Blood Supermoon

10. There are girls, there are women

Clay joined them in the room, so tensions eased. She sat at Emely's desk as Lue and Josandra sat back down on the floor. Emely was getting everyone water. When she was finished handing them out, Josandra spoke, glancing at Clay quickly.

"I'm sorry for what I said just now, Em," she said.

"It's okay, you have every right to be mad at me," Emely replied.

Yes, she does, Lue thought and drank her water.

"Things suck in a lot of towns so I get why you would want as many people that you're familiar with around you," Josandra said.

"How do you two know each other?" Clay asked.

"We grew up in the same town," Josandra replied.

"Ingrich?"

"Yeah," Josandra smiled.

Clay returned it, "Oh, Emely has told me a lot about that place."

"I'm sure there wasn't much to tell," Josandra said. "Where are you from?"

"West side of Mara," Clay replied.

"Jo, Clay came here a week after I did and we became fast friends. I kinda relied on her for household matters. Anything that needed fixing or plumbing, she's really good at taking care of, like my dad was," Emely said.

That got Lue's attention. She didn't know too many girls that did handiwork. She sat up and squared her shoulders.

"How old are you?" Josandra asked.

"Nineteen. You?" Clay asked.

"Eighteen."

"Oh, we're around the same age. How long are you going to be here?" Clay asked.

"I don't know," Josandra said.

"Well, why don't I show you around tomorrow?"

"That's nice of you," Josandra grinned.

Lue didn't understand why Josandra didn't mention that Emely had showed them around already. Why did she need to be shown around again by a total stranger? What was she on? A vacation? And what was the point of being cordial when they weren't going to be here for that long?

This is exactly why she shouldn't have gotten caught up with Josandra.

"Are you sure you're going to have time?" Emely joked. "Clay works as one of the chefs at this restaurant downtown. People are always dropping in to talk to her. She's pretty popular."

"Sounds like you're lucky to have me as a friend," Clay said.

"You cook? So do I—not as good as you though-o-of course," Josandra said.

Her stammering made Clay laugh. As the conversation progressed, her eyes lingered on Josandra even if Emely was the one talking. Whenever Josandra looked her way, she'd flash her a smile. As a result, Josandra's eyes would grow large before flickering away. Lue thought all of it was cringe, but she couldn't stop studying them. Her fingers dug deeply into her upper arm.

"What kind of food do you like to cook?" Clay asked.

"Anything savory and filling. That's hard to come by these days."

"I really like making Italian food. I'm telling you, you should come over. We can have some wine and—"

"It's getting late. We should go to sleep," Lue said.

"It's only nine o' clock," Emely replied.

Josandra smiled, "Lue likes to wake up early."

"Doesn't mean you need to. Do you want to come over?" Clay asked.