"Alright," I say, clapping my hands once. "Let's go."
"H–Huh? What? Where—Zach—?" she sputters as I grab her shoulders.
But I'm already steering her toward the door.
Firmly.
Relentlessly.
Like guiding a possessed Roomba away from danger.
"But I JUST got here!" she protests, still trying to crane her neck toward Elijah like she's expecting him to magically turn around and sweep her into his stupid arms.
"Perfect timing then. You can tell me whatever you wanted to talk about on the way."
"Zach!" she whines, legs stumbling as I keep pushing her along. "Wait—Eli—Eli, SEE YOU LATER!" she yells back, hopeful, desperate, absolutely pathetic in the most Sam way possible.
He doesn't respond.
Of course he fucking doesn't.
I push open the door, nudge her outside, and shut it behind us.
She rounds on me immediately.
"Seriously, Zachy! You couldn't give me, like, two more seconds to look at his face?"
I arch a brow. "Thought you were here for me."
She groans dramatically. "Yeah, but... ugh. I haven't seen him that much lately because you won't let me come here."
"Correct," I mutter as we walk to my car.
She grumbles under her breath like I'm the villain in her tragic love story.
I click the key fob. The car lights blink. We get in.
She slams her door a little too hard.
I pretend not to notice.
She pretends she didn't try to snap my handle off.
And yeah... I absolutely pretend I don't hear her mutter, "Overbearing brother..."
I shift in my seat, turning toward her.
"Alright," I say, trying to sound casual. "You said you came to see me. What'd you wanna talk about?"
And the second the words leave my mouth, this instinctive dread crawls up the back of my neck.
I canfeelit — that whatever she's about to say has something to do with her test results.
My chest tightens. My fingers curl against the steering wheel.
I brace myself without even meaning to.
Something flickers across her face — not sadness exactly, but... something heavy. Something tight. Like a shadow passing through her eyes before she can shove it away.
