“You aren’t a prisoner.” Was she?
Thalia laughed. “I can’t drive or hold down a normal job. I’ve been in prison since the first time I had a vision.”
I rested my head on my chin. “I’m sorry. I don’t understand why Garrett monitors your cell like that. You don’t think that’s weird?”
“Garrett isn’t the one monitoring it.”
I waited for her to elaborate, but when she didn’t, I nudged her with my foot. “Not a big talker? You seem different from when we went shopping.”
“Because that was fun and this is lame.”
Thalia wasn’t a teenager, so her word choice was odd. “How old are you?”
“Not sure anymore. Twenty-something, I think.” She still hadn’t looked up from her phone.
“You don’t know how old you are?”
“It doesn’t really matter. My lifespan will be quite long.”
“You don’t celebrate your birthday?”
“No one is usually around to celebrate it with me.”
Thalia was difficult, but she was also stunted in a way. Cliona had her faults, but when she couldn’t or didn’t want to take care of me, she’d dropped me with loving parents. Human parents who celebrated a child’s birthday every single year.
“You don’t know what month it is?”
“July, I think. No idea what day.” She finally looked up.
“Why are you so interested?”
“Everyone should celebrate their birthday. If they want to. What’s your favorite kind of cake?”
“Lemon.” She frowned. “No. Italian Creme.”
“How about next July, you and I celebrate your birthday?”
Thalia studied me for a long moment. “Why are you being nice to me?”
“I was nice to you the first day I met you. Maybe I’m just a nice person.”
Thalia laughed. “Garrett can’t stand you.”
Ouch. This girl had a way of barbed speaking. Her words peppered against me like stones almost every time she opened her mouth. “He and I have a complicated relationship.”
She snorted. “If that’s what you want to call it.”
Alright. I’d had enough. “Is there a reason you’re being such a bitch right now?”
Thalia’s eyes widened. “Well, I—I?—?”
One of my eyebrows rose. “You what?”
Her shoulders slumped. “I’m sorry,” she finally said. “Moving around a lot makes it hard to make friends.”
“So you push anyone who’s nice to you away so you don’t get hurt when you leave again?”
Her behavior made a lot more sense now.
