Chapter 2
“Lena, what are you doing after school?” Daisy asked as she sat across from me. Our table was wedged in a corner, and my back was against the wall. That meant that I saw people glaring daggers at Daisy’s back as they bought drinks from the vending machine.
“The community center,” I said, for once not looking forward to volunteering. After my locker had been defaced, the teacher on hall duty forced me to go to the principal’s office. I spent an entire period convincing the Vice Principal that I didn’t know who spray painted the locker. Okay, that was sort of true since there was no concrete proof that Cora had defaced my locker. But snitching never got anyone anywhere.
“Ditch.”
No, Daisy, I can’t ditch because they are expecting me. That’s what I should have said.
“Why?” I was curious to hear about the plans she had for me.
“Jose is taking me shopping to cheer me up. He’s buying me a Coach purse.”
“That’s nice,” I said. That was painful. Saying anything kind about the player who went home with a different woman every night while my cousin Rowan was pining for him, nearly killed me.
“Nice? Lena, what you’re doing after school is nice. What Jose is doing for me is freaking awesome!” On which planet was buying someone a luxury purse more benevolent than doing community service? I didn’t want to argue with Daisy. She was a mess right now. Instead, I began drinking the tomato soup that tasted more like steamed ketchup.
“Don’t forget to text me pictures,” I said.
“I’ll do more than that. I’ll pick you up from the center. We can go to dinner and…” Daisy trailed off and shook her head. “Can you eat diner food?” Before I could answer, Daisy squealed in delight. “I’ll just come by your house after Jose takes me to dinner. You could see the purse then.”
“Okay,” I said, before gaping. Walking toward me, with a tray in hand was Elias Hayden. He smiled hopefully, and I swallowed. He was weird, I couldn’t shake that assessment. But something in me knew that he wasn’t dangerous.
“Lena, could I sit here?” he asked, his eyes traveling over my face. Daisy, who had been doing something on her phone, looked up at Elias and gawked. I rolled my eyes at her reaction.
“Sure,” I said. He sat down beside me and reached out, his hand brushing my cheek. His touch was soothing. My muscles eased their stiff posture, and I almost wanted to take a siesta right in the middle of the cafeteria floor.
“There was something on your cheek,” he said, his eyes twinkling.
“Um. I…” How did one respond to someone like Elias Hayden, a Good Samaritan who gave dizzy people rides and wiped off cheeks?
“Elias, I’m Daisy,” Daisy said, her eyes raking over his body shamelessly. Elias didn’t seem particularly interested in her. He merely nodded at her, as if saying that he heard her but didn’t care enough to respond.
“Lena, are you going to the community center today?” Elias asked.
“Yes,” I said, after drinking some more of my soup.
“Do you want a ride? Ryan and I are also heading there.” I was still feeling calm and carefree and figured, what was the harm?
“Yes,” I said. Elias smiled.
“Lena, I thought that we were supposed to ride together,” Daisy whined.
“I thought that you were getting a coach purse with your brother,” Elias said, confused. I was confused as well because he hadn’t been standing behind Daisy while she was talking. This was officially awkward.
“What do you think of English class?” I asked after it became obvious that Daisy didn’t know how to dig herself out of this hole. She kicked me under the table after I asked the question. Apparently, I was supposed to ask something different.
“Boring. His style of teaching doesn’t appeal to me,” Elias said.
“I have to go to cheer leading practice,” Daisy quickly said before leaving. She was apparently too cool to toss out her trash.
“I didn’t peg you as someone who hangs out with cheerleaders,” he commented, as if being a cheerleader was lower than dirt.
“Daisy’s nice,” I said defensively, the calm starting to wear off. Elias gave me a patient look.
“I never said that she wasn’t nice, Lena. I…” He shook his head as if he didn’t want to argue with me.
“Do you like it here?” I asked. Elias looked around the cafeteria and shook his head.
“Lena, meet me in front of the school,” he said before tossing his stuff in the trash can behind him and walking away.
