Slowly We Trust (Fall and Rise #3)(8)
Author: Chelsea M. Cameron

Lottie and I explained this to Zan as we left the room, closing the door quietly as the sound of the drill started up again.

“I’ve never seen him be that intense about anything,” Zan said as we walked downstairs. “Remind me never to piss him off.”

“Yeah, he can get kind of scary when he’s holding a drill in his hand,” Lottie agreed. “Do you want to seek refuge for a few hours?”

It was probably the best idea. I needed my sister’s frenetic energy right now.

“Sure.”

I spent most of the time when I got back to school rearranging my room, which helped quiet my thoughts for a little while. It was surprising how much larger the room felt without my roommate and all her things inside it.

After a few hours of moving and arranging and moving things back and sweating the whole time, I had it the way I wanted it. I’d also had Christina Perri’s “Human” on repeat the entire time.

Lottie had sent me a text asking if I wanted to hang out at her place and have dinner, and it seemed as good an idea as any, so I messaged her back asking if she could give me a ride. My brother had been forced to drive me back to school since I was currently carless.

She messaged me when she was downstairs and I grabbed my coat and dashed down to meet her.

What she neglected to tell me in the message was that Will was with her. He was also sitting in the backseat and the only available place for me in her tiny Datsun that Zan had given her was next to him since Zan was in the front seat.

I had two choices, and one would lead to more questions, so I bit my lip, held my tongue and got in the car.

“Hey,” I said, pretending I was just greeting three friends.

“Hey, Aud,” Will said, his voice soft. I gave him a quick smile that I hoped was a friend smile.

“So how’s the single?” Lottie said, breaking into the awkward moment and rescuing me.

“It’s weird having just my stuff in it. I think I need more furniture to make it not feel so empty,” I said.

“Simon could build you some furniture. He’s currently building us a new entertainment center, even though we have a perfectly good one. You could have the old one, if you want. It’s really nice,” Will said, looking straight ahead.

“Wow, that would be great. If you’re not going to use it anymore.”

He finally looked at me.

“It’s yours.” The way he said it, I didn’t think he was just talking about the entertainment center. Lottie’s voice cut through the space between us again and she kept it up for the rest of the ride to her new place. Luckily, it was just off campus. As we’d driven, I’d been so aware of Will next to me and it was a relief to get out of the car and into the cold air to clear my head.

“Whoa,” I said when we walked into the apartment.

“Simon built them,” Lottie said in response to the fact that most of the walls were covered in bookcases. Several shelves were empty, because you would need thousands of books to fill them, but she certainly had a good start.

Zan was represented by his banjo on a stand in the corner and the furniture was mostly neutral colors. Poor Stryker had to submit to Katie’s obsession with pink when she’d moved in with him upstairs.

“It’s going to look really nice when we get all the shelves filled, but that’s probably going to take a while,” Lottie said, pouting at the empty spaces.

“I hope you have good smoke detectors, Lot,” Will said, flopping down on the couch. “This place would go up in a second.”

“Shut up, William!” Lottie said, smacking him on the back of the head. “You’re going to jinx me.” I was often envious of the bond Will and Lottie shared. It went beyond them being siblings. Sometimes they were like two halves of the same soul. Maybe that was what allowed Will to love so easily.

There was a clatter outside and then Katie and Stryker came through the door, their clothes askew and hair tousled. There was a collective groan from Lottie and Will while Zan just shook his head.

“What?” Katie said, trying to be stealthy about fixing her sexed-up hair.

“You’re one to talk,” Stryker said, pointing at Zan and then Lottie. That made Will groan even louder.

“Please stop this conversation right now.”

“Oh get over it. How many times did I have to listen while you and Kandy got it on?” The second the words were out of Lottie’s mouth, she looked at me in horror.

“Not that you were doing anything. I mean, anything sexual. Not with me in the room. Because that would be completely gross and creepy and wrong. No, nothing sexual at all.” Lottie breathed deeply, as if she’d been running. I was used to her verbal outbursts by now and they were just part of who she was. Will was prone to them as well, even though he would never admit it.

“On that note, Zan, let’s get this party cracking.” Stryker had brought his banjo, so the two started playing and Katie joined in singing “Better Dig Two” by The Band Perry while Lottie scurried to the kitchen to start dinner. I went with her.

“I’m sorry about that.”

“No, it’s fine. No big deal.” I gave her a smile and she seemed relieved.

“So, what are we making?”

“Um, I have no idea.” She pulled open the refrigerator and poked her head in. “We just went grocery shopping, so you’d think there would be plenty of options here, but I tend to buy whatever and Zan has to tell me to plan out how we’re going to use things so they don’t go bad. Aha!” She pulled out a jar of salsa.

“Soup! We can have salsa soup.” I had no idea what she was talking about. “I used to make it all the time, and we can put it in the new crockpot.” She started assembling ingredients and I tried to help, but she said she had it under control, so I just watched and talked with her. Katie drifted over after singing a few songs with the musical group in the living room. She was such a different person now, after her father’s death, getting rid of Zack and finally moving in with Stryker. I wished I could have my own transformation that made me into a better, more confident person.

“Where the hell is Trish?” Lottie said, glancing up at the clock set on one of the bookshelves.

“She was picking up Max and then she said she’d be here,” Katie said, examining one of her pink strands of hair. “They seem really happy together.”

“I know. Finally,” Lottie said, dumping the jar of salsa into the crockpot.