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Then she remembered what that girl—Nadia—had said at breakfast.
Her jaw clenched involuntarily. Perhaps she was wasting her time worrying about Saff. She obviously had someone else looking out for her.
Maddie loosed a breath, folding her arms and crossing one leg over the other before leaning back in the chair.
“Everything okay?” her mom asked beside her.
“Mhm.”
“Are you sure?” she said, concern laid thickly in her voice. “You’ve seemed a little anxious all day.”
Her mom was right. She had been anxious all day, but she couldn’t pinpoint why. Ever since breakfast that morning, a slight unease had filled her chest.
“I know it’ll take some time to learn and remember where things are here,” her mom continued after a few beats of silence. “But eventually you’ll have it down and you’ll be able to navigate easily on your own.”
Maddie shook her head. “I’m not worried. I’ve found my way through a lot worse before getting here.”
Her mom went quiet for a few moments. “I’m so sorry you had to be out there on your own, honey.”
“I wasn’t on my own,” Maddie answered quickly. “She was with me the whole time.”
And for some reason, saying those words made her throat feel a little tighter. She swallowed away the feeling, bouncing her crossed foot.
“Right,” her mom said quietly. Then she paused, speaking the next words slowly—carefully. “I can see how it might feel a littleweird to spend so much time with someone, and then suddenly be away from them.”
Maddie’s throat tightened just a sliver more.
“But maybe,” she continued, “once you both settle in here, you could spend more time together.”
This time, it was her jaw that tightened. “She’s not going to settle in because she’s not staying.”
Her mother fell silent for a beat before responding. And when she did, her voice seemed to hold some new understanding within it. “I’m sorry, honey. I didn’t know that.”
Maddie nodded, trying and failing to distract herself by listening to the array of sounds echoing around her.
“Well, maybe she’ll change her mind.”
Maddie let out a dry snort. “I doubt it. She’s—stubborn.”
Her mom chuckled. “Well then, you both have that in common.”
A small smile passed over Maddie’s lips. She wasn’t exactly wrong about that.
“She’s a lot worse than me.”
Her mother hummed, and they waited in silence for a few moments before she spoke again. But this time, her familiar knowing tone had returned. “You know, she seems to look out for you just as much as you do for her. I can’t imagine it will be all that easy for her to walk away from that.”
Maddie bit the inside of her cheek, shaking her head. “The only reason she’s here is to trade for medicine.” She cleared her throat. “Actually, that was the only reason she was with me the whole time, anyway.”
Her mom hummed once more. “I’m not sure I believe that.”
Maddie opened her mouth to rebut, but her mother instantly cut her off.
“Ah, I’m glad you two made it,” she said in her usual cheery tone. Then, in a lower voice, now directed at her, her mother added, “your dad and Saff just arrived, honey.”
Maddie uncrossed her arms, straightening herself up in the chair as some of the anxiety dissipated.
“Hey Mads,” her dad’s voice came a few moments later. Then she heard chairs scraping against the ground, and her dad’s usual groan as he presumably sat down.