It was crowded when I made my way out the door after classes were over. Streams of excited voices pounded into my sensitive head. Another headache was coming on. So I didn’t bother putting my coat on in the congested hallway. Being outside was my only motivation. Once I finally made it down the stairs, I rushed for the sidewalk, my backpack in one hand and my coat draped over my arm. It was really cold, and the chill felt like it would turn my blood to ice crystals. Goodness gracious, wasn’t it still October? New England sucked sometimes. I placed the backpack on the pavement and struggled into the coat. As I was slipping my left arm into the sleeve, I felt my hand hit flesh. I looked over to see Elias playfully rubbing his arm.
“Watch it, Slugger,” he teased. I groaned.
“I’m so sorry, Elias. I…” He started laughing, uncontrollably.
“It’s all right, Lena. It isn’t like you ran me over,” he said. He was laughing at me. How obnoxious. Before I could so much as roll my eyes for his rudeness, Elias captured my hand in his. All of the anger I felt vanished because a new emotion replaced it, nervousness. Despite his quirks, Elias was a really attractive guy.
“Come on, our chariot awaits,” he said as he began walking. I followed, figuring that going with him to the center was a much better option than dealing with Jose’s flirtatious nature.
Apparently Calim was also driving us to the community center. Surprisingly enough, Ryan beat us to the car. Elias opened the door, and I slid over to give him room. As soon as we were buckled, Calim took off.
“How was school?” Calim asked.
“Boring,” Ryan said at the same time Elias uttered “tedious.”
“You’re the one who insisted on going, Elias. I would have been happy to go to Florida,” Calim pointed out.
“Elias hates Florida, Calim. It reminds him of. Um… Well…” Ryan floundered as if trying to figure out what to say. Elias chuckled.
“I assure you guys, I have nothing against the state of Florida.”
“Cool Beans, we can go there next!” Ryan exclaimed.
“Do you guys have parents?” I inquired, surprised that they would be making the choices.
“Yes, we have parents. But Ryan and I are eighteen,” Elias said as if that was reason enough. I rubbed my head which made the boy sitting next to me frown. “Lena, are you not feeling well?”
“I have a headache,” I admitted. Elias reached over and gently traced a fingertip over my temple. The pressure increased so much that I let out a yelp. Elias tore his hand away as if he had been burned by my skin.
“You’re really warm, Lena. Are you sure you’re feeling all right?”
“I’m as okay as I’m ever going to be,” I said, trying to keep things light. Elias sighed and closed his eyes, which was like a bell signaling the end of the conversation.
The community center was a three story building that had been the old court house. After the city renovated it, a famous athlete decided to start a community center. He donated money, and underprivileged kids got to participate in activities. I was the first one to exit the car, pulling my volunteer badge from my jeans pocket. Elias and Ryan joined me on the pathway and Calim took off. We entered the building and walked over to the receptionist desk, which was placed in an alcove. When Joan saw our badges, she pressed a button, allowing the inner doors to open. Since Ryan and Elias most likely volunteered with security, they had their tasks already. I did odd jobs t
hat ranged from cleaning toilets to helping children complete arts and crafts projects.
I visited Zoey’s office, a stuffy room on the first floor, and she smiled. Her black hair was cut in a Bob. And the room reeked of onions. Her desk was piled with papers and she still had one of those computers with a gigantic monitor and a noisy hard drive.
“Lena, I need you on the second floor. Time to stuff envelopes.” She waved me away as soon as she gave those directions. I wanted to hover over her just to be a pain. But why bother when work was waiting for me?
Envelope stuffing occurred on the second floor in a small room with heating problems. Isaac, one of the volunteers, was already stuffing by the time I arrived. I cringed at the piles that seemed as thick as my head. The blonde looked up, relief crossing his face and quickly stood.
“It’s self-explanatory. As soon as you stuff these, put them in that box,” he said pointing to a cardboard box in the center of the long rectangular table. I sighed and didn’t bother saying anything to him. Isaac wasn’t very social. Sadie had lived in a foster home with him. Apparently, he had problems respecting boundaries.
