“Be good and have fun,” I say.
“I’m gonna have so much fun. Justine said she has these beads we can string together to make bracelets, so we’re all going to make matching ones. I can make you one too. Then Mrs. Annalise is going to make us a snack and something sweet.”
I smirk at her excited giggle.
“Sounds like you’ve got the whole day planned.”
“I do. I’ll see you later.”
She throws her arms around my neck, then hauls ass around me to catch up with the other girls. I shake my head, grinning at her enthusiasm as she goes.
“I’ll come see you tomorrow, okay?” Thayla yells after her.
“You work tomorrow,” she yells right back.
“I can still come.”
“You don’t have to. Come see me later.”
Thayla opens her mouth, then it shuts with a sigh as Laney bursts through the back door.
“Well, that went better than expected,” Lambrit says.
“That was horrible. What are you talking about?” Thayla asks as she places her hands on her hips.
“Horrible for you. Not her.”
She sneers at him, and he stares at her. He’s been relatively quiet this whole week, which isn’t surprising to me, but it’s been driving Thayla crazy.
She’s so much calmer with him than anyone else. When she does start pestering him, Sevryn says something, then she cusses him out. It’s not funny, but it is, watching her switch from patient to I’ll bite your fucking head off in a split second.
Sevryn riles her up on purpose.
It’s like he senses she needs someone to lash out at, so rather than it being Lambrit or one of us, he jumps in and takes the worst of it. It doesn’t bother him. He smirks in her face and that pisses her off even more. Poor Yemi is constantly on her toes, waiting for the two of them to start swinging on one another.
“You are mothering so hard right now, little burden. It’s so hot,” Riven teases, eyeing her up and down.
“I’m not mothering. I’m worried about how she’ll be once the newness and excitement wear off. She’s having a blast right now, but what about when the house gets quiet and it’s time to go to sleep?”
“Then I will do whatever she needs me to do,” Annalise says as she strolls over and grips Thayla’s hand. “How you’re acting and how she’s acting is completely normal. It’s an adjustment period, and it’s going to have its rough moments, but it’s going to be okay.”
Thayla huffs as she pinches the bridge of her nose and bobs her head up and down.
“You’re right. I know.”
“Why don’t you all head on home and relax for the rest of the afternoon?” Ellian asks. “It’ll be another adjustment jumping right back into your roles tomorrow.”
“It won’t be at all,” Amick says as he laces his fingers with Thayla’s. “It’s exactly what we all need.”
He either completely ignores or simply doesn’t give a single fuck about the scowls the rest of us send his way.
Regardless, Ellian and Annalise tell us bye while they round the rest of the kids up to head inside.
“Lambrit, do you want us to come over there or you two come to our house?” Thayla asks.
“Rose and I are going to head home…alone,” he says, giving her a small smile.
“We’re going to head home too,” Yemi says as she gives Thayla a quick hug. “We’ll see everyone later.”
