“Oh, for fuck’s sake,” Kara said under her breath.
“You did,” Charlie insisted. “You’re all, I can’t meet anyone’s eyes and Draco’s over there mooning over you.”
That description was a little insulting.
“Well, it’s about time,” Charlie said in satisfaction.
“Drop it,” Kara said, elbowing Charlie in the side.
Charlie ignored her and looked at me. “Nothing to say?”
“How old are you again?” I asked flatly.
“Nice dodge,” Charlie said, rolling her eyes. She looked just like her mom when she did that. “Well, well, well, this just made my fucked up day a little bit better.”
“I don’t know why,” Kara snapped. “You didn’t get laid.”
Charlie whooped. “Confirmation!”
“I hate you sometimes,” Kara bitched.
“You love me,” Charlie said, slinging her arms around Kara and tackling her sideways. As Kara squirmed to get away, Charlie’s legs wrapped around hers. “You love me so much. I’m your bestest friend in the entire world,” she sang. “You couldn’t live without me and you’ll never have to because we’re going to be friends forever!”
“I’m seriously reconsidering that,” Kara grunted as she tried to pry Charlie’s arms away.
“Well, I’m glad you’re not crying anymore,” Callie said as she stared at them from the doorway. “We’re going to run over and check out your parents’ place. You coming?”
It was probably the only thing that would’ve made Charlie let go of Kara before she was ready.
“We’re coming,” Charlie said, kneeling above Kara’s prone body. She looked down. “You love me,” she said one more time before getting to her feet.
“You’re a fucking lunatic,” Kara replied. She still allowed Charlie to help her up.
I held back a groan as I got to my feet.
“You alright, there, Turbo?” Charlie asked as we left the room.
“I’m fine.”
“Good, then I’m riding with you.”
“You’re riding bitch,” Kara said, pointing.
“The hell I am,” Charlie replied with a laugh, smacking Kara’s hand down. “You’re banging the driver, you can ride in the middle.”
“Charlie,” Kara hissed.
We’d reached the bottom of the stairs, and the people around us laughed.
“Who won the pool?” Grandpa Dragon asked dryly as the crowd moved toward the front door.
“I think I wrote the guesses down,” my gram replied. “It’s in my purse.”
Kara turned about fifty shades of red and I stared at my feet, hoping to God that Mack was already outside and hadn’t heard the conversation. I was too much of a coward to look around and be sure.
I let Kara into my side of the truck and waited for her to slide into the middle seat before climbing in behind her. She was refusing to even look in Charlie’s direction. The cab wasn’t very big though, and I wondered how she expected to maintain the distance when we were all shoulder-to-shoulder.
“We’re all gonna drive out there and they’re not even gonna let us through,” I said as the tension in the truck mounted. “Just watch.”
“Then we’ll take a different road,” Charlie said determinedly, her arms crossed. “I want to see what’s left.”
“I’m not drivin’ you guys over there if it isn’t safe,” I replied.
“Then I’ll catch a ride with someone else,” Charlie replied easily.
Kara huffed in annoyance so I rested my hand on her thigh, giving her a squeeze. She must have interpreted my warning, because she didn’t say a word.
Actually, none of us spoke the rest of the drive. Not far from my grandparents’ driveway, the effects of the fire became glaringly obvious. Trees on one side of the road were charred black. The sight was eerie as hell.
“Holy shit,” Charlie breathed as the sight of their charred mailbox came into view. The little metal box was lying on its side, the wood post that held it completely gone.
Seconds after that, we could see what was left of the house. It wasn’t much.
Kara reached over and clasped Charlie’s hand.
“It really is gone,” Charlie said, her tone almost surprised. “Good thing we went back for those quilts, huh?”
“You guys got the important stuff,” Kara replied soothingly.
We parked behind the other vehicles and got out, staring at the scene around us. It was the weirdest fucking thing. There were patches of grass that were completely untouched by fire, sprouting green and cheerful out of the ground, and five feet away, bushes that had burned to a crisp. There didn’t seem to be any rhyme or reason to the path of the fire.
“Nobody get too close,” Grandpa Dragon ordered, looking toward the house. “Who the fuck knows what kind of shit the fire caused.”
I stared at a little metal garden decoration still standing proudly where the edge of the porch should’ve been.
“What does he mean?” Kara asked, walking over to my side.
“All sorts of shit you’re not supposed to burn, burned,” I replied, wrapping my arm around her shoulders. “Until the fire department checks it out, it’s not safe. Could still be hot, too.”
“I can’t believe they let us back here,” she said, leaning against me. She seemed shell shocked. Hell, I guess we all were to some degree.