“Thanks,” I mumbled when he continued to stand there by the only chair at the table. Did he think that I was going to stuff these things standing up?
“Lena, are you good friends with Daisy?”
“Yes.” If he was going to ask me about the rumors, I wasn’t going to be helpful. Playing dumb was the best option in this situation.
“What are the odds that she would go out with me?” Zero. Daisy is shallow and only dates athletes. To improve your odds either join a sports team, win the lottery or become famous. If you want someone to date you based on looks, ask Cora.
“You like her?”
“Yeah, she’s a nice girl. I figured that we could go out for pizza sometime. Do you know if she’s interested?” Before I could answer, Elias walked into the room. Isaac immediately grew uncomfortable.
“Cat really has a crush on you, man,” Elias offered. Cat was a brace face who always was lucky enough to get phone duty. Isaac perked up.”
Yeah? Do you think that I should ask her to homecoming?” he inquired.
“Sure. She’ll say yes,” Elias said.
“Thank you, man,” Isaac said before rushing from the room.
“Stuffing envelopes?” Elias asked as I walked over to the vacated chair.
“It looks like it. You?”
“I’m taking over for Joan. Do you have a ride home?” Elias asked.
“Yes,” I said. He looked relieved.
“Thank goodness. I hate to leave you hanging, but Calim needed Ryan and me to do something. So I’ll see you tomorrow?”
“Yes,” I said as I began stuffing envelopes. It looked like a flyer about a benefit. And it appeared that everyone in America was going to get one.
“Bye Slugger,” Elias said before leaving me alone.
The room was dark, and I was strapped to a table. The air smelled like mold, and my bladder was full. It didn’t look like anyone was going to untie me. This was humiliating. I was going to be forced to relieve myself. Why was this happening? What did I do to deserve this? I had no idea. The sound of a power drill suddenly poisoned the air. Someone was screaming. But there was nothing I could do about it. After that person suffered, I knew that I was next. And I was trapped, helpless and had no abilities.
“Oh good you’re awake,” a voice in the darkness said. The lights turned on, and a man in a lab coat held tweezers. They looked sharp and deadly. I frowned at him.
“Let me go,” I hoarsely ordered. But he laughed at me.
“No, I’d rather collect a souvenir.” He said. He cupped my cheek with his gloved hand and hummed. “I don’t want to remove your teeth just yet. You’ll scream and pass out. Maybe I could start with something easy.” He abruptly grabbed my left hand and attached the tweezers to the pointer finger and pulled.
“Wake up,” Rowan snapped. I bolted upright, my heart beating so hard that the sound nearly blocked out Rowan’s voice. Rowan frowned at me. It was relief to see her, after having that horrible dream. Her kind brown eyes studied my face, trying to determine how I was feeling. Her hair was pulled up in a clip, and she wore her puffy pink jacket.
“You scared me,” I rasped out. Then, I glanced at the envelopes. I must have slept for a while because I had barely made a dent in the pile. Rowan sighed.
“Lena, if you’re not feeling well, don’t volunteer,” she lectured. But that was the least of my concerns. I couldn’t shake that terrible dream. It felt so real.
“I just want to go home Rowan,” I said, quickly getting to my feet
Chapter 3
“Please. Lena, please. I need you to do this.” Daisy sat at the foot of my bed, her knees bouncing as I changed into a pink sweater, skinny jeans, and my favorite pair of high-heeled ankle boots. Yesterday was miserable. So my friend decided that giving me a ride would insure that I would show up for school. She didn’t want to face everyone alone. She detailed this in full after dropping by last night to show off her new purse. She wasn’t wearing it til home coming.
“I never go to the games,” I argued, before spritzing some Dolce and Gabana perfume.
“It’s important.” The truth was that I never made commitments. One never knew when my symptoms would return for another visit. Yesterday it ended prematurely, but one never knew.
