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“You didn’t tell me he got into a fight.”
“It was nothing, Olive. Really.” I lie through my teeth, but I think she believes me because she’s silent for a bit.
“Are you sure?” She finally asks, leaning closer to me and taking my arm. “Because you know, you can tell me if that’s not true. I’m still here for you, like we promised each other. If there’s something you’re not saying—“
“There isn’t Olive.” I snap, a little too eager to stop her before she continues, before I have to lie to her anymore.
“Okay.” She quickly whispers, laying back in her chair, hand still on my arm.
We say nothing for longer than I expect, so much so that the silence is beginning to sound like a ringing in my ears.
“So… you and Barth…” I break, glancing over at her.
“He’s cute right?” Her eyes go like puppies, endeared to something in the air that I can’t see but know it’s probably an image of the man, floating up in her head.
“Yeah… he’s…” I search for the words that aren’t there because they aren’t true. Not to me, anyway. “No.” I shake my head, laughing, and she drops her jaw into an open-mouth grin.
“Take it back.” She pouts, still grinning.
“No.” I restrain my laugh. “Not a chance. Heisold.”
She rolls her eyes in exasperation. “Not you too, Espie. He’s thirty-three.”
“And you’re 23.” I remind her.
“Not that big of a deal.”
“Yeah, I’m sure every twenty-year-old just dreamed of finding their match in a ten-year-old.”
“Ew. Espie.”
“I’m just saying.”
“It’s not the same.” She shakes her head and I laugh.
“It is.”
“No. Plus, we aren’t together, together. Just…”
I arch a brow, turning my head to her. “Flirting.”
“Precisely.”
“Mhm.” I implicitly nod, and she slaps my forearm with the back of her hand, and I part my grin, slapping her back. We giggle to one another, probably to keep the fear closing in on the borders of our slightly less safe-house at bay. Eventually, the undeniable sweet scent of food lingers from somewhere nearby and Olive perks up as Barth wheels in a silver cart loaded with food and Adrik follows in after him, another cart similarly stuffed to the brim.
She tugs on my arm, pulling me to my feet with her, and we meet them at the base of the stairs.
“We’ve got a four-course meal, dessert, and snacks for the movie if you want any.” Barth smiles, mostly looking at Olive as he talks, earning him an eyeball from Adrik.
“Well, I also had them stock the mini kitchen under the stairs with drinks and extra food as well.” Adrik adds, and I catch a glimpse in his eyes of something alerting me of our situation, more than it has before. I don’t think he believes we’ll be out of here by morning, maybe not even by tomorrow night. I don’t say this, of course. Keep it to myself until I can mention it to him later and pray it doesn’t start a fight.
We grab our plates, go through grabbing food in a buffet style manner and I realize the food looks pretty much like an American thanksgiving; Turkey, ham, stuffing, gravy, corn casserole, mashed potatoes, green bean casserole, cranberry sauce— you name it and I guarantee you that it’s here.
“What’s the date?” I ask when I sit down, trying to remember reality while I calculate how long we’ve been here in my head, to no avail. It feels like months, but I know it’s only been a week, if that.
“Uh… December twelfth.” Barth says with a mouthful of green beans, looking down at his watch.
“Why are we having Thanksgiving food, then?” I look towards Adrik and he shrugs.
