Ellen Mifflin was in her office, flipping through the brown leathered book. She would spend a moment reading a few excerpts before grunting and flipping some more. Her glasses slowly fell from the crook of her nose and onto the open book.
'Lies. These were lies,' she thought. She placed the glasses back on and shut the book, discouraged. A soft crack was heard and Richard entered the room, immediately nestling against her leg.
Cassie rushed inside, guiltily. Her eyes widened with regret once she realized that Richard had gotten out of her hold and into the very room that she was forbidden to go into. Ellen picked placed Richard on her lap, stroking his fur.
"I'm so sorry. He just ran," Cassie stammered. She hesitated to step inside; Ellen had made it extremely clear when she started the job that she was not allowed in the office.
"Come in," Ellen waved her over. Cassie tiptoed in and stood awkwardly in front of her desk. She felt like a soldier in command ready for the next mission. There was a slight pause and Cassie always knew how intimidating Ellen was but never this much.
"Sit," Ellen commanded. Cassie pulled the chair out and sat upon it. "So, how are they?"
For a moment, Cassie wondered who they was until she realized that it about Lucy, Edward, and Richard.
"Oh!" she recognized. "They're good. I feed them at appropriate times and I walk them. They are not a trouble at all, Mrs. Mifflin."
Ellen nodded her head, liking what she was hearing. "And how are your studies?"
"They're good. I am still hearing back from colleges here and there."
Cassie's hands started to sweat. She hated the feeling of pressure and uncertainty. She can't remember the last thing she had a lengthy conversation like this other than their first meeting.
"Tell me about your family."
Cassie gulped. "Well, my dad works at a software company and my mom is a realtor. I have a little brother. I... uh... just moved here."
"Oh, did you make any friends?"
This was strange. Cassie wondered why Ellen had taken a deep interest in her life but it helped ease the tension.
"I have a few friends. They actually go to the Academy."
Ellen's eyes snapped up to her. "Oh, is that so?"
Cassie was blind to the cynical tone. All she wanted was to leave the room and get back to finishing her homework.
"Yeah."
There was a long pause. It was as if time froze and Cassie was waiting for something to drop the ice. The tension was back on and she could feel it. The hair on her arms started to stand and she was slowly invaded with goosebumps and she couldn't pinpoint whether it was Ellen making her feel this way or the drop in temperature.
"So, Cassandra, tell me. What do kids your age do? Where do they feel the most safe and secure?"
As if the previous questions weren't weird enough, this one took the toll. Cassie couldn't help but arch her eyebrows suspiciously. Ellen beckoned her for a response just by her eyes.
"Um," Cassie cleared her throat, "well, I just read or watch TV and hang out with friends... I guess my house would be the most safe and secure. My favorite place?"
Ellen failed to hide her disappointment. That wasn't the answer she was looking for. Nonetheless, she placed Richard back onto the floor and faced her employee.
"Thank you for the chit-chat. You may go," Ellen said. Cassie nodded her head, pushing herself off her chair and scooping Richard into her arms.
Ava sat across her sister at a coffee shop without any drinks in hand; it was a sad reality. Every penny had counted at this point and after the rest of the Maitner kids found out about the money ordeal, they chipped in picking up extra shifts at their jobs.
It was a Saturday afternoon and Ava and Lyla met half-way to talk. Ever since the shocking discovery of Lyla's real life, Ava had felt even closer to her sister than before. They shared secrets, thoughts, and laughter - something that she didn't think was possible.
"So, how's Rex?"
Lyla, glancing out the window, looked back to her sister and smiled. "He's great. Just perfect."
Ava couldn't help but feel disgusted with the cuddly love that her sister shared with Rex and always gushed about. But deep down, she was waiting for that moment, too.
"When are you going to tell mom and dad?"
She looked at with disbelief and arched an eyebrow. "Are you nuts? They'll have a heart attack!"
"So, what?" Ava shrugged her shoulders. "You're just going to keep dating this guy - possibly marry him - and not tell them at all? Am I going to be your bridesmaid and walk you down the aisle?"
Ava scoffed but she could understand the hesitation from her sister. Their parents weren't really a piece of cake. She couldn't possibly imagine the looks on their faces once they found out that the perfect Rylan that Lyla was supposedly dating was actually a tattooed, taller man name Rex with longer hair and a blunt to his lips.
"I can help you break it to them," Ava offered, watching Lyla concerned face.
"They already have a lot on their mind now with the money and everything."
"Don't worry about that. I have a plan to fix the money and be back on - debt-free," Ava said, confidently. Lyla rolled her eyes and leaned her head against the hand that was propped up by her elbow on the table.