“Daisy, you know why I don’t want to say yes.” I met her dark eyes, not flinching when a tear rolled down her cheek. “If I said yes and got your hopes up, you would be disappointed if I couldn’t come.” Daisy sighed, as Rowan, my older cousin ran into the room, her eyes narrowing at my friend. Saying that Rowan hated company was putting things mildly. She would prefer if society viewed me as a person with leprosy and I spent my days in solitary confinement. It was strange, how rigid she acted. She use to be the carefree one that did bizarre things like teach Kevin how to twerk. But for the last two years, her demeanor had shifted.
“Hi Rowan,” Daisy stammered out.
“Lena, I made some oatmeal with honey. And your lunch money is on the table.”
“Thanks, Rowan. I…”
“Daisy, are you driving her to school?” Her question was tinged with aggression, as if my friend had no choice but to comply.
“Of course.” Poor Daisy. She always countered Rowan’s coolness with a bit of warmth. That never worked. Without warning, my older cousin wrapped me in a hug. I squirmed away because my face was planted in her chest. She laughed and placed a kiss on my cheek. Rowan was beautiful. She had tan skin, dark hair and eyes, and a slender build. It bothered me that she didn’t get the happily ever after that she deserved. That was because of her fixation on the player Jose Sanchez. I often blamed it on myself. Maybe, if I hadn’t been so sick, she would have gone out with her friends and met someone.
“Behave Lena. I will be home at seven. Come straight home after school,” she ordered before leaving the room. Since Rowan was ten years older, she felt the need to boss me around. Uncle Calvin and Aunt Tina put her in charge while they were in Florida, helping Aunt Tina’s Mother move into her retirement home. When I was younger, my hair spilled to the middle of my back. But now, it barely reached my shoulders. It was limp, and the curls that were once present were gone. There were various hair products on my dresser, and I used them liberally. After putting my hair in a bun, I turned to face Daisy. She was peering down at her phone, her shoulders bunched as if ready to do battle. This must be some dreadful social media attack. I wasn’t privy to the gossip because my Aunt and Uncle forbade me from owning any social media accounts.
“I can’t believe this!” She tossed her phone with a vengeance, and I didn’t move out of the way fast enough. The corner of it stabbed my left eye. I shrieked as pain wrapped around all of my nerves.
“Oh, I’m so sorry,” Daisy cried as she quickly ushered me out of the room. We were down the stairs, and Daisy was removing my hand from my eye,
before I could process anything. She pressed an ice pack to my face, and I shivered. Hold it,” she ordered. I did as she requested and nearly dropped it when the doorbell rang. Because it was my house and Daisy was too busy packing up some oat meal in a to go container, I opened the door and frowned. No one was at the door, and it took me a minute to come to the obvious conclusion that someone was playing ding dong ditch. Boys. I spun around and nearly got a face full of my coat. “Let’s go,” Daisy rushed out. I slipped into the coat, and Daisy carried my ice pack as we left the house. She was even nice enough to lock my door.
The morning flew by without much improvement from yesterday. People stared at my friend and gave me half-hearted greetings. Elias was weird, which was what I was beginning to believe was the norm for him. He pulled out my chair in English and asked me about my eye. I shrugged and told him that it wasn’t a big deal. He in turn brushed his finger tip across my cheek and I swore that something soothing began pumping through my veins. I wanted to ask him why he had touched me, but he smiled and sat at another table. In fact, he was rather distant resorting to waving at me in advanced history before taking a seat beside Madison Twist. Something about seeing the pair seated together really bothered me. But I couldn’t figure out why. Maddison was really nice. Maybe it was because I met Elias first. Before lunch, I went to my locker and frowned. Cora was leaning up against it, her eyes glittering with something cruel.
“Hi Lena,” she said, her face splitting in a fake smile.
“Hi. Do you mind moving? I need to put my books away.” She waved my request away. “You wrote slut on my locker.”
“That wasn’t me.”
