"Stop talking with your mouth full," I grouched. I buttoned up my coat. "You were literally just texting me this morning. Why did you need to show up to ask this?"
Spencer smiled like the wily scamp he was. "Just checking on your trap situation." I fake lunged for him, and as I'd hoped, he flinched away but laughed obnoxiously as he returned to the kitchen. "I'm going to eat Gemma's brownies. You want some?"
I stared at my best friend darkly. What I wanted was to punch him in the nose. The irony was that I didn’t have any rightto want that. I had to figure this thing out with Gemma soon. Something about the situation felt life-altering, and no matter how hard I tried to fight it with sheer willpower, there were other forces at work I had little control over. And I didn’t like lack of control. I didn’t like it at all.
Chapter eleven
Gemma
Rule #11: No snooping through other people's stuff.
Iaccepted a candy apple from the vendor, balancing my hand under the flimsy paper it had been sheathed in and already salivating over the bright red sheen. Beside me, Ruth nibbled at her own candy apple, staring out at the fire-lit rows of cornstalks and the milling crowd. Her eyes tracked a couple as they walked hand-in-hand toward the pumpkin patch. "Do couples actually do things like carve pumpkins?"
Ruth was supposed to be a matchmaker, but she really was clueless sometimes. "Of course," I said simply. We started walking back toward the bonfire that had been lit in the center of the autumn festival area. There was a corn maze just ahead of us, a pumpkin patch to our left, kids’ attractions behind us, andfood vendors and brightly lit fires in the area ahead. Flaming trees in hues of orange, red, and yellow circled the space in cheery, muted colors, but now that the sun had fully set, it was hard to make them out. A scream echoed from the corn maze, and I rolled my eyes. It wasn't even a haunted attraction, but teenagers had a singular ability to make the most mundane activity into a dramatic spectacle.
Ruth licked the candy coating of her apple, thinking. "I think Cal would carve a pumpkin with me."
Cal would carve out the hearts of her enemies if she asked. That whipped doctor would do anything for Ruth, and she hadn't even realized it completely, yet. "We can get a pumpkin if you want. I'm sure he will."
"I'll ask him later," she smiled. "How are things withyourdoctor?"
"He's notmydoctor," I argued. Then I took a bite of apple so I couldn't say anything more about the subject. Sweet sugar and tart apple exploded on my tongue, but even that wasn't enough to wash the sour taste of Ruth's question from my mouth.
Rook confounded me. He still never touched me, only occasionally spoke to me, and glared at me when I did anything remotely bubbly… and yet, he wasn't unkind, either. He was a perfectly polite roommate who had begun to clean up after himself more and generally stayed out of my way most of the time. We had even spent the odd night together watching TV or talking about our jobs.
The problem was, I didn't want him to be polite. I wanted him to be something else, but I couldn't figure out what that might be. What else could a girl ask from a male roommate, really?
Ruth angled her eyes over her glasses, and they glinted orange in the firelight. "That answers nothing." Ruth had tied her unruly curls up with a little, black bow, and she wore a brown and burgundy plaid peacoat that made her look every inch thedoctorate-holding nerd she was. I missed her so much it hurt. We'd barely had time at work to see each other, and she'd spent most of her free time with Cal these days. I didn't blame her for it, but sometimes, I felt like I was somehow more alone than ever.
"He mostly ignores me," I said finally, swallowing my mouthful of candy apple.
"Is that… good?" she clarified slowly.
We came to a stop just in front of the fire, and we found a bench made of straw to sit on while we watched the crowd enjoy the festival. Smoke and pumpkin spice perfumed the air, and even though my nose was getting numb, and my coat wasn't quite thick enough, it was good to be out and with someone I trusted. I twirled the heavy apple thoughtfully.
"It's good, but… I don't know. It's a weird feeling. For the first time in a really long time, I'm almost never alone. Either I'm at home and he's there, or I'm at work and you all are there. I'm around people literally all the time, but I feel isolated." I'd told as much to Emma, too, and she'd agreed that she often felt the same way, which was why she liked online gaming.
Ruth sniffed against the cold. "Like an island in the middle of a busy school of fish."
"Kind of, yeah."
"I used to feel that way, too. I guess I haven't thought about it much lately," Ruth confessed, frowning.
"It's because you have Cal," I pointed out. "That boy worships the ground you walk on. Of course, you never feel alone anymore."
Ruth's cheeks went pink, and she pushed at her glasses nervously. "I guess so. But I can make more time for you. Ishould haveanyway, but you know I'm not the best human when it comes to… human things."
I laughed, tapping her knee with mine. "That's what I love about you, Ruthie P. Don't worry about it."
"You could just come live with us," she offered for the hundredth time.
I pulled a face. "Love you both—absolutely not. I'll take my chances with the guy I'm giving back problems to."
"Back problems?"
I stretched my mouth guiltily. "He's been sleeping on the couch, and I can hear him grumbling about his back every night."
Ruth laughed. "I guess he is in his… what… late thirties?"
