The Number Of Six

Naamloos deel 18

''The best way to learn, '' she said, '' is to do. ''

 I smiled and thanked her. 

Rob and Seth took out pudding and ice cream, as a dessert and offered me some but I refused. The three full plates of spaghetti made me feel like I was about to explode any minute. In the middle of Rob's tale about a creepy guy living in the woods, Jake walked in without so much as a knock. I pretended to be busy with scraping my fork over the plate while I could see Jake taking something out the fridge. The boys greeted him, so did Abby who offered him help, which he politely refused and left again, without a glance at me. 

''That was cold.'' Seth said. ''Like ice cold.'' Rob added, holding the cup of his ice cream up. Seth grinned at the joke, Abby looked at them with a raised eyebrow. 

''What do you mean? He was very polite.'' Seth sighed and exchanged a look with Rob. ''Mom,'' he started, ''you're blind sometimes.'' I took the plates and formed a pile, taking it to the kitchen.

 ''Where's the dishwasher?'' I asked Abby, and added to Rob, ''Mind your own business or do I need to tell your mother about Sh-'' I was immediately interrupted by the oldest with a loud ''No!'' and smiled, happy about my victory. I could tell them to shut up about Jake, but I couldn't control my own thoughts. 

Why hadn't he spoken to me? Why hadn't I? Was he mad? I should be the one who was mad. I didn't do anything wrong, did I?

 ''We don't have a dishwasher.'' Abby took the dishes out of my hand. She put them in the sink to soak in the water and smiled when I offered to help. 

''That's something I've never heard. Someone who offers to help.'' She gave a sideways glance at her sons who were punching each other to see who was the strongest. '

'So, tell me about what exactly?'' Even though she had whispered it, Rob heard and gave me a warning look. I shrugged and turned to Abby. ''Nothing important.''

The next day was pretty much the same as the first one. Only today, we went to other places and met other people from the camp. I got to know the boys a little bit better, as good as you can know someone after two days. 

I saw my chance of talking to someone when the boys were busy daring each other to see who was the strongest. While watching them, I sat on a tree trunk with a little guy named Rogan. He was there yesterday, when we played football in the river. 

''Hi, '' I greeted him, ''Rogan, right?'' The wolf smiled and nodded, his attention still on the battlefield in front of us. He seemed rather shy. Since I couldn't just ask about the borders , Conchobar and how things worked around here, I needed to seduce him, make him trust me, even though I hated to misguide someone. 

So, I inched closer, sat next to him with no space between us. It wasn't until then, I noticed he wasn't really looking at the game, he was perfectly aware of how close I was. ''It's cold here, don't you think?''. Original, I knew, but still.

 ''Yeah, the wind is strong. Want to sit somewhere else?'' He finally looked me in the eyes. I smiled and nodded, gesturing to the woods behind us.

 ''Maybe I just need to walk a little to get warm.'' As I said, I felt a little stupid because yesterday was hot enough to swim, so was today except for the wind. He fell for it anyway and agreed to walk.

 ''Tell me, do you like it here?'' I asked and gave him a sideways glance. 

''I've been living here my whole life, it's my home. I can not not like it. '' Rogan seemed to relax a little, his steps getting slower. 

''I mean, I'd like to get away sometimes, but that'll probably never happen.'' I frowned. ''Why not?'' He sighed and pulled a hand through his hair.