“Why are you being like this?” I was trying not to lose my temper, but my hands were shaking with the pent up anger. This girl embarrassed me.
“So, how’s the tramp?”
“This is a misunderstanding,” I blurted out. “Pat forced himself on…” Her hateful glare told me that she had already heard the story before.
“And you expect me to believe that?”
“Yes. Daisy’s your friend.”
“No, she isn’t. Anyways, if you’re done talking about Daisy, I was wondering if you know anything about Elias Hayden. He’s really hot, and I’m thinking about asking him to homecoming.”
“His brother drives a Beamer.” I didn’t want to help Cora, but she wouldn’t leave me be until I did. Besides, I was suddenly so drained. The hostile things that I wanted to scream at her flitted out of my head. Cora seemed unimpressed by my shallow fact. Though why would it impress her? Her best friend drove a Hummer.
“No. I want to know about his hobbies. What does he like?”
“Mexican food,” I offered, remembering something that he had mentioned yesterday during Spanish class. She smiled as if knowing the type of food he liked was like knowing his deepest secret. Something tightened in my chest, and the urge to claw Cora’s eyes out was suddenly so great that the desire turned into pressure in my head. Oh, there wasn’t a word for this. I was in a whole other spectrum past pain. My left ear began to roar, and the oatmeal that I had consumed was threatening to paint Cora’s green sweater dress. I tried to breathe in and out, but it didn’t help much. Sweat began to dampen my forehead, and my migraine reappeared. This was one of the days that Rowan would have to leave work early to pick me up. I just knew it.
“You’re sick,” Cora said, in a matter of fact tone. Nodding felt like sharp nails were being jingled in my skull. But it was still more preferable than trying to talk.
“Come on,” Cora groaned. I’ll take you to the nurse. She ripped the books out of my hands, opened my locker, and stuffed them in. How had I forgotten that she knew my locker combination? I better not find something dead and stinking in my locker tomorrow. She wrapped a sturdy arm around me and ushered me to the nurse’s office, which was thankfully down the hall. Cora released me and was just about to leave when Elias swaggered out of the nurse’s office. His face was slightly blurry but I could admit that he was handsome.
“Hi Elias,” Cora said, her voice so high pitched that it made my migraine worse. I wobbled; staying on my feet a great feat.
“Lena, are you all right?” I was too miserable to celebrate the brush off that Cora was getting.
“She’s fine. This happens to her all of the time,” Cora assured him, but Elias apparently didn’t believe her because he scooped me up and rushed into the nurse’s office. Before I could ask him what he was doing, he shouted, “She’s about to be sick.” Nurse Dillon hurried out of her office with a bucket.
“Put her down over here,” the gray haired woman instructed, and Elias placed me on one of the beds. I immediately sat up and let’s just say that the oatmeal that I ate for breakfast filled the bucket. When the episode was finished, drowsiness weighed me down. I yawned and shifted on the bed, making the paper sheet crackle.
“I’m tired,” I complained.
“I imagine that you are,” Elias said, a hint of amusement in his voice. I leapt out of the bed, spun around and saw him, standing there, a look of concern on his face.
“You stayed?” My incredulous tone caused him to arch a brow.
“Like I had any other choice. Someone had an accident right outside the door,” he chuckled. “You guys are a sickly bunch.” I glanced around for Nurse Dillon, and sure enough, we were all alone. She must have figured that I needed no assistance with the puking. I just wished that Elias hadn’t been here. This day was turning out to be a miserable one.
“I’m sorry. That was really embarrassing,” I groaned as I slowly sat on the bed. Adrenalin deserted me like a fair weather friend. Elias ran his fingers through his thick hair, and his face turned serious.
“Don’t be embarrassed. I’m used to seeing sick people. Back home, I used to volunteer at the hospital.”
“Where’s home?”
“Atlanta Georgia.”
“Explains your clothes.”
“I was not prepared for the move. I don’t even own a winter coat.”
