Yeah, she didn’t want to deal with that last bit, so she gave her head a shake and finished up her shower. When she was dressed and finally worked up the courage to open the door, Regan was gone.
She wasn’t proud of the relief she felt.
On her bed was a scrap of paper with a handwritten note.
Went for a walk. Sorry about last night.
~R
She held the paper for several moments, her eyes following the surprisingly flowery handwriting, the swoops of theWs and the drop-down curly curve of theY. She felt bad that Regan was sorry, that she’dfelt the need to apologize for something that was, pretty obviously, innocent.
They’d have to talk about it.
She groaned as she plugged in her blow-dryer.
Not long after, and half expecting to see Regan in the dining room, having breakfast and avoiding her, she was surprised to find she wasn’t there. The others mingled around the room, pouring coffee and nibbling on pastries.
“Morning,” Maia said on a yawn, and Ava noticed that her dark roots were starting to show at her part, slowly pushing away the bright pink.
“Rough night?” she asked with a laugh as she poured herself coffee.
Maia sighed, then took a sip of her coffee before she spoke. “Just up late. Doing research, trying to refresh my memory on everything I learned in culinary school, and jotting notes on what I’d love Liza to help me on.”
“Same,” Ava said.
Maia gazed into her mug and gave the contents a stern look. “Come on, caffeine, kick in.” She took another sip.
Vienna sat at the table, looking not as tired as Maia but still slightly bleary-eyed. Ava took the chair next to her. “Morning.”
Vienna held up her cup in salute but said nothing. In the two and a half weeks they’d been there, Ava had learned that words and Vienna were not friends in the morning.
Madison and Paige wandered in then, Madison with a soft grin, as usual. “Good morning, beauties,” she said and headed straight for the coffee as greetings were murmured back to her. Once she had her cup in hand, she sat at the table and smiled at each of them. “It’s fun to learn you all, to observe you and pick up on things,” she said, apropos of nothing.
Paige grinned and Maia asked, “Yeah? Like what?”
“Here we go,” Paige said, but her tone held affection.
Madison sat up, as if she’d been waiting for somebody to ask. Ava grinned and sipped her coffee, finding Madison to be very interesting. “Well, Vienna says nothing in the morning. She grunts or nods but avoids eye contact until halfway through her second cup.” She glancedat Vienna, who raised her cup in confirmation and grunted but didn’t look up. The others laughed.
“Now, my roommate here,” she indicated Paige, who sat next to her stirring her coffee, “she’s cheerful as fuck in the morning. She hums.” Madison’s eyes went comically wide. “She hums, people.”
Paige nodded happily.
“Maia,” Madison went on, “falls somewhere in the middle of these two.” She waved her finger from Vienna to Paige. “She’s not super cheerful in the morning, but she talks. It’s also possible she’s slightly addicted to the chocolate chip muffins because she’s had one every single morning.”
Maia looked down at the muffin on her plate. “Have I?”
“Every single morning, my pink-haired friend.” Madison smiled.
“Huh,” Maia said and took a large bite of the muffin.
Madison’s gaze shifted to Ava, who tipped her head to the side and waited. “Now, you,” Madison pointed a finger at her, “you’re a tough nut to crack because you pay attention to everything—I don’t think you miss a trick—but you don’t say a lot. You’re not removed, you’re very much here, but you watch and listen more than you participate. It’s mysterious.” She widened her eyes on that last word, which made Ava smile and the others chuckle in agreement.
“And what about me?” Regan asked as she entered the room carrying a travel mug. Crossing to the sideboard, she refilled it. “What have you learned?”
Madison grinned. “That with the exception of my roomie here,” she indicated Paige, “you are the most cheerful and sweetest of the bunch.”
“Wait. After Paige, though.” Regan sat down across the table from Ava.
