if only by a fraction—instantly. “A slightly clumsy metaphor, but I’ve been known to do worse,” he says. “Come on, Violet. Let’s see what Poppy has in mind.”
Violet sighs, but she won’t argue with Sol. She walks over to the fireplace and sits on the floor, staring at us all with cold eyes, as if challenging us to entertain her.
Poppy claps her hands together. “All right, then!” she says. “Let’s start with charades.”
We spend the next couple of hours playing charades, until everyone gets tired of Rose winning. Turns out, she’s as competitive at charades as she warned she’d be at Monopoly. But whenthe game has grown stale, Lily brings out Sol’s guitar and hands it to him, encouraging him to play some music. After a few half-hearted denials, he finally agrees and begins to strum.
It isn’t long before Zinnia has grabbed Lily by the hand, pulling her to the center of the room so that they can dance together to the music, both girls twirling and laughing. I watch from my place on the couch, smiling as Poppy joins them. They are all so beautiful with the firelight glimmering off their hair and skin. They look weightless and free. Even Sol is laughing as he continues to play his guitar, setting a slightly faster rhythm and tapping his foot to give everyone something to dance to.
For a moment, it’s easy to forget the tension we’ve been soaking in. To ignore the dull ache of hunger or the haze of exhaustion. To remember part of what makes our life here in the hollow so magical.
“Wanna dance?”
I look over and see Rose standing next to the couch, red lips stretched into a grin as she offers me a pale hand. I stare at her long fingers for a moment, spotting all the new calluses from the hours of daily chores. Then my gaze travels up to her face, settling on those bright green eyes.
My stomach tightens for reasons that have nothing to do with how little I’ve eaten in recent days.
Iconsider saying no. Not because I don’t want to—Idesperatelywant to dance with Rose—but because I can hear Sol’s awkward warning about dating buzzing like a fly in my ears. Nothing can happen between us, no matter how red her lips are or how that raspy voice makes me shiver.
Then again, the other girls are dancing. So it’s probably fine. As long as it’s just dancing, there’s nothing wrong with that, right?
Finally, I manage to nod as I reach up and take her hand, allowing Rose to pull me to my feet. She draws me to the center of the room so that we are dancing together, surrounded by the other girls.
“You’re a good dancer,” I tell her as she spins me around. She seems so comfortable taking the lead, guiding me smoothly in circles. “Did you take classes or something?”
Rose tosses her head back as she laughs. “Oh God, no. No one in my family ever would’ve paid for anything like that. I just watchedDirty Dancingover and over and forced my friends in middle school to memorize the dances with me.”
I grin at her. “I love that movie.”
“Everyone loves that movie,” she points out. “I mean, it’s super old, but I think it holds up.”
“Whichpart did you memorize? The Patrick Swayze parts or the Jennifer Grey parts?”
