The sound as loud as it is disrupting in the small dining area.
We’re halfway now.
You’re doing great. No one can tell you're slowly declining.
One step at a time.
Just…breathe.
Dishes crashing to the floor ring with a hollowness around the room. Although abrupt—they’re the only thing to outdo the little girl’s spirited vocal cords.
Looking down, I realize I’m the one who’s dropped them. Pieces of cheap white ceramic lying in broken shards around my feet.
My hands tingle in awareness, frozen midair but it has nothing to do with my mess or the eyes of everyone around me.
I swallow deeply as my head and heart quiet. Why does it feel like I should be the one on the ground and not the food?
My eyes as clouded as my brain.
Slowly my head rises on a blink, and I remember why I reacted the way I did. It all reclicks into place as soon as I see that hint of challenge in that smile.
The edges grow higher, and it makes my head bow, sluggish. Plummeting past the foundation.
“What up, lil sis? Long time no see.”
six
Rory
“Youreadyforachat now, or did you need help cleaning that up first?” Finn notes, pointing at the untouched mess around me.
My features stay tight. The grease that oozes its way past my shoes and into my socks the least of my worries now because they’re here.
I swallow but it feels scratchy.
Finn’s here but he isn’t alone. He may be the only one smiling, but it isn’t without merit.
I blink dramatically, then do it again. Still not trusting my own vision.
Is this really happening? Real life?
My pulse accelerates but then slows when I notice a certain dark-haired boy isn’t with them. That at least one relief.
All three of them peer over at me with different expressions. Each a little more reserved and cautious than the last, Finn’s being the best, or worst. I still haven’t decided.
They’re really here?
“Swallow your tongue?” Eli asks.
My head cranes his way with the same slowness. His attempt to ease some of the tension doesn’t work. Unease wraps around my shoulders as I shake my head from side to side.
His own nod tight as something flickers in his eyes; hurt, I think, but I never get to ask. Alma comes over, apologizing as she starts to clean up the mess.
She has no idea who these people are. What they mean to me. How much hurt they’d each, in their own way, caused me. Even Eli. My twisted brain chose to re-befriend him after I’d left the first time.
Bending down, I overeagerly start to help her. It’s easier than being held hostage under their intense gazes. Broken things are something I’ve been familiar with my entire life anyway.
My legs feel heavy as rocks when I stand back up once we’re done less than a minute later. Alma quickly makes herself scarce, heading to the back. Leaving me here, stuck and alone. Yet again.