"Do you know where I can find a cutting board?" she asks me.
"I got it." Nolan walks into the kitchen, opening the smaller cabinet above the refrigerator, which would have been well out of my reach, and then sets a wooden cutting board and knife on the countertop.
"Thanks," Kira says. "I can make you one, too, if you want."
He looks at me. "Sure," he says in a flat tone.
"I'm Kira, by the way. Nice to meet you."
She steps toward him, opening her arms, and I can tell she's going to hug him. I quickly move between them, placing my hands on her shoulders and stopping her.
"Don't do that," I tell her, shaking my head. "He doesn't like to be touched."
"Oh…" she says. "Sorry."
"It's okay," he says. "I will take that drink, though. And Elias texted me and told me to tell you to start some more laundry, too."
I sneer. "Great. Do you have any rubber gloves?"
"I can do it," Kira says happily, handing me a drink before walking another over to Nolan.
"Trust me, you don't want to."
"I think Elias wants Saigespecificallyto do his laundry," Nolan says as he takes the glass. "And there are rubber gloves under the sink. Stay out of my room, too."
With her back to him, Kira gives me a face.
"I'm just going to get the laundry over with first." I go for the cabinet under the sink and dig out the rubber gloves. "You can put your stuff in m—" I almost call it my room, and it makes me sick. "—this spare room over here."
"Okay. I'll start with the kitchen."
I guess she really did come to help me clean. And she does, too, making sure I have a full drink the whole time. A couple of hours later, we finish with the house, and now, we're sitting on the hardwood floor innotmy room laughing about some guy she met in class who she thought was really hot, but then she went to his apartment to study with him…and found out he had eleven snakes in his tiny bedroom.
"It was so gross! The whole place smelled like…shit and…woodchips. I don't think he ever cleaned the cages."
"Woodchips?!" I laugh.
"Yeah, you know—like the lining of a hamster cage."
"What did you do?"
"I just got out of there. I told him I wasn't into this and left."
"Was he pissed?"
"No, but he followed me out of the building, trying to explain to me how they actually make great pets because they're hypoallergenic."
"No! That's terrible!"
"Right? Just…no. No wonder these men are so damn lonely. I made sure I found someone else to sit with today."
I lie flat on my back on the floor. "Oh, my god—I woulddie."
But when the worddiecomes out of my mouth, suddenly everything is less funny. I'm not a normal girl laughing with a friend anymore—I'm a killer again. I'm thinking about my sore arms and his dead weight again, his belt catching on rocks and tree roots...
"It's nice to hear you laugh."
His voice pulls me right back out of my head. Dax stands in the doorway; amidst my spiral, I hadn't even heard it open. He's already changed, so they must have gotten back a while ago. It's loud outside the room, and sounds like there are people here already, too. I guess we lost track of time.
