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CHAPTER TEN: SPIDERS AND MOSS

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CHAPTER TEN: SPIDERS AND MOSS

Vaughn and I are finishing up the dishes after dinner when I notice something large and black scurrying along the wall out of the corner of my eye.

Without hesitation, I scramble away to the door, grabbing a plastic cup and a magazine that I saw earlier, only thinking about the kind of mess a huge spider would make on the wall if it was squashed.

But when I turn around, immediately looking to the place where the spider was, I see that it's gone. 

"Oh, my God."

Vaughn looks up at me from his washing the last plate. "Hm?"

"It's gone," I look around frantically, searching for any sign of the thing. He follows my gaze, furrowing his brows.

"What is?"

"The spider. Did you kill it, or did you seriously not even see it?"

"I didn't know there was a spider if I'm being honest."

"You've got to be kidding," I mumble to myself, scanning the floor. "I took my eyes off it for like fifteen seconds." 

"I think you're overestimating how quickly you run," he smirks slightly.

I whack him playfully with the magazine and he grins, drying his hands off with a towel that has a forest scene decorating it. Continuing to scan the kitchen, I frown. I'm not scared of spiders, but who would welcome an unusually large arachnid like that to simply coexist with them in the kitchen? 

Deciding to just simply leave it be for whoever finds it next, I place the cup and magazine down on the countertop as everyone else files back inside, seemingly in a very interesting and heated conversation.

Pretty soon, Zeke is asking Vaughn about it, and I still have no idea what they're talking about. Sports, though, or politics, if I had to guess. Nothing I'm interested in talking about right now, and so I feel myself begin to shuffle to the side, near the bookshelf. 

I scan it and grab the one that seems easiest to distract myself with, in order to avoid seeming awkward. Symbolism in Literature: A High School English Guide. I'm not interested in what it has to say, but it beats the other options, in my opinion. 

Half of the rest I've already read, and the others are all written by men I've never heard of, with western-themed covers and bald eagles. I begin to quickly flip through, not really spending time for long on each page.

Aloe: healing, affection. Ant: hard-working, community, remarkable strength, diligence. Aquamarine: water. 

Bear: gentle strength, dreaming, protection. Broken bottle: aggression. Black: power, mystery, anonymity. 

Chamomile: patience. Cheetah: survival, persistence, speed. Coffin: death.

Horses: power, stamina, speed... Lynx: secrets...Sunflower: adoration....White: birth, purity, cleanliness... Zebra: Individuality.

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