“Do you need help picking one out?” The offer just flew out of my mouth. But there was no way to take it back without sounding rude.
“You would help me pick out a coat?” Rowan specifically ordered me to be back home after school. But maybe if I went home and rested up…
“Sure. Just come by after five. I live on Grove Street,” I told him. Elias smirked before pulling an iPhone from his pocket. I gave him my number and then, he frowned in concern.
“Are you sure that you will be well enough to go today?”
“Yes. My migraines don’t usually last that long. All I really need is a hot shower, a bowl of soup, and a nap.”
“Call me if you can’t come,” Elias said before rushing away.
Rowan burst through the door a minute after Elias left. She was in a thick pink coat and her scarf was flapping about. She breathed heavily, as if she had ran to the school. I felt horribly for Rowan. She was a dentist, and her colleagues had to cover for her whenever I was sick. That meant that she couldn’t put in the hours to move up in her practice.
“I’m fine,” I grumbled.
“You stay here, and I’ll get your bag.” I glared at Rowan and stood.
“Let me come with you.” We made a trip to my locker to grab the books that I most likely needed for homework. As soon as I was in the car, my text message tone chimed.
Elias: Do you need me to take notes for you?
Me: Can you? That would be nice.
Elias: No problem.
“Who are you texting?” Rowan asked as she turned onto our street. She was driving slowly as if afraid to crash into someone. The inside of her Scion was packed with papers, plastic bags, and random water bottles. I catalogued the mess before responding to her.
“Elias. He’s a new guy in school.” Rowan backed in the driveway so that she didn’t have to watch for other cars in her rear view mirror when she left the house.
“New guy? What’s he
like?”
“He’s really nice. He’s taking notes for me, and I’m helping him pick out a winter coat,” I said. Rowan smirked.
“We are also having dinner with him,” she announced.
“Rowan, he can’t eat grilled cheese and tomato soup. That’s pathetic. A guy like him likes steak.” Rowan chewed her lip and then perked up.
“I’ll make vegetables, steak, and potatoes. I want to get to know him,” Rowan insisted before rushing from the car. Rowan hardly ever cooked any meat because she felt terribly that I couldn’t consume any. Deciding that taking a nap in the car wasn’t an appealing prospect, I sluggishly went into the house.
After taking a short shower, consuming a cup of tomato soup, I slipped under the covers of my queen sized bed. And I was asleep before my head even hit the pillow. Something woke me up. I wasn’t sure what. But the way that I suddenly was thrown into wakefulness was startling. My eyes flew open, and the smell of cooking steak made my mouth water. Steak was my favorite. If only I could digest it. I shifted in bed to see the clock and heard the sound of paper crinkling. Rolling to the left, I noticed that an envelope was under me. Snatching it up, I frowned. It had Jessalena Lake written in black ink. Out of curiosity, I tore it open and pulled out the piece of paper.
I’ve been looking for you for six years. Try and remember your past in order to have a future with me. When it’s time, I’ll reveal all to you. Until then, stay safe and keep your head down. Not everyone around you is what they seem. It’s best that you don’t make yourself a target.
The writer didn’t even have the courtesy of signing the note. I had no idea what to think. Did Daisy write this? I doubt it. She wouldn’t have taken the time to write a letter, seal it in an envelope, and hide it in my room. Besides, she preferred to text me. Was this a prank from Rowan? That was a possibility. Sometimes, my older cousin thought that things were funny that weren’t. Or maybe she was trying to warn me away from my friends. I had no clue what to think. But the ringing of my phone jerked the matter from my mind.
“Lena?”
“Hi Elias,” I said, breathlessly.
“Did I wake you up? You answered none of my texts. Are you still not feeling well?” I glanced at the clock and winced. It was 5:30.
“I feel great. I’m so sorry. Do you want to still pick out coats?”
“Yeah. I have notes to give you as well. We have a quiz in calculus tomorrow.”
“Do you want to come over for dinner? Rowan made steak,” I said.
