Everyone ate the lasagna quietly, having small conversations here and there.
"Rick talks about you a lot." Macie says to Anna.
Anna's throat tightens.
"Says that you're smart, you like to read. What else do you like to do?" She asks.
Ok so either she doesn't know or is skipping the whole subject. Fine by me. Anna thinks to herself.
"Um.. I kick box sometimes. Just practice really, not compete or anything. I go to a gym right downtown." She tells her.
"Oh nice. We just moved in here in town." Macie says surprising Anna.
"Oh.." she looks back down at her food not knowing what else to say.
"How about kids you do the dishes while we get dessert ready?" Rick offers.
Anna can't help but smile a little. Rick has never failed at including her. Since he met her he's done everything to make her life feel normal.
But it's not normal. Her thoughts constantly invade her mind.
"Sounds good uncle Rick."
Anna looks up and meets eyes with Elijah again, she had almost forgotten he was here.
Everyone goes into the kitchen which was a pretty decent size. Probably since Cindy, Ricks wife was a cook.
"Don't like lasagna?" Elijah asked Anna as she puts her barely touched food into the garbage.
"I used to love it." She says without thinking.
"Used to?" He asks.
Shit.
"Uh yeah.. had it at a restaurant and got food poisoning. Never really was a fan again." She lied.
He looked like he was going to say something but he shrugged it off.
Does he know?
"So where are you from?" She asks changing the subject.
"Pennsylvania." He answers easily.
"What made you guys move to North Carolina?" She asks washing the dishes.
"Uh.. my dad passed away. And my mom wanted to be closer to her brother." He says nodding towards Rick.
"Oh... I'm.. sorry." Those words tasted bitter coming from her mouth. She hated when people said that to her but what else could you say? I mean when she told people her father killed her whole family they never know what to say except 'I'm sorry' but who would?
"Well that sounded... sarcastic." He half laughed.
"Sorry I just... I know that, that gets annoying." She tells him and he nods.
She fully expects him to ask why she knows that but he doesn't. They wash the rest of the dishes in a comfortable silence.
When they all get back to the table Cindy places her berry cheesecake on the table and Anna's mouth begins to water.
"I know it's your favorite." Cindy whispers as she passes Anna on the way to her seat.
Anna nods quickly and cuts a piece and puts it on her plate.
She waits for everyone to get their own before she eats it in 3 bites.
She reaches for her cup of grape juice and knocks it over spilling it on her shirt.
"Shit." She curses jumping up quickly.
"Oh honey. There some oxi clean in the bathroom upstairs." Cindy says quickly.
"Thanks." Anna mumbles dismissing herself and rushing upstairs.
She looks in the closet and then in the cabinet under the sink. She quickly takes her jacket and shirt off and puts her shirt in the tub and sprays it like crazy.
"Please come out." She says to herself.
She turns back to the mirror while it soaks and she puts her hair into a low bun.
This is just my luck. She thinks.
The door suddenly opens and she freezes.
"Hey they told me to come help-," Elijah pauses and quickly looks down before looking back up.
"Shit I'm sorry." He says turning away but not closing the door.
She quickly picks up her jacket and puts it on and buttons it.
"Ok." She says and he turns back around.
"You ok?" He asks softly and she takes a deep breath.
Suddenly she wants to curl into a ball and cry.
He sees her eyes well up and pulls her into a hug.
"It's ok.. it's just a shirt." He says.
"Just a shirt." She replies weakly.
A few minutes later he lets her go and heads back downstairs and she hangs her shirt up to dry after seeing the stain was pretty much gone.
"Hey hun.. I don't think I'll have anything that'll really fit you." Cindy says honestly.
But it's true Cindy was bigger than her and Anna was pretty small.
"I have a hoodie... In the car." Elijah offers.
"That'll work." Rick accepts for her.
The two of them go out to the car.
He grabs it for her and hands it to her.
"Turn." She tells him and he's confused at first but he turns around.
She quickly takes off the uncomfortable Jean jacket and puts on the soft grey hoodie that says Pennsylvania on it.
"Thank you." She says quietly as he turns around.
"No problem."
She sees his eyes go slowly down her body before coming back up and meeting hers.
"Who are you?" He asks quietly.
"Lucianna.. or Anna. Did you miss the introduction at the beginning or the night?" She asks laughing dryly.
"Lucianna. Luci. Anna." He repeats and her throat drys.
"Mhm.."
"So you go by Anna?" He asks.
She nods.
He takes a step closer to her.
"Something gives me the feeling that you weren't upset about just your shirt earlier." He says quietly.
"I don't want to talk about it." She replies just as quiet.
"Ok... what do you want to talk about?" He asks.
"The stars." She says walking around him and sitting on the front lawn.
A moment later he sits down next to her.
They sit quietly looking up at the night sky.
"They're calming." She suddenly says.
"Yeah." Elijah agrees.
"I used to go and watch the stars with my dad.. there's this big open field that was a few minutes from our house that he used to take me to when I was upset. Me and my mother argued a lot so he'd take me there to calm me down." She tells him. She doesn't know why though, she's never told anyone that. She never spoke about her family after they were gone.
"That's nice." Elijah spoke.
He doesn't know. My father wasn't 'nice' he was a monster. But I was young and naïve. And I believed he was good just because he was my father.
"It was." She agreed.
She could tell he wanted to ask about more but he didn't.
"My dad he... he always wanted me to play sports but I just never really got into it. The guys were always so competitive and aggressive. When he got cancer I started kick boxing. I competed for a while, used it to get rid of all the anger I had." He told her.
"Yeah it's a good release."
They looked at each other and shared an understanding. They didn't say anything but they both knew something.