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They’d been walking about twenty minutes, but Jay didn’t protest when Janessa and Will veered over in that direction. The bench wasn’t big enough for all of them, but there was also a log nearby that Gareth and Aria settled on.
Jay swung his backpack off and opened it up. He pulled out the container of cookies and handed it to Misha. “I’ll let you be in charge of those.”
“Cookies!” Janessa exclaimed with a broad grin.
Misha took the lid off, then offered the contents to each of them.
“I’ll trade you a bottle of water for a cookie,” Jay said when she offered the cookies to him.
“Any other time, I’d think I was getting the raw end of that deal,” Misha told him. “But today, I amparched, so I will take you up on that offer.”
“Funny how our perspective on things changes depending on our circumstances.”
“That’s for sure.” She took the bottle of water he held out, then sat down on the bench next to Janessa. After cracking the bottle open, she took a couple of deep swallows.
“I’m so glad you brought your mom’s cookies,” Janessa said. “They are just the most delicious thing ever.”
“Are you happy you came?” Misha asked her.
Janessa shrugged. “Eh. It’s not the worst thing ever. I’d be dying if it was hot.”
Misha watched her friend’s gaze go to where Will sat on the ground, closer to the stream, his back to them. Keeping her voice low, she asked, “Are you worried about Will?”
Janessa glanced at Misha before focusing on Will again. “Worried? I don’t know. More just concerned for him. He and Daphne were together for years, and I think Will thought they were in it for the long haul, you know.”
Jay had joined his friend, lowering himself to sit next to him. Even sitting down, their height difference was quite apparent.
“Are you really close with him, too?”
“No. I’m not as close to him as Jay is. The two of them are like this,” Janessa said, crossing two of her fingers. “But he’s been in my life as long as he’s been in Jay’s, so yeah, I think I know him pretty well.”
“Did you have someone like him when you first came to Serenity?”
“I had a couple of friends at first, but their families both ended up moving away. Charli was a grade ahead of me, so we usually spent recesses and lunches together. I became close with Aria when we were roommates at college.”
“That’s good you had Charli when you first came here.”
“Yep. Of all my sisters, she’s the one I’m closest to.”
“Is that why you live together?”
Janessa nodded. “Of course, I’m also close to Jay. That first year after our mom died, even though we did have new friends and a family, we stuck pretty close together. I really needed him close by, so they let us share a room. I’m sure that Jay was ready to have his own space a couple of months later, but he stuck with me. He’s like that. Loyal, almost to the detriment of himself.”
That didn’t surprise Misha at all. She’d seen those aspects of Jay’s personality during the short time she’d known him. He seemed so willing to help people, to be strong when they needed that from him. Good qualities to have, that was for sure.
Jay got to his feet, rubbing the dirt from his sweats. He walked over to where she and Janessa sat, then said, “So, is this as far as we’re going?”
“I’m definitely good with this being our final destination,” Janessa said.
“Yeah, I probably shouldn’t be asking you or Will,” Jay said with a laugh.
“Maybe Misha feels the same way,” Janessa told him. “What would you say then?”
“I’d encourage her to go a bit further, since I know she can go longer than this on the treadmill.”
“Mishaaaa,” Janessa said as she leaned into Misha’s arm. “You’re making me look bad.”
“When it comes to exercise, it doesn’t take much,” Jay said with a laugh.