“Sure.” His answer sounded reluctant.
“You don’t have to if you don’t want to. I forgot to ask you earlier,” I rushed out.
“No, it’s all right. It’s just that my older brother Calim insisted on driving us to the mall and Ryan wanted to come along.”
“That’s fine. Bring them along,” I insisted.
“Okay. We’ll be here in a half an hour,” he responded. We said our goodbyes, and I hurriedly got dressed in a sweatshirt, comfortable blue jeans, and sketchers. I peered in the mirror, expecting to see one black eye and found nothing. Both of my eyes looked normal. Maybe the ice did its job. Who cared? At least Rowan didn’t have to know about the incident. I brushed my teeth, washed my face, and rushed down the stairs. Rowan was making a feast. She was flipping a steak when I came into the kitchen. The island held a bowl of tomato soup, mixed vegetables, salad, potatoes, and chocolate cake for dessert.
“Hi sleepy head. When is your friend coming?” Rowan asked, after putting a dash of garlic on top of the steak. I saw three steaks resting on a plate on the counter, and my hopes rose.
“Two of Elias’ brothers are also coming to dinner,” I announced, and my sister clapped.
“I made extra food. I wasn’t sure how hungry your friend is,” she confessed, nervously. I smirked at her.
“You were hoping to bring food to Jose.” When Rowan nodded something in my gut twisted. When would Rowan Learn? Before my mood darkened permanently, the doorbell rang. Rowan was dressed in a blue sweat outfit with glitter that I had gotten her for Christmas last year, which meant that Jose wasn’t invited. So I strolled up to the door and opened it. Calim smiled back at me. I ushered the boys in and Rowan told us to sit in the dining room. I didn’t miss the glance that Calim gave her. My cousin was a looker.
“So, why aren’t you eating steak, Lena?” Elias asked as I took a bite of my mixed vegetables.
“I can’t keep it down,” I replied, after chewing. Something calculating entered his expression, but then it slipped away.
“Thank you for having us, Rowan,” Calim said. Rowan grinned.
“I love to cook. Since Lena doesn’t eat anything with meat or anything fried, I’m limited.” She made her list to remind my friends not to feed me anything else. I tried not to glare at her in annoyance. But my Aunt and Uncle were worse.
“Can you eat dessert?” Elias asked me.
“A little bit, if I’m feeling all right.”
“Lena, Elias plays the guitar. Do you?” Ryan was the awkward one of the bunch. That was a very odd way of making conversation, but I answered his question.
“I play the piano, violin, flute, and drums. Before I got sick, I use to be in the school band.”
“She also sings,” Rowan interjected. “Her voice is just lovely.”
“Elias sings as well,” Ryan responded. “But he stopped all of that after Mandy…” All of the conversation stopped, and I looked at Elias, who sighed, dramatically.
“It’s okay, Ryan. You can say her name in my presence, Elias assured him. Now, this was an interesting topic of conversation.
“Who’s Mandy?” I asked out of curiosity.
“My ex. We broke up last year,” Elias replied. Ryan and Calim both shot each other confused looks, but Elias continued before I could ask. “It’s still a sore subject because of how it ended. But I’m over her.” He said the last part as if he was willing me to believe him. I did for the fact that he wouldn’t lie to me about not being over another girl. It wasn’t as if he were going to make a move on me. I wasn’t the type of girl that someone like him went for.
“Calim, what do you do for work?” Rowan asked.
“Nothing. We are rich kids who want to visit all of the states. I’m thinking that the boys and I will move in the next three months,” Calim stated, shooting a pointed look at Elias. Well, that was a strange answer. Judging by Rowan’s expression, she thought so as well.
“Let me get the dessert,” my cousin rushed out just to end the awkward silence. She scampered to the kitchen and at that moment, I wished that I could follow her. But I wasn’t quick enough to offer her my help. She took her sweet time bringing the cake. By the time each of us had a piece, me a miniscule one all of the awkwardness flowed away.