"You're a kid, Ava. This is definitely the adult department. Even I don't know how to help them. I know Liam is working things out though."
"Lyla, trust me. Give me like a month and you'll see what I'm talking about."
Lyla looked at her suspiciously, trying to read her sister's thoughts. She had always thought Ava to be stubborn but not someone to make theatrical comments.
"So, have you gone Prom shopping?" Lyla changed the subject. Ava was taken back, not by the sudden change in topic but because she had completely forgotten about the only event she ever raved about since senior year started - and the event that she as the SGA president would be organizing.
"Oh my gosh, I forgot about that," she whistled under her breath.
Lyla snorted. "And you're the best SGA president ever!"
"I don't think I can afford a dress at this point, Ly," Ava mumbled. She knew that the dress she'd probably want to get would be too costly. Maybe her savings could help or maybe it couldn't.
"Oh hun, stop that. You're acting like we're dirt poor. I can go inside and grab a drink but I'm not 'cause I'm not thirsty even though we can afford it," she emphasized.
"Do you know how badly we are right now?"
"Babe, just stop worrying about it now. Just tell me. When are we going prom dress shopping?"
Ava pondered for a second but gave in. If her sister said they weren't as bad as she originally thought, then she was always ready to hunt the best prom dress ever.
"How about next weekend? It'll take us a couple weekends before we find the best fit."
"There's the shopaholic little sister that I know!" Lyla triumphed.
The sounds of moans and grunts paired with gun shots rose from Stefan's TV. Stefan and Blake were in a heated battle against the zombie apocalypse. Their eyes glued to the horizontal split screen, following their character and punching buttons with their thumbs on their handheld controller.
"Shit, shit, cover me," Stefan yelled. Blake ignored him and stabbed a zombie coming from behind him. "Blake, cover me, man!"
Blake's character ran towards his teammate and shot the approaching zombies. Before he made his third kill, a red splash appeared from each corner of Blake's split screen.
"Damn, I got hit!" Blake groaned. He attempted to revive his character by going behind the buildings. It didn't help that his character was limping while the zombies narrowed in on him. "Throw me a life," he ordered Stefan.
Stefan leaned forward and ran his character towards Blake. Just as he was about to throw a life to his partner, something hit his character from behind and the corners of his split screen displayed red splashes similar to Blake's. Blake and Stefan both watched their characters die and the words GAME OVER appear across the screen.
"Damn it!" Stefan growled.
The boys tossed their controllers to the side. Blake lifted one knee up and placed an arm onto it, watching the credits of the video game scroll across the screen.
"I hate this game," Stefan commented.
"And yet we're gonna' play it again like we did the last ten times," Blake snickered. Stefan rolled his eyes, failing to hide the smug look, and grabbed a few chips from the bag beside him.
"What else do you wanna' do?" Stefan asked. The cousins had spent half the day playing video games and eating junk food. Their job to babysit Peter was essentially making sure Peter doesn't die while inhaling the food from the pantry and borrowing Rudy's gaming system.
"I don't know. Do you know what the girls are doing?"
"How would I know?"
"Well, you probably know what Charlie is doing?" Blake wondered.
"What makes you say that?"
"Because you're close to her?"
Stefan shrugged his shoulders. "I guess. I think she's probably hanging out with her mom."
"So, what is the deal with you and her? You really don't like her?"
Stefan jeered. "What are you, my mom?"
"You didn't deny it."
"I don't like her. I just like messing around," Stefan said, defensively. "What about you? I could ask the same about you and Mari."
Blake didn't say anything for a moment but then he looked up and half-smiled, innocently. "Yeah, I like her."
Stefan looked up, wide-eyed, having never witnessed Blake admitting this before. He grabbed a handful of chips and popped it into his mouth.
"Holy shit, you're serious? I fuckin' knew it!"
Blake chuckled, raking his hair with his hand. "I guess it just took me a while to realize it but I do. It's not a big deal."
"You gonna' do anything about it?"
"I'm not sure. I guess if the timing is right."
"Don't you dare tell Charlie about this," Blake threatened.
Stefan snickered. "Calm down. I'm not an idiot. If I tell her, she's definitely going to tell Mari. I speak girl, ya' know."
Just then, the doorbell rang and the boys glanced at each other knowing it couldn't be Rudy or their sister-in-law. Dustin had mentioned that he would stop by and Stefan was correct as he opened the door and let a straight-faced Dustin inside.
"Hey man. Took you a while," Blake greeted. Dustin didn't smile like he usually did. He sank into the couch and looked up at his best friends.
"Laurie and I broke up."